Flashback to 1998

Today's dip into the Center for Court Innovation vault is a photo from 1998 of John Feinblatt and Jonathan Lippman accepting the Innovations in American Government Award from Susan Berresford of the Ford Foundation and David Gergen of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. I wasn't in attendance that day because the ceremony happened the same week that my daughter Hannah was born. I remember coming back to work following my brief paternity leave and feeling as though the Center had made an important leap forward -- that our small, start-up enterprise had reached a new plateau in terms of respectability. Another highlight from the Innovations Award was the New York Times coverage, which featured this classic quote from then-New York State Chief Judge Judith Kaye: "I'm sailing. I'm flying. When I heard the news, I put down the phone and had to do a couple laps around the courthouse."

As an added bonus, here is a link to a video that captures Feinblatt and Lippman's presentation to the Innovations in American Government award committee.