FAS

The Ron Ridenhour Prizes

04.17.09 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

Former Justice Department attorney Thomas Tamm, who was one of the early sources for the December 2005 New York Times story on warrantless government surveillance and who is under threat of prosecution for having revealed classified information without authorization, yesterday received the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling.

The Ridenhour Prizes, named for the late Ron Ridenhour who exposed the 1968 My Lai massacre, are intended to “foster the spirit of courage and truth,” particularly when doing so involves defiance of official authority at some personal cost.

Other Ridenhour Prizes, presented at a ceremony yesterday, were given to New Yorker writer Jane Mayer, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, and reporter Nick Turse.