Anthony Thompson wins EL Award for tri-state area's most outstanding Latinos

Anthony ThompsonProfessor of Clinical Law Anthony Thompson has been named one of the 39 most outstanding Latinos in the tri-state area by El Diario La Prensa, the oldest Spanish-language daily newspaper in the U.S. He received an EL Award at an October 20 ceremony at the Grand Havana Room, along with other influential Latinos in the areas of business, entertainment, sports, and community.

Thompson, a member of the NYU Law faculty since 1996, focuses in his instruction and research on the criminal justice system. He teaches the Criminal and Community Defense Clinic, the Offender Reentry Clinic, and the Current Constitutional Issues Seminar. His 2008 book Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities: Reentry, Race, and Politics discusses the problems faced by ex-offenders returning to their communities. Thompson has said that he strives to “explore the impact of race, power and politics on individuals and communities as they come into contact with our system of justice.”

The EL Awards are now in their eighth year. This year’s winners were featured in a special supplement in the paper’s October 23 edition. “Our honorees come from different backgrounds and industries,” said Rossana Rosado, publisher and CEO of El Diario La Prensa. “We have an amazing and eclectic group of Latinos, and we are very proud to have them here with us today celebrating their excellence and leadership and our heritage.”

Thompson has served as faculty director of both the Root-Tilden-Kern and the Bickel & Brewer Scholarship programs. He won both a Distinguished Teaching Award and a Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty Award last year from NYU. In 2007, Thompson received NYU Law’s Podell Distinguished Teaching Award.

Posted on October 31, 2011