Our First Amendment Honor and Event

The First Amendment Award, from the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, honors New Hampshire individuals or groups who stand out in their defense of, or their use of, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. You can learn more, and see a list of past honorees below. Our 2023 Event was held on October 26. Read on to learn more about our 2023 Honoree.

You can watch our 2023 Event at this LINK.

Laurie Ortolano of Nashua, NH, is the 2023 First Amendment Award Honoree for her advocacy for government transparency. This award, from the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, honors New Hampshire individuals or groups that have advanced or exercised their First Amendment rights in some special or extraordinary way.

Ortolano's commitment to open government has been unwavering since her first encounter with right-to-know requests as a member of the Litchfield School Board in the early 2000s, where transparency was embraced without legal disputes. However, her move to Nashua in 2014 marked the beginning of a different journey.

City officials in Nashua have met Ortolano's numerous right-to-know requests for tax assessment, finance, and development information with denials, court battles, and even an arrest for criminal trespassing when she visited city hall during the pandemic without an appointment (the arrest was later annulled).

Undeterred by these challenges, she has consistently taken her fight to court, accumulating legal fees and costs totaling $270,000. Her persistence has paid off with victories in three cases, two cases still pending, and three awaiting judgments from the state Supreme Court. In 2023, a Superior Court judge ordered the city to pay Ortolano $63,400 in legal fees and mandated that Nashua city officials undergo remedial right-to-know training to avoid "future violations."

The city appealed to the state Supreme Court. In August, the justices upheld Ortolano’s victory. In their decision, they quoted a portion of the state’s right to know law, “The purpose of the right-to-know law is to ensure both the greatest possible public access to the actions, discussions, and records of all public bodies, and their accountability to the people.”

Ortolano’s honor will be celebrated at the Nackey S. Loeb School’s 2023 First Amendment Award event on Thursday, October 26, in Manchester. Event information, sponsorship, and ticket purchasing are available at loebschool.org.

Past First Amendment Award Honorees

The First Amendment Award from the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications honors New Hampshire individuals or groups who stand out in their defense of or their use of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

Past Quill and Ink Recipients

The Quill and Ink Award from the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications is not given annually, but reserved to honor significant contributions to the education of Granite Staters about the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

First Amendment Award Judges

Each year, a distinguished group of judges reviews First Amendment nominees submitted by the public to choose the recipient. This year’s Award judges are previous First Amendment recipient and Legal Director, ACLU-NH Gilles Bissonnette,  Retired N.H. Supreme Court Justice Richard Galway, Attorney Gregory Sullivan of Malloy & Sullivan, LPC, and NH Bulletin Senior Reporter Annmarie Timmins.

The Loeb Eagle

First Amendment Award recipients receive a bronze eagle sculpture created by Mrs. Loeb and a $1,500 award.

Nackey Loeb communicated through her art as well as her pen. She was an accomplished painter and sculptor. A Loeb Eagle is given annually to the First Amendment Honors recipient. Mrs. Loeb created the original in her Prides Crossing, Mass., home where it greeted guests at the front door. Daughters Nackey Scagliotti and the late Edith Tomasko commissioned the replica as a fitting remembrance of their mom and her patriotism

First Amendment Award Nominations for 2024 will open in the Spring.

PAST First Amendment Award Events

2022 FIRST AMENDMENT AWARD PROGRAM

A video version of our 2022 First Amendment Award Event, thanks to Concord Community Television.

About our 2022 Honoree, GILLES BISSONNETTE, ACLU-NH Legal Director.