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  3. Thomas Balmer Receives the Oregon State Bar Award for Judicial Excellence
Home Thomas Balmer Receives the Oregon State Bar Award for Judicial Excellence
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Thomas Balmer Receives the Oregon State Bar Award for Judicial Excellence

March 14, 2024
Image Balmer-Thomas.jpg

The Oregon State Bar honored Thomas A. Balmer of the Oregon Supreme Court with the Wallace P. Carson Jr. Award for Judicial Excellence. The award is given to current or retired state court or federal judge that has made a significant contribution to the judicial system and is a model of professionalism, integrity, and judicial independence. The award was established in 2006 in honor of Wallace P. Caron Jr, Oregon’s longest serving chief justice.

Balmer was elected to ALI in 2018 and to its Council in 2022. He served on the Oregon Supreme Court from 2001 to 2022 and as chief justice from 2012 to 2018. He is now a senior judge and sits, by designation, as an appellate and trial judge in the Oregon courts.

Balmer received the award during the Oregon State Bar annual awards ceremony in October 2023. The Oregon State Bar Bulletin profiled Balmer on the award, available here.

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Traynor on Liberty, Law, and Democracy

In his essay "Liberty, Law, and Democracy: Are There Grounds for Realistic Optimism?" Michael Traynor, former President of The American Law Institute, reflects on the challenges facing American democracy amid political polarization and institutional strain. He examines threats to the balance between liberty and law, citing dysfunction across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, while drawing on historical context and recent scholarship to frame these concerns.

Despite his sober assessment, Traynor maintains a guarded optimism rooted in America’s resilience, civic traditions, and individual potential to effect change. He highlights positive actions within the legal community, nonprofit organizations, and among engaged citizens, while outlining five practical steps Americans can take to strengthen democracy: improving civic education, demanding accountability, fostering open debate, participating in elections and local governance, and resisting simplistic solutions.

Traynor concludes that democracy is “stubborn work,” incremental, imperfect, and ongoing, but expresses confidence that Americans have the resolve to preserve it.

Read the full article The New Nationalist. 

Michael Traynor is senior counsel at Cobalt LLP in Berkeley California. He served as ALI President from 2000 to 2008, and as Chair of the Council from 2008 to 2011. He is also a recipient of ALI's Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Traynor is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.   He received the John P. Frank Outstanding Lawyer Award from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is an honorary life trustee of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and of Earthjustice and a past President (1973) of the Bar Association of San Francisco. 

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