Earl Larson Award 2009

More than 150 members of the legal profession, politicians, and civil libertarians gathered on November 18 to applaud Thomas C. Kayser’s reception of the Earl Larson award from the ACLU of Minnesota.

The Earl Larson award was created in 1996 to honor an attorney who had supported the cause of civil liberties over his or her entire career.

Kayser, a partner in the firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, began his affiliation with the American Civil Liberties Union in Texas during his career with the US Air Force (he retired from the Air Force Reserves with the rank of Colonel). He came to the Twin Cities in the early 60’s, hired by Ken Tilsen, who won the Award in 2007.

Kayser immediately became involved with the civil liberties union and took a number of conscientious objection cases during the Vietnam War years. Over the next years he led teams of Robins attorneys who defended death penalty cases, Guantanamo cases. His most recent case for the ACLU of Minnesota was the case of SAGE vs. Osseo School District.

The lawsuit argued that Maple Grove Senior High violated the Federal Equal Access Act when it treated the student group, Straights and Gays for Equality (SAGE), less favorably than other student groups. In August 2008, a federal appeals court upheld a permanent injunction, requiring Maple Grove Senior to treat SAGE the same as other student groups.

In addition to his pro bono work for the ACLU-MN, Kayser was named the 2007 “Volunteer of the Year” by the Volunteer Lawyers Network for his work in family law and was awarded the Professional Excellence Award by the Minnesota State Bar Association in 2009.

Pictures: In the top picture left to right it is: President of the ACLU-MN, Vice President of ACLU-MN, Earl Larson honoree, and Executive Director of ACLU-MN. The lower picture is of the Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi attorneys who worked on SAGE over the span of the case.