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USD School of Law Alum Presented with John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award

BOSTON (May 7, 2012) – Today, University of San Diego School of Law alum and former Iowa Supreme Court Justice Michael Streit, '75, was presented the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, which recognizes public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences. Streit was one of three Iowa Supreme Court judges who were ousted in 2010 after the court unanimously decided to legalize same-sex marriage.

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president and head of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, presented the award.

“The three judges are interesting and courageous on many levels,” said Caroline Kennedy in an interview with the Associated Press. “Like many of the people who get this award, they don’t consider that they are doing anything particularly courageous, they just feel they’re doing what’s right. They’re doing their job.”

Former Iowa Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and former Justice David Baker were also chosen in recognition of the political courage and judicial independence that each demonstrated in setting aside popular opinion to uphold the basic freedoms and security guaranteed to all citizens under the Iowa constitution. Streit and the other two judges received a sterling silver ship’s lantern symbolizing a beacon of hope.

View the complete JFK Presidential Library and Museum press release or read more about Streit and the Profiles in Courage Award in the New York Times.