One of the items that stands out on Harriett Miers' resume is that she was honored in 1996 by the Anti-Defamation League, which presented her with a Jurisprudence award for "her devotion to the principles enshrined in the Constitution and for symbolizing commitment to the democratic values which characterize America." The obvious question is, what did Miers do to merit the award?

  Some conservatives have concluded that Miers must have done something liberal, but my own research suggests a different answer. Contemporaneous news accounts suggest that the local chapter of the ADL gave the award to recognize the public service of a civic-minded, prominent, and politically well-connected local attorney.

  I plunked down $2.95 to purchase a copy of a 1996 Dallas Morning news article announcing that Miers had been picked to win the award. It focuses both on Miers' connection to George Bush and her accomplishments as a law firm head and state bar association president. An excerpt of the 1996 article:

  Ms. Miers has blazed a professional path that not only includes the leadership post in one of Dallas most prestigious law firms - where she is the first woman president - but also served as the first woman president of both the Dallas Bar Association and the State Bar Association.
  She is also the first woman to receive the Jurisprudence Award, whose past recipients include the late Donald C. McCleary, Tom Unis, Tom Luce, Harold F. Kleinman, Robert L. Blumenthal, Sidney Stahl and Larry Schoenbrun.

  Then-Governor Bush and Laura Bush were honorary Co-Chairs of the award ceremony, and it was at the ceremony that Bush famously described Miers as a "pit bull in size 6 shoes." (Other Bush quotes from the same talk: "When it comes to a cross-examination, she can fillet better than Mrs. Paul." "When she's out for justice, she's a formidable character.")

  I plunked down another $2.95 to get the Dallas Morning News story reporting on the award, and it had the following:

  Mark Briskman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the luncheon audience of more than 400 was the largest ever. "We picked the right recipient," he said. ". . . She commands that type of respect in the community."
  The Anti-Defamation League is a civil rights and human relations group dedicated to improving intergroup and interfaith relations and opposing extremist and anti-democratic forces.
  Ms. Miers praised the league.
  "Each of us must be prepared to change unacceptable behavior rather than be too busy, too reluctant, too aloof and maybe even sometimes too afraid," she said.

  What does it mean? Well, the sense I get from these news reports — and other reports on the same local award given other years — is that the ADL award was not for anything with political or ideological overtones. The ADL was simply recognizing a prominent and civic-minded lawyer.

  UPDATE: I deleted a phrase that initially characterized the ADL as "generally identified as left-of-center" because on reflection I didn't think it fair to characterize the ADL that way; I don't know enough about the organization to give my own assessment of its political leanings, and I was being lazy in accepting the description made by the critics whose views I was trying to challenge. Thanks to several commenters for pointing out the problem.