A West Virginia University law professor and a Morgantown attorney with ties to WVU will be honored Saturday (Nov. 19) by the state American Civil Liberties Union.

Professor Robert Bastress of the College of Law and local attorney Allan Karlin, a WVU law lecturer, will be lauded for their work in civil liberties at the organizations annual Bill of Rights dinner in South Charleston.

Former White House correspondent Helen Thomas will be the keynote speaker at the benefit dinner, which will be at 5:30 p.m. at the India Center.

Bastress and Karlin will share the organizations Sid Bell Memorial Award for Service for taking the case of an international couple who claimed discrimination after losing their jobs at a Morgantown-based federal research facility last year.

The award recipients are both longtime legal volunteers with the state ACLU , said Andrew Schneider, the organizations executive director.

Bob Bastress and Al Karlin both have brilliant, legal minds,Schneider said,and theyre both very generous with their time and their expertise. The ACLU is lucky and grateful.