From staff reports Robert Don Gifford – a former resident of Lawton, a former uniformed military lawyer (Judge Advocate General’s Corps) at Fort Sill, a University of Oklahoma law school graduate, and a Supreme Court Justice for the Comanche Nation – has been named the 2025 winner of the Clarence Darrow Award.

The Darrow Award, given by the Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, recognizes an Oklahoma attorney who exemplifies the zealous criminal defense advocacy that befits the namesake of the award: the famed Clarence Darrow of Chicago, who is probably best known for his defense of school teacher John Thomas Scopes in the 1925 “Monkey Trial” in Dayton, Tennessee.

Gifford was recognized for his work in securing a Presidential Commutation for Native American activist Leonard Peltier; his record of two acquittals in federal court and several dismissals prior to trial (in federal, state and tribal courts); as well as his pro bono work and advocacy outside of the courtroom with his writings and public speaking.

The latest national statistics show that of the 71,954 federal jury trials, there were only 290 acquittals. In federal criminal cases only 4% of all jury trials result in a ‘not guilty’ verdict – yet Gifford had multiple acquittals in a single year.

He also was elected earlier this year to the board of directors for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU- Oklahoma) and selected to serve as an Oklahoma representative to the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights.

Gifford, 54, is the founder of Gifford Law in Oklahoma City and has a statewide practice in civil rights and criminal defense. He served as an active-duty military defense counsel as a young captain at Fort Sill in 19992001, and from 2011-2014 he served as the staff judge advocate as an Army Reservist for the 95th Training Division at Fort Sill.

A retired colonel from the U.S. Army Reserves, Gifford previously was honored by the Cherokee Nation with the Medal of Patriotism for his 23 years of active and reserve military service and continued service to veterans.

He also has chaired the Military and Veterans Law Section for the Oklahoma Bar Association for more than 10 years.

Gifford attended Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, where he earned undergraduate degrees in film, public relations, and communications, with a minor in business administration; holds a master’s degree from the U.S. Army War College; and received his juris doctorate from the OU College of Law in 1996.