News Release
Texas Access to Justice Foundation
AUSTIN, Texas—The Texas Access to Justice
Foundation (TAJF) honored Austin lawyer James C. Harrington, founder of the
Texas Civil Rights Project, with the prestigious Harold F. Kleinman Award on
Saturday, Nov. 14. Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht
presented the award to Harrington, on behalf of the Texas Access to Justice
Foundation, during the 25th Anniversary Bill of Rights Dinner at the Bullock
Texas State History Museum in Austin.
Established by the Texas
Access to Justice Foundation in 1995, the Harold F. Kleinman Award, named
for the Foundation’s first chairman, is given to individuals whose
outstanding character, commitment and public service to the people of Texas
make them true leaders in access to civil justice. Harrington has dedicated
his career to promoting justice and civil liberty, through the legal system
and public education, for low-income and poor persons. A tireless advocate,
Harrington founded the Texas Civil Rights Project in 1990 as statewide
nonprofit foundation where marginalized people could have access to the
courthouse on issues of great significance to them and to their communities.
He has worked to ensure that persons with disabilities have the access to
which they are entitled, whether at a local restaurant, a movie theater or
at the courthouse. The Project
has grown to a staff of 40 with offices in Austin, El Paso, San Juan,
Houston and Odessa. Previously, Harrington
worked 10 years as director of the South Texas Project in the Rio Grande
Valley along the Mexican border. His legal work involved asserting the
rights of farm laborers and poor people in the Valley, especially its
colonias, where he handled litigation involving police brutality,
discrimination, and farm worker organizing. In 1983, Harrington became legal
director of the Texas Civil Liberties Union in Austin, where he litigated
cases involving privacy as a fundamental right, free speech, and equal
rights for farm laborers to worker’s compensation and unemployment benefits.
He also helped organize the evening East Austin pro bono clinic for
low-income people. Harrington was also an
adjunct professor at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law for 27
years and continues to teach undergraduate writing courses at the university
in civil liberties and history-making trials. He has served on several human
rights delegations abroad and is an author of several articles and three
books on civil rights. A native of Michigan, Harrington received his law
degree and a Master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Detroit. The Supreme Court of
Texas created the nonprofit Texas Access to Justice Foundation in 1984 to
support legal aid efforts throughout the state. Using funding from the
Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Program, as well as public
funding and private donations, TAJF grants millions of dollars each year to
various organizations that provide basic civil legal services to low-income
populations. Since its inception, TAJF has granted more than $410 million to
nonprofit organizations, helping more than 100,000 Texas families each year.
# # # The Texas
Access to Justice Foundation, created by the Supreme Court of Texas in
1984, is the largest state-based funding source for the provision of civil
legal aid in Texas. The organization is committed to the vision that all
Texans will have equal access to justice, regardless of their income. The
Foundation administers a variety of funding sources, which are earmarked to
assist nonprofit organizations in providing legal aid to more than 100,000
Texas families each year. For more information, please visit: www.teajf.org. Contact: Kimberly Schmitt512-320-0099, ext. 104 kschmitt@teajf.org
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