Washington, DC, November 2, 2001 — The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2001 equal justice awards, which will be given out on Friday, November 9, at the association's Annual Conference in Miami. Each year NLADA honors distinguished men and women whose outstanding service, commitment and achievements have advanced the cause of equal access to justice. This year's awards to be given are the Reginald Heber Smith Award, the Charles Dorsey Award, the Mary Ellen Hamilton Award and the Clara Shortridge Foltz Award.

"Every year I have the high privilege of participating in this prestigious awards ceremony and cannot express enough the magnitude of these fine men and women's contributions to our cause," said Clint Lyons, NLADA president and CEO. "For these awards represent the great strides and advancements that these individuals have played in ensuring the continuance of equal access to justice for all Americans regardless of color, gender or socioeconomic status."

The Reginald Heber Smith Award winner is Mary Ann Tally, director of the Trial Assistance Unit at the nonprofit Center for Death Penalty Litigation and board member of the newly formed Indigent Defense Commission of North Carolina. Tally has dedicated 27 years of service to the advocacy rights for the poor and disenfranchised in our society and has tirelessly advocated on behalf of capital defendants. The "Reggie" award celebrates the outstanding achievements and dedicated service of an attorney for contributions made by an organization providing civil legal services or indigent defense services.

This year's recipient of the Charles Dorsey Award is Robert Spangenberg, president of The Spangenberg Group in Newton, Massachusetts. Spangenberg has dedicated 40 years of professional service to improving the legal representation provided to those persons unable to afford legal representation. The Charles Dorsey Award is given biennially to an individual who has provided extraordinary and dedicated service to the equal justice community and to organizations that promote expanding and improving access to justice for low-income people.

The Mary Ellen Hamilton Award recipient, posthumously, is Gladys Barnes, former volunteer executive director of the Gadsden/Etowah County Housing Council of the Community Housing Resource Board in Alabama. "Ms. Barnes" passed away earlier this year and is fondly remembered for her tireless dedication to the equal justice cause. This award is given biennially to an individual who has provided extraordinary and dedicated service to the equal justice community and to organizations that promote expanding, and improving access to justice for low-income people.

The Clara Shortridge Foltz Award, given jointly by NLADA and the American Bar Association, goes to the Youth Advocacy Project (YAP) of the Committee for Public Counsel Services. YAP is recognized for the quality of representation it provides to indigent youth that are 12 to 17 years of age charged in delinquency matters, its exemplary involvement in the Roxbury community and youth serving organizations, and its commitment to reforming the institutions that serve the children in the Roxbury and Dorchester communities in Boston. This biennial award commends a public defender program or defense delivery system for outstanding achievement in the provision of indigent defense services. The achievement may be the result of an effort by the entire program, a division or branch, or a special project.

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The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), founded in 1911, is the oldest and largest national, nonprofit membership organization devoting all of its resources to advocating equal access to justice for all Americans. NLADA champions effective legal assistance for people who cannot afford counsel, serves as a collective voice for both civil legal services and public defense services throughout the nation and provides a wide range of services and benefits to its individual and organizational members.