Call for Nominations: Frank Carrington Crime Victim Attorney Award
Call for nominations for the Frank Carrington Crime Victim Attorney Award. The nominee must be a U.S. attorney, legal service provider, or organization who either: (1) represented victims in criminal, juvenile, or appellate courts, or (2) worked to promote the rights of victims in the criminal justice system. The award is bestowed annually by the ABA Criminal Justice Section.
Selection Criteria
The award committee says that they specifically will consider the following four criteria:
- Contributions of the nominee over the course of the nominee’s career to improve the rights of crime victims in the system.
- Contribution of outstanding legal scholarship or legal advocacy to improve the rights of crime victims in the system.
- Provision of volunteer efforts to victims or efforts beyond the normal employment obligations.
- Provision of leadership or major role in the advancement of the rights of crime victims in the system.
Nomination Guidelines and Deadline
All nominations must be submitted by a member of the ABA. For additional detailed information, see Call for Nominations, Frank Carrington Crime Victim Attorney Award (MS Word).
Nominations should include a letter addressing the award criteria listed above, the nominee’s resume, and any other supporting documentation of the nominee’s achievements in the criminal justice field, and sent to: Stacey Brown, Membership Coordinator, ABA Criminal Justice Section, 740 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005, browns@staff.abanet.org.
Nominations are due by December 15, 2009.
Note: If you are not a member of the ABA and would like to nominate someone, please contact me. As a member of the ABA, I am qualified to submit nominations.
About Frank Carrington
The late attorney Frank Carrington died in 1992 in a house fire, leaving a legacy of enhanced civil remedies for crime victims and improved treatment of victims in the criminal justice system.
Among his contributions, Carrington founded and served as the Director of the Victims’ Assistance Legal Organization (VALOR). He also served as the Director of the National Organization for Victims Assistance, the Chairman of the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section’s Victims Committee, and on the President Reagan’s Task Force on Victims of Crime. He was the founding force behind the established of the Coalition of Victims’ Attorneys and Consultants (COVAC). He also served as a member of the California Attorney General’s Commission on Victims and the AG’s Task Force on Violent Crime.
He co-authored with James Rapp the 1991 casebook, “Victims’ Rights: Law and Litigation.” His 1975 book, “The Victims,” offered a compendium of civil appellate cases. He spent five years collecting and cataloging 4,000 appellate cases in the area of crime victim litigation. For more books, see Open Library: Frank Carrington. His law journal articles focused on victims’ rights and criminal justice issues, particularly the exclusionary rule.
On April 22, 1991, President Bush named Carrington the “father of the victims’ movement” during an award ceremony at the White House during National Crime Victims Rights Week. He was among seven individuals honored for their “outstanding contributions in assisting victims of crime.”
Carrington served with the Marine Corps. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1960 and received an LL.M. in criminal law from Northwestern University in 1970.
In 1987, he appeared before Congress in support of the nomination of Anthony Kennedy to the U.S. Supreme Court.
For more, read his Obituary in The New York Times and Remembering a Hero: Frank G. Carrington, Esq. 1936-1992, by David Beatty, National Victim Center