PROGRAM The University of Texas at Austin Thompson Conference Center Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Transcription

1 PROGRAM The University of Texas at Austin Thompson Conference Center Wednesday, September 12, 2012

2 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION Human Rights First would like to thank Michele Deitch, Kerri Battles, and Kelly Pratlett at The University of Texas at Austin, The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, for their tremendous partnership on this event. We also appreciate the assistance of Andrea Black, Judy Greene, Bob Libal, Adan Munoz, Annie Sovcik, Karin Tucker, Ana Yáñez-Correa, and all speakers who are generously sharing their time and expertise with us today.

3 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION Human Rights First s Dialogues on Detention: Applying Lessons from Criminal Justice to the Immigration Detention System will take place in four cities across the United States during 2012 and culminate in a Washington, D.C.-based conference in early The Dialogues will foster constructive discussion on parallel and overlapping challenges facing the U.S. immigration detention system and the U.S. criminal justice system. By facilitating an exchange of knowledge and best practices among experts, academics, elected leaders, government officials, advocates, and the private bar, as well as individuals who have experienced the system first-hand, we aim to help re-shape the national conversation on immigration detention, to find common ground among stakeholders in both fields, and to forge a constructive path forward on detention reform. Our objective is to secure reforms to the immigration detention system so that immigrants and asylum seekers are not detained unnecessarily and in ways that are inconsistent with human rights standards. Join us again at University of California - Irvine School of Law on September 24th, Arizona State University Sandra Day O Connor School of Law on October 12th, and Loyola University New Orleans College of Law on November 30th.

4 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION 1 AGENDA 8:00 8:30 Registration and Light Breakfast 8:30 9:15 Welcome and Setting the Stage n Dean Robert Hutchings, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs n Ruthie Epstein, Human Rights First Introductory remarks from: n Representative Jerry Madden (R-67), Chairman, Texas House Corrections Committee n Edna Yang, General Counsel, American Gateways n Nazry and Hope Mustakim, formerly detained green card holder and his wife 9:15 10:45 Alternatives to Detention: Models and Best Practices Alternatives to detention and community-based release programs have been repeatedly demonstrated to lead to substantial cost savings and high compliance rates in both the immigration detention system and in pre-trial services programs in the criminal justice system. Currently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spends about $2 billion per year on detention, to house 429,000 individuals, and $72 million on alternatives for 23,000. Texas county jails hold about 64,000 individuals daily, almost 60 percent of whom are classified as pre-trial. Particularly at a time when local, state, and federal governments are all facing severe fiscal crises, the immigration detention and corrections systems could be decreasing spending on detention, and reallocating funds to increased investment in effective and rightsrespecting alternatives. What are the elements of a successful alternatives program? What is the definition of success? What is the role of risk assessment tools in an alternatives program? Can bonds be used as assurance in a way that does not disadvantage individuals simply because they do not have money? How can alternatives save taxpayer dollars? n Oren Root, Director, Center on Immigration and Justice, Vera Institute of Justice n Jennifer Long, Executive Director, Casa Marianella (Austin) n Carol Oeller, Director, Harris County (Texas) Pretrial Services n Ana Yáñez-Correa, Ph.D., Executive Director, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition n Representative Jerry Madden (R-67), Chairman, Texas House Corrections Committee n Moderator: Scott Henson, author of the Texas criminal justice blog Grits for Breakfast

5 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION 2 10:45 11:00 Break 11:00 12:30 What Is Civil Detention? 12:45 1:45 Luncheon Detainees and inmates held by ICE, local jails, state prisons, the U.S. Marshals, and the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) all face a fundamental loss of liberty, whether the authority under which they are held is civil/administrative or criminal law, and whether they are awaiting hearings or have been convicted and sentenced. ICE holds in detention up to 8,000 immigrants daily in the state of Texas, including 3,000 in local jails. 64,000 non-ice detainees are held in Texas jails each day, almost 60 percent of whom are pre-trial, in addition to 141,000 in the state s prison system. BOP facilities in Texas account for an additional 35,000 inmates, including almost 14,000 in privately run facilities. What is the legal framework for drawing distinctions among the conditions in civil detention, pre-trial detention, and incarceration? What are the appropriate operational distinctions? What conditions of confinement are necessary to serve the government s purpose? What conditions respect the dignity and rights of the individuals being held in custody? What conditions ensure safety for detainees and inmates as well as officers and staff? n Dora Schriro, Commissioner, New York City Department of Correction n Kevin Landy, Assistant Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Detention Policy and Planning n Barbara Hines, Clinical Law Professor, The University of Texas School of Law, Co-Director, Immigration Clinic n Steve J. Martin, attorney, consultant, former General Counsel, Texas prison system n Moderator: Michele Deitch, Senior Lecturer, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin 2:00 3:30 Oversight and Accountability: Ensuring Safe and Humane Conditions What internal accountability mechanisms and external oversight structures are most effective to ensure that detention facilities are safe and humane and provide appropriate medical and mental health care? Should operational expectations for facilities be outlined in standards or in regulations? What oversight structures should exist when a private company operates a facility for the government, or when the federal government contracts with a local government facility? To what degree is routine monitoring of conditions necessary for all places of detention? What kinds of sanctions are most effective in ensuring compliance with standards, regulations, or contractual obligations? n Dora Schriro, Commissioner, New York City Department of Correction

6 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION 3 3:30 3:45 Break n Brandon Wood, Incoming Executive Director, Texas Commission on Jail Standards n Dr. Bobby Cohen, former Director of Montefiore Rikers Island Health Services, member of New York City Board of Correction n Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, Public Advocate, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations n Moderator and Panelist: Michele Deitch, Senior Lecturer, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin 3:45 5:00 Finding Effective Counsel from Jail: Models of Legal Representation in Texas The performance of counsel in the immigration removal and criminal justice context can be critical for both the outcome of the proceedings and the efficiency/functioning of the courts and individuals who are detained or incarcerated face even greater barriers to obtaining effective legal counsel. What models work best in Texas to ensure that indigent individuals facing criminal charges receive effective counsel? What are the legal representation needs of detained immigrants in Texas, and are those needs being met? What models are most effective to connect qualified attorneys to individuals who need them, especially given the remote location of many detention facilities and jails in Texas? Where is funding and expertise most necessary? n Denise Gilman, Clinical Law Professor, The University of Texas School of Law, Co-Director, Immigration Clinic n Jonathan Ryan, Executive Director, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) (San Antonio) n David González, partner, Sumpter & Gonzalez L.L.P. (Austin) n Moderator: Karen T. Grisez, Public Service Counsel, Fried Frank (Washington, D.C.), immediate past Chair of the ABA Commission on Immigration, current Advisory Committee member 5:00 5:15 Closing Remarks Reception to follow. n Ruthie Epstein, Human Rights First

7 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION 4 PRESENTER BIOS Robert L. Cohen, MD Clinical Instructor, Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine Bobby Cohen has worked for over thirty years as a physician, administrator, court expert, and federally- appointed monitor to improve the care and conditions of prisoners. After graduation from Princeton he was a community organizer in Kensington, Philadelphia. He graduated Rush Medical College in Chicago and then trained in Internal Medicine at Cook County Hospital. Dr. Cohen was the Director of the Montefiore Rikers Island Health Services from 1981 through In 1986 he was appointed Vice President for Medical Operations of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. In 1989 he was appointed Director of the AIDS Center of St. Vincent's Hospital. Dr. Cohen represented the American Public Health Association (APHA) on the Board of the National Commission for Correctional Health Care for 17 years, through He is currently appointed by the New York City Council to represent them on the New York City Board of Correction. Dr. Cohen has served as a Federal Court Monitor overseeing efforts to improve medical care for prisoners in Florida (Costello v. Wainwright) and Ohio (Austin et al. v. Wilkinson). He is currently appointed as a Federal Monitor in New York State (Milburn v. Coughlin), and Michigan (Hadix v. Caruso). He is also appointed to monitor the care of all prisoners living with HIV in the state of Connecticut (Doe v. Meachum). Dr. Cohen practices internal medicine in NYC. He is a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Medicine of the New York University School of Medicine. Michele Deitch Senior Lecturer, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin Michele Deitch is a Senior Lecturer at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches graduate level courses in juvenile justice and criminal justice policy. She is considered one of the country s leading experts on independent oversight of correctional institutions, the rights of prisoners, institutional reform litigation, prison privatization, and the management of juvenile offenders. She is trained as a lawyer, and has spent her 26-year career working on prison and jail-related issues in a variety of capacities. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the American Bar Association s subcommittee on correctional oversight, and also recently served on the ABA s Task Force that helped develop Civil Immigration Detention Standards. She was also the original drafter of the ABA s newly adopted standards on the legal treatment of prisoners.

8 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION 5 Professor Deitch has provided featured testimony on the correctional oversight issue before the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission and the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America s Prisons. She has authored and co-authored numerous works on this topic, including several pieces in Opening Up a Closed World: A Sourcebook on Prison Oversight, 30 Pace Law Review (2010). Prior to entering academia, Professor Deitch served as a consultant to many state and local jurisdictions to help reduce prison and jail crowding through development of alternatives to incarceration and to help address prisoner safety issues. She also served as a full-time courtappointed monitor of conditions in the Texas prison system, in the landmark class action case of Ruiz v. Estelle. In the early 1990 s, she served as General Counsel to the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee and as Policy Director of the Texas Punishment Standards Commission (the state s sentencing commission). She holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.Sc. in psychology from Oxford University, and a B.A. from Amherst College. Ruthie Epstein Researcher & Advocate, Refugee Protection Program, Human Rights First Ruthie Epstein holds a Master s of International Affairs from Columbia University and an A.B. in history from Washington University in St. Louis. Based in New York City, she works as Researcher & Advocate in the Refugee Protection Program at Human Rights First, with a focus on immigration detention and U.S. domestic asylum policy. Ms. Epstein is the author of Jails and Jumpsuits: Transforming the U.S. Immigration Detention System A Two-Year Review, released in October She presented the preliminary findings of this report in August 2011 at the annual meeting of the American Bar Association. Ms. Epstein has also worked extensively on the issue of Iraqi displacement and wrote the report Promises to the Persecuted: The Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act (2009). Previously, she helped to run Human Rights First s pro bono legal representation program for indigent asylum seekers in New York and New Jersey.

9 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION 6 Denise Gilman Clinical Law Professor and Co-Director of the Immigration Law Clinic, The University of Texas School of Law Denise Gilman teaches and co-directs the Immigration Clinic after having joined the clinical faculty at The University of Texas School of Law in the fall of Professor Gilman received her undergraduate degree with honors in political science from Northwestern University. She received her law degree from Columbia University School of Law, where she served on the Law Review, was elected president of the Student Senate and received the Rosenmann award for leadership and public interest scholarship. Professor Gilman also has an LLM from Georgetown University Law Center. Professor Gilman clerked for Judge Thomas M. Reavley, at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She is fluent in Spanish. Professor Gilman has written and practiced extensively in the international human rights and immigrants' rights fields. From 2000 to 2005, Professor Gilman was Director of the Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project at the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. At the Lawyers' Committee, Professor Gilman coordinated the representation of political asylum applicants by pro bono attorneys and engaged in advocacy on issues of significance to the newcomer community. She also investigated and litigated individual and impact cases involving law enforcement abuses against immigrants and discrimination against newcomers in housing and employment. From 1995 to 2000, Professor Gilman served as Human Rights Specialist at the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights at the Organization of American States and then Director of the Mexico Project at the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First). Professor Gilman made her transition from legal practice to clinical teaching through completion of a two-year clinical teaching fellowship at the Georgetown University Law Center from 2005 to At Georgetown, Professor Gilman co-taught an asylum law clinic. In 2003, Professor Gilman received an "Excellence in Lawyering" award from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. In 2005, she received the Community Outreach Recognition and Opportunity ("CORO") Award from the D.C. Court of Appeals. Professor Gilman served on the board of the Central American Resource Center in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Professor Gilman's recent scholarship includes: A "Bilingual" Approach to Language Rights, 24 Harv. Hum. Rts. J. 1 (2011); Seeking Breaches in the Wall: An International Human Rights Law Challenge to the Texas- Mexico Border Wall, 46 Tex. Int'l L.J. 257 (2011); Calling the United States' Bluff: How Sovereign Immunity Undermines the United States' Claim to an Effective Domestic Human Rights System, 95 Geo. L.J. 591 (2007).

10 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION 7 David Gonzalez Founding Partner, Sumpter & Gonzalez L.L.P. David Gonzalez is the founding partner of Sumpter & Gonzalez, a criminal defense firm whose commitment to social justice involves defending against serious criminal accusations for both private and indigent clients. The Firm s mission is to serve clients beyond the legal issues of their case and work to address the underlying reasons a client is involved in the criminal justice system. The vision of Sumpter & Gonzalez is simple: getting arrested should be the beginning of a new perspective in life, not the end of it. In 2011 and 2010, Sumpter & Gonzalez was a finalist in the Austin Chamber of Commerce Awards in the Innovation category. In 2008, David was awarded the Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year award by the Austin Young Lawyers Association, and was a finalist in the American Bar Association s National Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year & in the local Austin Under 40 awards. David froze to death at Dartmouth College, then went out West to Stanford Law School in search of warmer weather. David met his wife, Corinne, on the first day of law school, but she pretty much ignored him for the next eighteen months until he was able to convince her to date him midway through their second year. The two of them juggle their law practice with four kids and seven chickens in tow. In his free time, David enjoys teaching at the law school, helping coach his daughter Ramona's soccer team, and embarrassing his kids in public. Karen Grisez Public Service Counsel, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP Karen Grisez is full time Public Service Counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP. Karen is the immediate past Chair of the ABA Commission on Immigration and a current member of its Advisory Committee. She is also a former co-chair of the ABA Section of Litigation s Immigration Litigation Committee. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and co-chair of the DC AILA Chapter's Pro Bono Committee, as well as a former Trustee of the American Immigration Council. Karen also serves on the boards of the Capital Area Immigrants Rights (CAIR) Coalition, the Center for Migration Studies, the Washington Council of Lawyers, and is a Trustee of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs. Ms. Grisez received her Bachelor s degree from the University of Maryland and her J.D. from the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America. She has successfully represented numerous asylum applicants and other immigrants before the Asylum Offices, Immigration Judges, the BIA and in

11 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION 8 federal court and litigates a variety of other immigration-related matters. She also speaks frequently on immigration-related topics. Scott Henson Author of the Texas Criminal Justice Blog Grits for Breakfast Barbara Hines Clinical Law Professor and Co-Director of the Immigration Law Clinic, The University of Texas at Austin School of Law Barbara Hines co-directs the immigration clinic at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. Professor Hines has practiced in the field since 1975 and is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She has received numerous awards for her work including the 1992 American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Jack Wasserman Award for Excellence in Litigation; the 1993 AILA Texas Chapter Litigation Award; the 2002 Texas Law Fellowships Excellence in Public Interest Award; the 2007 AILA Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award; the 2009 MALDEF Excellence in Legal Services Award; and the 2010 National Lawyer's Guild Carol King Award. In 2000, she was named one of the 100 best lawyers in the state by the Texas Lawyer publication. Professor Hines was a Fulbright scholar in Argentina in 1996 and focused her research on Argentine immigration law. She received a second Fulbright award in 2004 and taught a course on U.S. immigration law and policy at the Universidad de Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Professor Hines served as the first Co-Director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of Texas, Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. She serves on the Board of Directors of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild. She has litigated many issues relating to the constitutional and statutory rights of immigrants in federal and immigration courts including the lawsuit leading to the closure of the Hutto immigrant family detention center. She frequently lectures and writes on topics related immigration law and immigrants rights. Robert Hutchings Dean, LBJ School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin Robert Hutchings is dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. Before joining the LBJ School in March 2010, Hutchings was Diplomat in Residence in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He was also faculty chair of the Master in Public Policy program and served for five years as assistant dean of the school. During a public service leave from Princeton University in , he was Chairman of the U.S. National Intelligence Council in Washington. His combined academic and diplomatic career has included service as Fellow and Director of International Studies at the Woodrow

12 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION 9 Wilson International Center for Scholars, Director for European Affairs with the National Security Council, and Special Adviser to the Secretary of State, with the rank of ambassador. Ambassador Hutchings also served as deputy director of Radio Free Europe and on the faculty of the University of Virginia, and has held adjunct appointments at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and Georgetown University s School of Foreign Service. He is author of At the End of the American Century and of American Diplomacy and the End of the Cold War, which was published in German as als der Kalte Krieg zu Ende war, along with many articles and book chapters on European and transatlantic affairs. While chairing the National Intelligence Council, he directed the year-long NIC 2020 project resulting in a report called Mapping the Global Future, examining the forces that will shape world affairs out to the year His current research springs from that project and aims at developing a global policy agenda, based on a series of structured strategic dialogues over the past two years with leaders in China, Russia, India, Brazil, South Africa, and a dozen other key countries around the world. Hutchings is a director of the Atlantic Council of the United States and of the Foundation for a Civil Society, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the British-North American Committee, a member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA) Executive Committee, and founding president of the Austin Council on Foreign Affairs. A recipient of the National Intelligence Medal and the U.S. State Department Superior Honor Award, he was also awarded the Order of Merit (with Commander's Cross) of the Republic of Poland for his contributions to Polish freedom. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. Kevin Landy Assistant Director for the Office of Detention Policy and Planning, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security Kevin Landy is Assistant Director for the Office of Detention Policy and Planning (ODPP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security. ODPP leads ICE s efforts to overhaul the immigration detention system, an effort which requires extensive collaboration and consultation with both internal and external stakeholders. Prior to joining ICE, Mr. Landy served for nearly fourteen years on Senator Joseph I. Lieberman s staff on the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and was the Committee s Chief Counsel from 2007 to During that time he staffed Senator Lieberman on immigration and border security matters, among other issues, and drafted immigration detention reform legislation known as the Secure and Safe Detention and Asylum Act. Prior to working for Senator Lieberman, Mr. Landy was in private practice for two years at the litigation firm of Jenner & Block in Washington, D.C. and spent one year in Cambodia working for the Cambodian Court Reform Project, a program run by the International Human Rights Law Group. For two years before law school, he helped to monitor the Texas Department of Corrections on behalf of

13 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION 10 the Special Master in the federal class action litigation Ruiz v. Estelle, and the Harris County Jail on behalf of the Special Master in Alberti v. Klevenhagen. Kevin graduated from Amherst College in 1988 and from Yale Law School in Jennifer Long Executive Director, Casa Marianella Jennifer has been the Director of Casa Marianella s Emergency Shelter since She received a degree in Social Philosophy from UC Santa Cruz and a Masters degree in ESL from The University of Texas at Austin. Andrew Lorenzen-Strait Public Advocate for Enforcement and Removal Operations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security Andrew Lorenzen-Strait is the public advocate for Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Washington, D.C. Prior to this position, he served as the senior advisor for ERO s Detention Management Division, where he advised on policy oversight for the administrative custody of an average of 400,000 detainees each year. He also served as a lead advisor on ICE s efforts to reform the current immigration civil detention system. Mr. Lorenzen-Strait, who began his career with ICE in 2008, has an extensive background in federal law enforcement and immigration policy. He previously served as the agency s chief public engagement officer in ICE s Office of State, Local, and Tribal Coordination and as the special assistant for policy and outreach in ICE Office of Policy. Mr. Lorenzen-Strait has worked in a variety of federal law enforcement agencies, including service as a senior analyst for the U.S. Secret Service and as a presidential management fellow. Mr. Lorenzen-Strait holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California at Irvine, a juris doctorate with an emphasis in child advocacy from Whittier Law School, and a certificate in national security leadership and decision-making from the U.S. National Defense University. In 2007, Mr. Lorenzen-Strait was names the Maryland Attorney of the Year for providing pro bono services to Community Legal Services of Prince George s County. Mr. Lorenzen-Strait is a member of the Maryland U.S. Supreme Court bars.

14 DIALOGUES ON DETENTION 11 Representative Jerry Madden (R-67) Chairman, Texas House Corrections Committee Representative Madden and his wife, Barbara, a retired nurse, have been married 47 years. They are the proud parents of three adult children - Jerry, Stephanie and Kristina - and have six grandchildren. Upon graduation from West Point with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Jerry spent six years in the Army, including one year in Vietnam and two years in Germany, before bringing his family to Richardson, Texas, in As a 41 year resident of Collin County, Jerry has been involved in numerous veterans' and community organizations, holding positions such as President of the Collin County School Board, and Chairman of the Collin County Hospital Board as well as serving on the Advisory Board of the Plano Chamber of Commerce. He was instrumental in launching the Collin County Caring for Children program, a joint venture between Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas and the private sector. Dedicated to the Republican philosophy, Jerry was elected Precinct Chairman in his local neighborhood in 1974, and Chairman of the Republican Party of Collin County in First elected to the Texas Legislature in November of 1992 and now in his tenth term, Madden is Chairman of the House Committee on Corrections, which he chaired from 2005 to 2009, as well as a member of the Select Committee on Election Contest, the Redistricting Committee, and the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee. Prior committee appointments have included Calendars, Public Education, House Select Committee on Public School Finance, State Affairs, Urban Affairs, Public Safety, Elections, State, Federal and International Relations, and Rules and Resolutions. Different legislative initiatives for which he has been commended range from the highly successful 2007 criminal justice system reforms which sought to divert individuals from prison through mental health and substance abuse treatment programs, provide more opportunities in prison for rehabilitation, and properly utilize probation and parole mechanisms to avoid greater costs if new prisons were built; from establishing a state virtual education system to supporting participation of military voters in elections; from advocating for victim's rights to instituting judicial campaign fairness. He has been honored for his work in a variety of policy areas by organizations including the American Legion-Dept. of Texas, Texas Common Cause, Texas Association of Business, Texas Library Association, Texas Classroom Teachers Association, Texas Home School Coalition, American Family Association of Texas, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, the Texas Corrections Association and Texas Access to Justice Commission/Foundation. In wake of the 2007 Legislative Session, Rep. Madden was designated by Texas Monthly as one of its 10 Best Legislators. While this honor is certainly notable, Rep. Madden was the first recipient of the 2007 Carmen Miller Michael Mental Health Advocate Prism Award, was recognized as a University of Texas at Dallas Distinguished Alumnus in March of 2009, was named to the Board of Directors of the Council of State Governments Justice Center in April of 2009, and served from July 2009 to July 2010 as Chairman of the Law and Criminal Justice Committee formed by the