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Retired Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Judge Ernestine S. Gray the First Louisiana Recipient Honored with the ABA Mark Hardin Award
<p style="text-align:center;"> </p><div align="left" style="text-align:center;"><table style="width:100%;background-color:#428bca;"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td bgcolor="#428bca" height="21" valign="middle" width="100%"><div align="center"><strong><span style="color:#ffffff;">2022 Press Releases</span></strong></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table width="16%" style="width:1112px;"><tbody><tr></tr></tbody></table></div><table style="width:100%;text-align:center;"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td width="82" style="text-align:left;width:71px;">CONTACT: </td><td width="253" style="text-align:left;width:1039px;">Trina S. Vincent<br />504-310-2590</td></tr></tbody></table><div align="left" style="text-align:center;"><table style="width:100%;border-spacing:3px;background-color:#f7ebc6;"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td width="38%" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:#212073;text-transform:uppercase;"><strong>April 21, 2022</strong></span></td><td width="62%"><p align="right"><span style="color:#212073;"><strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</strong></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong></strong> </p><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>RETIRED ORLEANS PARISH JUVENILE COURT JUDGE ERNESTINE S. GRAY <br />THE FIRST LOUISIANA RECIPIENT HONORED WITH THE ABA MARK HARDIN AWARD</strong></p><p><strong>NEW ORLEANS, LA</strong> – Prior to recent oral arguments held at the Louisiana Supreme Court, retired Orleans Parish Juvenile Court <strong>Judge Ernestine S. Gray</strong> was presented the prestigious American Bar Association’s Mark Hardin Award for Child Welfare Legal Scholarship and Systems Change for her service in improving the welfare of children through legal representation and advocacy. Judge Gray is the first Louisiana recipient to receive the award.</p><p>Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice John L. Weimer stated, “Judge Gray’s career, which includes 36 years on the Orleans Juvenile Court bench, has been dedicated to the improvement and welfare of the lives of children in Louisiana and this honor is fitting. Though retired, she serves as the Louisiana Court Improvement Program Judicial Fellow, where she provides technical assistance to state judges in matters concerning child welfare litigation. She additionally assists the Louisiana Supreme Court with its Court Improvement Strategic Plan and continues to be committed to bettering children’s lives throughout the state.” </p><p>Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Piper D. Griffin, who presented the award, expressed, “On behalf of the American Bar Association I am honored today to present the Mark Hardin Award for Child Welfare Legal Scholarship and Systems Change for 2022 to the honorable retired Judge Ernestine S. Gray, who has devoted her judicial career to serving children, youth and families. Through her intellectual courage, Judge Gray has pushed all members of our children’s law community to think deeper and harder about the legal work we do in Louisiana and the citizens we serve.”</p><p>Judge Gray has served as the Chair of the ABA Commission on Youth at Risk for the last three years and has been an active member of the Commission and the ABA for decades. She has been involved in national and local legal and judicial organizations where she has worked to develop legal strategies to uphold the integrity of families in Louisiana and nationally. She has received national attention from legal scholars on the effectiveness of her courtroom procedure and application of the Children’s Code Law, assisted in the drafting of child welfare policies for the Department of Children and Family Services, and has served as a mentor and trainer to Louisiana judges and lawyers on understanding aspects of laws pertaining to juvenile justice. </p><p>Judge Gray expressed, “In many instances, the issues that plague children's welfare are based on poverty and not borne of neglect. Poverty and neglect are not the same thing. Our challenge is to implement laws, policies, procedures and services and supports that take these issues into consideration and lead to the best outcomes for children and families - where families are supported and children are nurtured. As a state, we are better when both families and children thrive. I am honored to receive this award in recognition of the attributes of Mark Hardin that I tried to emulate: a willingness to serve and a deep driving compassion for children and families.”</p><p>ABA Center on Children and the Law, Director Legal Representation Mimi Laver commented, “Judge Gray has devoted her entire career to serving children, youth and families and she has fundamentally reshaped the children’s law field within her own courtroom and well-beyond. She brings qualities of excellence and integrity to everything she does, and she has had the “intellectual courage” to push all members of our children’s law community to think deeper and harder about the work we do and the individuals we serve.”</p><p>Born in Denmark, South Carolina in 1946, retired Judge Ernestine S. Gray received her early education in the public schools of Orangeburg, South Carolina. She received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Spelman College in 1970 and her juris doctor degree from the Louisiana State University School of Law in 1976. She was admitted to the Louisiana State Bar Association that same year. She was employed by the Baton Rouge Legal Aid Society, the Attorney General of the State of Louisiana, and by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a trial attorney. She was elected to the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court bench in 1984 to fill an unexpired term. She was reelected in 1986, 1994, 2002, 2010, and again in 2018 where she served until her retirement in 2020. She and her husband, James Austin Gray II, an attorney, are the proud parents of two children, former State Senator Cheryl Gray Evans, an attorney; and James Austin Gray III, a chemical engineer and attorney, and grandparents to four grandchildren.</p><p>The American Bar Association (ABA) Mark Hardin Award for Child Welfare Legal Scholarship and Systems Change honors the work of ABA Center on Children and the Law Director of Child Welfare Mark Hardin. In 2011 with the approval from the ABA Board of Governors, the ABA Center on Children and the Law created and presented Mark Hardin with the award in honor of his 30 years of child welfare legal work. Since 2011, only eight other recipients from around the country have received the award after Mark Hardin. </p><p> </p><p><strong>For more information contact Louisiana Supreme Court Public Information Specialist/Coordinator Trina S. Vincent at <a href="mailto:tvincent@lasc.org">tvincent@lasc.org</a> or (504) 310-2590.</strong></p><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>-30-</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><link rel="stylesheet" href="/press_room/press_releases/2022/images/2022-08_picgrid.css" /></p><div class="picgrid"><div><p><img src="/press_room/press_releases/2022/images/2022-08_Judge_Ernestine_Gray01.jpg" alt="Retired Orleans Juvenile Court Judge Ernestine Gray makes remarks to Louisiana Supreme Court Justices after receiving the Mark Hardin Award from the American Bar Association prior to oral arguments." /><br /><span class="caption">Retired Orleans Juvenile Court Judge Ernestine Gray makes remarks to Louisiana Supreme Court Justices after receiving the Mark Hardin Award from the American Bar Association prior to oral arguments.</span> </p></div><div><p><img src="/press_room/press_releases/2022/images/2022-08_Judge_Ernestine_Gray02.jpg" alt="Retired Orleans Juvenile Court Judge Ernestine Gray, recipient of the Mark Hardin Award from the American Bar Association" /><br /><span class="caption">Retired Orleans Juvenile Court Judge Ernestine Gray, recipient of the Mark Hardin Award from the American Bar Association</span> </p></div></div>