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Disability Rights Iowa honored as the 2023 recipient of the Roxanne Conlin Public Justice Award

The Iowa Association of Justice presented this prestigious award to
Disability Rights Iowa for their continued efforts towards serving youth
with disabilities living in the Boys State Training School in Eldora, IA.

Four people stand in front of a low platform stage on patterned carpet. The first woman is white and has red curly hair, she is wearing a grey suit and is smiling. Next to her is a white male with graying hair, black suit, and metal glasses smiling with his hands clasped in front of him. Then there is a white woman with blonde hair that goes just past her ears. She is holding the IAJ award. Lastly there is a woman with short brown hair wearing a pink blazer and plastic glasses also smiling at the camera. The IAJ award is a rectangular plaque about the size of a piece of printer paper with illegible writing and the IAJ logo.
From left to right: Catherine Johnson, Executive Director of DRI; Dean Keegan, President of IAJ; Cyndy Miller, Legal Director of DRI; and Tiffany Dodd, Board President of DRI stand together holding the Roxanne Conlin Public Justice Award.

DES MOINES, IOWA – Many Iowans know Roxanne Conlin as a fierce advocate. She fights for the rights of Iowan’s who have faced harm or discrimination. Over her career, Conlin has achieved great status. She became the Assistant Attorney General of Iowa at 24. She served as one of the first two women United States Attorneys. She was also the first woman president of
the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Conlin’s accolades far exceed the list above. Due to this extensive resume, IAJ created the ‘Roxanne Conlin Public Justice Award.’ IAJ created the award to recognize and honor lawyers
and their clients whose cases have made a significant contribution toward the betterment of society during the past year. Catherine Johnson, Executive Director, and Cyndy Miller, Legal Director, accepted the award today on behalf of Disability Rights Iowa. Johnson noted “Disability Rights Iowa is honored by this recognition. We are excited that our work mirrors Roxanne’s drive to ensure Iowans are not discriminated against based upon disability. We are
grateful to have partnered with the law firms of Children’s Rights and Ropes & Gray and are proud to share this honor with them.” She ended saying “Thank you to the Iowa Association of Justice for recognizing the impact of our work on improving the lives of Iowa youth with disabilities. This honor reenergizes our agency to continue our work of creating change in
Iowa.” Andrew Martens, Executive Director of IAJ finishes by saying “In recognition of the successful pursuit of justice for residents of the Boys State Training School in Eldora. DRI brought to light the abhorrent conditions endured in Eldora. By holding the state accountable for systematic
torture and the deprivation of constitutional rights, DRI forced necessary changes in the conditions at the school and improved the lives of the children living there.”

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Four people are standing in a hotel hallway with white walls and patterned carpet. From left to right there is a white woman wearing bright pink with a cropped haircut and plastic glasses leaning into a second white woman who is the shortest in stature with cropped blonde hair wearing a black suit and holding the award. She is next to the third woman who is wearing a gray suit and has red curly hair. On the right end is a white bald man wearing a grey outfit also smiling at the camera. The award is a little larger than a size of printer paper. It is a wooden board with a plaque with illegible writing on it and the IAJ logo.
From left to right: Tiffany Dodd, DRI Board President; Cyndy Miller, Legal Director of DRI; Catherine Johnson, Executive Director of DRI; and Andrew Martens, Executive Director of IAJ, pose with the Roxanne Conlin Public Justice Award.

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