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“REMEMBERING LAWRENCE HAMMOND” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S1594 on March 5, 2020.
The Department is one of the oldest in the US, focused primarily on law enforcement and the federal prison system. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, detailed wasteful expenses such as $16 muffins at conferences and board meetings.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
REMEMBERING LAWRENCE HAMMOND
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the life and legacy of Lawrence ``Larry'' Hammond, a tireless advocate for justice who passed away in Phoenix, AZ, on March 2, 2020. Larry was a respected attorney and the senior partner of the investigation and criminal defense group at Osborn Maledon in Phoenix. Throughout his career, he worked to defend the wrongly accused and marginalized.
Larry founded the Arizona Justice Project in 1998 while he was a member of Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice. The organization focuses on representing indigent Arizona inmates whose claims of innocence or manifest injustice have gone unheeded. Under Larry's leadership, AJP has received over 6,000 requests for assistance and currently handles 40 to 50 cases in post-conviction proceedings.
Larry's legal career was legendary. After earning his juris doctor at the University of Texas, he served as clerk to Judge Carl E. McGowan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, as well as Supreme Court Justices Hugo Black and Lewis Powell, Jr. In the 1970s, he represented the NAACP in their effort to desegregate Tucson schools. He was also a special prosecutor during Watergate and helped negotiate the release of American hostages in Iran while he served as a first deputy attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel.
Not surprisingly, Larry received many prestigious awards throughout his career, including the Department of Justice's Exceptional Service Award in 1980 and the American Inns of Court in 2013. He was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2013.
I had the honor of meeting Larry when I was a law student at Arizona Student University and worked with the Arizona Justice Project. Larry was a generous mentor, a studious researcher, and a fierce defender of the Constitution. I will miss him dearly.
Larry is survived by his wife Frances, their children, Brooke, Blake, and Amanda, and nine grandchildren. He will be missed by other family members, friends, and the entire Arizona legal community. Please join me in honoring his memory.
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