Violeta Chapin
Clinical Professor Violeta Chapin was selected by Congressman Joe Neguse (鈥�09) as the winner of the 2021 Polly Baca Ra铆ces Fuertes Community Service Award. Neguse established the award in 2020 to recognize an exemplary leader in the 2nd Congressional District who best exhibits a commitment to the service of others and dedication to social justice. Chapin, who leads the Criminal/Immigration Defense Clinic, has an extensive record of service to the Latinx community as an educator and activist. Chapin鈥檚 nominator noted her career of service representing, defending, uplifting, and advocating for Latin American communities, whether in the classroom, the courtroom, the boardroom, or the community. They also highlighted her staunch defense of vulnerable communities and her compassionate approach to criminal justice reform.
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Ann England
Clinical Professor Ann England received the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar鈥檚 2020 Advancing Justice Award. The award recognizes England鈥檚 prior work as a state and federal public defender and years of teaching aspiring lawyers in Colorado Law鈥檚 Criminal Defense Clinic, where she has served as a role model and mentor for those new to criminal law. Over 120 of England鈥檚 former students have gone on to work as public defenders in Colorado and across the nation. England leads the Criminal Defense Clinic, in which law students defend clients charged with misdemeanor crimes in Boulder County and municipal courts in Aurora and Boulder. She also serves as faculty director of the Korey Wise Innocence Project, which she helped to establish at Colorado Law in 2010 and secure permanent funding for in 2015. Additionally, she coordinates the annual National College of Capital Voir Dire, which trains capital defense lawyers on the Colorado Method of capital voir dire.
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Suzette Malveaux
Professor Suzette Malveaux and her partner, Catherine Smith, accepted the Gerald A. Gerash Advocacy Award presented by The Center on Colfax at the center鈥檚 45th anniversary gala. The award honors those who demonstrate a history of advocacy for the LGBTQ community. The award came after Malveaux and Smith鈥攁 professor of law at the University of Denver鈥攕hared their journey as a 鈥渓egal power couple鈥� on Colorado Public Radio. Shortly after the interview, the center reached out to Malveaux and Smith to share how their story had impacted and inspired LGBTQ youth across the state. Together the couple have used their experience and expertise to educate and inform future generations of civil rights lawyers. As a civil rights attorney, Malveaux represented victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and represented more than 1.5 million women in Wal-Mart vs. Dukes, the largest employment discrimination class action lawsuit in the United States. Smith also has a prolific civil rights and scholarly background, particularly in cases involving same-sex marriage, children鈥檚 rights, and environmental justice.