March 5, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 44 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page S1594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      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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