Texas Supreme Court advisory

Contact: Osler McCarthy, staff attorney for public information
512.463.1441 or click for email

April 1, 2009
JUSTICE O’NEILL HONORED FOR WORK
ON CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT ISSUES

Texas Supreme Court Justice Harriet O’Neill has been selected for a national award citing her contributions to combating child abuse and neglect in Texas.

The 2009 Commissioner’s Award will be given Thursday to Justice O’Neill during the 17th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect in Atlanta. The award is presented by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, a division of the Children’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“This award is high achievement for a judge who works full time at two endeavors, her judicial role and her leadership for children caught in a court system for no reason of their own,” Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson said. “Justice O’Neill is what justice is about.”

Justice O’Neill is the chair of the Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families, which she organized for the Court in 2007 to help courts better serve children in foster care and move them more quickly into permanent homes.