University of Richmond Law Professor Receives American Bar Association Award for Juvenile Justice Service
August 8, 2005
Robert E. Shepherd Jr., professor emeritus at University of Richmond School of Law, received the American Bar Association’s 2005 Livingston Hall Juvenile Justice Award in a ceremony at the ABA’s annual meeting in Chicago yesterday.
The juvenile justice committee of the ABA’s criminal justice section presented the 20th annual award to Shepherd, a long-standing member and past chair of the committee, “for positive and significant contributions to juvenile justice and the children it serves.”
Steve Drizin, legal director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law, was a second winner of the award for 2005.
“It is exceedingly appropriate that we are able to present this honor to two pillars of the juvenile justice community on the Award¹s 20th anniversary,” said Wallace Mlyniec, co-chair of the Juvenile Justice Committee. “Both of these advocates have been and continue to be institutions in the juvenile justice arena at the national, state and local level.”
A leading advocate for youth for more than 40 years, Shepherd has played a significant role in defining juvenile justice practices nationally and in Virginia. In addition to chairing the ABA’s juvenile justice committee, he was editor of the Institute of Judicial Administration-American Bar Association Juvenile Justice Standards.
Locally, Shepherd worked on legislation affecting children in the Virginia General Assembly for 30 years, helping to draft the commonwealth’s initial child abuse and special education laws. He was vice-chair of the commission that revised the commonwealth’s complete juvenile code from 1975-77 and was editor and a principal author of the leading manual on Virginia juvenile law and practice. Shepherd chaired the Virginia Bar Association commission that produced the guardian ad litem standards for Virginia courts.
Shepherd’s work has been honored by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the National Association of Counsel for Children, and the Virginia State Bar, among many other legal organizations. He began teaching law at Richmond in 1978 and holds degrees in both history and law from Washington & Lee University.
Judge Ernestine Gray, a former committee co-chair, chief judge of the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court in New Orleans and president of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges., expressed her admiration for both of the recipients. “The legal and policy work of both Steve and Bob has significantly advanced juvenile justice advocacy and the rights of youth in this country.”
Richmond’s law dean, Rodney A. Smolla, said his faculty and staff take pride in Shepherd’s honor and accomplishments.
"Professor Bob Shepherd has for many years been one of the nation's towering figures in the field of juvenile justice,” Smolla said. “He has been a passionate advocate for the rights of juveniles in our courts, legislative halls and arenas of public opinion.
“As a teacher, lawyer and scholar, Professor Shepherd has had a profound influence on the evolution of our law and social policies regarding juvenile justice. He is a beloved and respected figure in Virginia and throughout the nation. All of us at the University of Richmond are proud of him and delighted that the ABA has bestowed upon him this well-deserved national honor.”
With more than 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law in a democratic society.