Senator Joyner to receive national recognition
Aug 6, 2009
Forty years of blazing new trails and dedication to her chosen profession will be recognized on Friday as state Senator Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa) is inducted into the prestigious National Bar Association’s Hall of Fame.
The honor, to be awarded at the organization’s 23rd annual Hall of Fame luncheon in San Diego, is restricted to those members of the legal profession who “have served long and gallantly, in the pursuit of justice and equality before the courts of the United States of America.”
John Crump, the National Bar’s executive director, stated that Senator Joyner is being added to the Hall of Fame’s ranks “in recognition of your many years of services in the practice of law, contributions to the African-American community and the significant contributions that you have made to the cause of justice…” She is also the second female to have headed the NBA as president.
“It’s a singular honor to have been recognized by your peers for this milestone,” said Sen. Joyner. “But there’s much work left to be done. This honor inspires me to continue the fight for equality.”
Senator Joyner, elected to the Senate in 2008, has served her Tampa-area constituency since 2000 when she was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. She has been a passionate advocate on issues affecting the criminal justice system and improved health care protections for women.
During the contentious showdown with the national Democratic party over whether to count Florida’s votes cast in its presidential primary, Sen. Joyner appeared before the Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee to argue for the acceptance of every vote cast.
A graduate of Florida A&M College of Law, Sen. Joyner’s many civic contributions and honors include in 1990 to 1991 an appointment to the Florida Supreme Court’s Racial and Ethnic Bias Commission, in 1992 a member of the Senior Advisory Council of the Clinton-Gore Administration’s Justice-Civil Rights Transition Cluster, and, in 2000, named an Honoree by The Florida Bar, Celebration of Florida’s First 150 Women Lawyers and the First 5 African-American Women Lawyers.
The National Bar Association, founded in 1925, has been at the forefront of legal battles waged on behalf of equality, especially on behalf of the African American community. The NBA is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of predominately African-American lawyers and judges. It has 84 affiliate chapters throughout the United States and affiliations in Canada, the United Kingdom, Africa and the Caribbean. It represents a professional network of over 20,000 lawyers, judges, educators and law students.