Washington, DC (May 23, 2024) – South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL Houston) was awarded the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) Champion of Justice Legal Award at the 2024 Race Matters Seminar in Baltimore.
Champion of Justice Awards are bestowed upon those individuals who – through legislative, journalistic, philanthropic, or humanitarian pursuits – have staunchly preserved or defended the constitutional rights of American citizens and have endeavored to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime.
Professors and students at STCL Houston were instrumental in convincing the U.S. Army to overturn the 100-year-old convictions of 110 Black soldiers that stemmed from the Camp Logan riots. In August 1917, the all-Black 24th Infantry Regiment (also known as the Buffalo Soldiers) confronted a perceived white mob in Houston, resulting in a riot that left several soldiers and locals dead. The subsequent court-martialed murder trials were riddled with irregularities, leading to the conviction of 110 Black soldiers and the secretive lynchings of 19 individuals, marking the largest mass execution of American soldiers by the U.S. Army.
Research and petitions spearheaded by Professors Geoff Corn and Dru Brenner-Beck and Vice President and Associate Dean Catherine Greene Burnett’s Actual Innocence Clinic — including law student Ashley Cromika — were pivotal in the Army’s November 2023 decision to overturn these gravely unjust convictions.
Pictured from left to right: NACDL President Michael Heiskell, STCL Houston Vice President and Associate Dean Catherine Greene Burnett, attorney and former STCL Houston law student Ashley Cromika, and STCL Houston President and Dean Michael F. Barry
"I am proud that South Texas College of Law Houston faculty, staff, and students were the catalyst for the righting of a historic wrong," said South Texas President and Dean Michael F. Barry. "What we tolerate, we teach. A century ago, our nation deprived the 24th Infantry Regiment of their right to due process under the very Constitution they had sworn to defend. And for more than 100 years, we have accepted those tainted verdicts as acceptable. Now, for the first time in more than 100 years, justice has been served."
"More than a century after a grave injustice, South Texas College of Law Houston faculty and staff accomplished a remarkable feat – securing justice and restoring honor for the 110 Black veterans,” said NACDL President Michael Heiskell. “Through the tireless work of Vice President and Associate Dean Catherine Greene Burnett’s Actual Innocence Clinic and Professor Dru Brenner-Beck, law students meticulously documented the veterans' lives, combing through transcripts, letters, and the history of racial prejudice. This research became part of the foundation for Prof. Brenner-Beck’s successful petitions to the Army, overturning the courts-martial convictions of the soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, the revered Buffalo Soldiers. We honor these dedicated legal educators and their students for righting this historical wrong."
Read President Heiskell’s interview with Catherine Greene Burnett and Ashley Cromika, featured in NACDL’s The Champion.
Contacts
Kate Holden, NACDL Public Affairs and Communications Strategist, 202-465-7624 or kholden@nacdl.org
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.