Harkin Inducted Into Hall of Fame

Corn and soybeans aren’t the only things Iowa produces. The Hawkeye State also cultivates a harvest of legal aid heroes—so many, that Iowa has its own Hall of Fame to commemorate them.

Three contributors to the cause of equal justice, including former legal services attorney Senator Tom Harkin, were inducted into the Iowa Legal Aid Hall of Fame on March 8. More than 300 people honored the careers of Harkin and attorneys Naomi Mercer and Robert N. Downer at the second-annual “Equal Justice After Hours: A Tribute to Friends of Iowa Legal Aid,” which also capped a successful fundraising campaign that raised $360,000.

Accepting his award via videotape, Harkin remembered his tenure at Iowa Legal Aid as one of the most formative periods of his life. When LSC was faced with the prospect of elimination by Congress in the mid-1990s, Senator Harkin played a critical role in helping to win bipartisan support and subsequent funding increases. Harkin also sponsored an amendment in 2003 that led to a $9.5 million funding increase for LSC.

Both Mercer and Downer were accorded standing ovations upon accepting their awards. Mercer, one of the founders of the Legal Services Corporation of Iowa in 1977, went on to become a notable civil rights advocate. Downer, while President of the Iowa Bar Association, devoted much of his time to spotlighting the need for legal services programs, including leading the drive to obtain state funding in 1996.

Others were recognized for providing pro bono services to low-income clients, including the Polk County Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyers Project, the Scott County Pro Bono Project, and the Iowa Legal Aid Volunteer Lawyers Project.