[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 28, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                 IN RECOGNITION OF KAREN BAYNES-DUNNING

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 28, 2017

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Karen 
Baynes-Dunning for her noteworthy work as a lawyer and former Juvenile 
Court judge in the state of Georgia. Ms. Baynes-Dunning will be honored 
at the 18th Annual Justice Robert Benham Awards for Community Service 
on Tuesday, February 28, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 1998, the 
Benham Awards have been presented to Georgia lawyers and judges in 
recognition of their commitment to volunteerism and the positive 
contributions to their communities.
  Karen Baynes-Dunning earned a bachelor's degree in Politics from Wake 
Forest University in 1989 and a juris doctorate degree from the 
University of California at Berkeley in 1992. She began her legal 
career as an associate at Alston & Bird in Atlanta. In 1996-1998, she 
served in the Fulton County Juvenile Court as the first Executive 
Director of the new Court Appointed Special Advocates program and then 
as Director of Program Development. In 1998, she was appointed as an 
Associate Judge in the Fulton County Juvenile Court.
  Following these legal roles, Ms. Baynes-Dunning became involved in 
the world of academia. She served in the Carl Vinson Institute of 
Government at the University of Georgia and was appointed as an 
Associate Professor at the University of Alabama College of Human 
Environmental Science. Drawing upon her experience with juveniles in 
the court system, she was appointed in 2013 to lead the State Juvenile 
Detention Alternatives Initiative, an Alabama statewide juvenile 
justice reform effort. In Georgia, Ms. Baynes-Dunning now serves as 
President of Baynes-Dunning Consulting and as one of two Federal 
Monitors overseeing reform efforts in the Georgia Department of Family 
and Children Services.
  With a passion for improving the lives of children and young adults 
in the court system, Ms. Baynes-Dunning has been a strong advocate for 
juvenile justice reform. She served on the American Bar Association's 
Project for Judicial Excellence in Child Abuse and Neglect Proceedings 
and taught a juvenile justice course as a Visiting Clinical Professor 
at Emory University School of Law.
  Ms. Baynes-Dunning lives in Albany, Georgia, where her husband, Art 
Dunning, serves as president of Albany State University. She is an 
active member of many professional and civic organizations through 
which she continuously devotes her time to bettering the community, 
both in Albany and throughout the state of Georgia.
  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, ``Life's most persistent and 
urgent question is, `What are you doing for others?'' Karen Baynes-
Dunning undoubtedly lives by this philosophy. From her advocacy for 
young people in court to her efforts to reform juvenile justice, her 
work has made a tremendous impact on the lives of children and 
families.
  Mr. Speaker, today I ask my colleagues to join me, my wife, Vivian, 
and the more than 730,000 residents of Georgia's Second Congressional 
District in congratulating Karen Baynes-Dunning on receiving a well-
deserved Justice Robert Benham Award recognizing her commitment and 
contributions to the community.

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