Workman honors late small children with items to WVU School of Regulation | WVU Today

WVU alumna Margaret Workman (heart) poses with small children (from still left) Lindsay, Christopher and Ted Gardner. She has manufactured 3 presents to the Higher education of Regulation to honor Lindsay and Ted adhering to their passing.
(Submitted Photo)

West Virginia University College or university of Regulation pupils fully commited to legal justice, general public assistance and boy or girl advocacy will profit from a few presents — totaling $250,000 — designed by groundbreaking alumna Margaret Workman in memory of her late young children.

Now retired from the West Virginia Supreme Courtroom of Appeals, Workman was the very first girl elected to statewide business in West Virginia. She served a overall of 30 decades in the judiciary, together with two conditions on the Supreme Courtroom that included five stints as chief justice and seven decades as a circuit courtroom decide in Kanawha County.

Workman established the Edward E. (Ted) Gardner Innocence Job Scholarship to spend tribute to her son who handed away in April 2020. The scholarship will be awarded to a 3rd-yr College or university of Regulation pupil included with the West Virginia Innocence Project, a legal clinic that will work to exonerate people today wrongfully convicted of crimes.

Workman reported her son was fantastic and a “true civil libertarian” who belonged to the American Civil Liberties Union and thought strongly in criminal justice reform. At the time of his dying, he experienced accomplished two yrs of healthcare college at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Drugs.

“I hope this scholarship will assist learners who are intrigued in likely into a job in criminal law,” Workman mentioned. “And, even for people who really do not, to understand extra about our felony legislation method and develop an appreciation for individual rights and liberties.”

To honor her daughter, Workman also proven the Lindsay Elizabeth Gardner General public Interest Fellowship, which supplies a summer time stipend for a Higher education of Law college student to do the job for a lawful nonprofit organization, including Lawful Assist of West Virginia, county community defenders’ offices, environmental teams and other people. Cash will be awarded by the Middle for Legislation and General public Company.

Prior to her passing in Might 2016, Lindsay Gardner worked as a tv news reporter, general public relations manager for the Charleston Conference and Site visitors Bureau and communications expert for Timberline Four Seasons Resort in West Virginia. Workman explained her daughter was a gifted artist and author who cherished to do volunteer work supporting other people from the time she was a teenager.

“Lindsay lit up each and every room she at any time entered,” Workman explained. “I hope this reward will inspire students, no subject what get the job done they select to do in their lawful careers, to devote some of their time to pro bono perform and public fascination companies.”

Workman beforehand established a namesake endowment to guidance the Kid and Family members Advocacy Clinic in memory of her daughter. The fund supports the procedure of the clinic, which presents lawful support to children and families and offers functional coaching for learners serving these in need.

“Lindsay and Ted ended up stunning souls. They had been the lights of my life,” Workman said. “And I hope they will constantly be remembered for the amazing gentle and enjoy they introduced to this world during their quick lives.”

“Justice Workman has experienced a storied authorized vocation in West Virginia and continues, even in retirement, to assistance many others in need to have,” Amelia Smith Rinehart, William J. Maier, Jr. Dean and professor of law, mentioned. “We are so honored that she has picked out to memorialize her small children with monetary help for our pupils trying to find careers in public interest and general public provider. It displays her determination to reworking the lives of students in will need, as well as her tireless and lifelong get the job done to increase entry to lawful providers for all.”

A indigenous of Charleston, Workman relied on economic support herself as the to start with in her loved ones to show up at university. She gained her bachelor’s degree in political science from WVU in 1969, followed by her law degree in 1974.

She noted that a person of her potential Supreme Courtroom colleagues, Franklin Cleckley, played a pivotal part in her potential to pay for law school. Upon joining the Higher education of Law as its first African American college member, Cleckley made a scholarship fund to support minority learners in require, including Workman who was 1 of only a several ladies enrolled at the time.

“I do not assume I would have had the prospect to have an undergraduate training or a law college training without the need of monetary assistance,” reported Workman, who appreciates the opportunity to aid her alma mater. “My lawful education and learning has enabled me to have an fascinating and significant job, and for that I am deeply grateful. Mine was the previous course to graduate from the outdated regulation faculty on the Downtown Campus, and the progress of the regulation college due to the fact then has been spectacular.”

Subsequent graduation, Workman served as assistant counsel to the the vast majority on the U.S. Senate Public Is effective Committee. On her return to West Virginia, she worked as a legislation clerk for the 13th Judicial Circuit and later proven a non-public observe in Charleston. She was appointed to the Kanawha County Circuit Court docket in 1981 by then-Gov. Jay Rockefeller, getting to be the 2nd female circuit court judge in the state and the youngest at the time.

Workman fought to safeguard the rights of women of all ages and kids all over her lawful job. She produced a state undertaking drive to ensure gender fairness in the courtroom system, founded West Virginia’s Court Appointed Exclusive Advocates software and made the Juvenile Justice Commission, among the other groundbreaking attempts.

While she misses the courtroom submit-retirement, Workman is keen to construct a legacy in memory of her children. She options to aid animal rescue efforts in their honor. Though she acknowledged that her spirit for daily life was without end diminished by getting rid of two of her beloved children, she reported her remaining son, Christopher, and her two granddaughters have specified her the courage to carry on to test to dwell in a significant way.

“To lose a kid is the most devastating encounter in lifestyle,” Workman reported. “Your youngsters are your entire heart and your soul. They are your every thing. Lifetime has been way distinct given that I missing them. I miss out on them so considerably. I want to devote the rest of my lifetime honoring their memory by hoping to support other individuals.”

Workman’s presents had been produced by way of the WVU Basis, the nonprofit firm that receives and administers non-public donations on behalf of the College.

-WVU-

cr/08/10/23

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