Adapted from the Diocese of Texas
The Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas has inducted James C. Harrington, a student at the Iona School for Ministry, as a Texas Legal Legend.
A native of Lansing, Mich., Harrington began his higher education at seminary at Pontifical College Josephinum in Michigan, where a summer internship exposed him to the plight of migrant farm workers. He developed a passion for social work, and earned a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Detroit, followed by a law degree from the University of Detroit.
Harrington has handled many civil rights cases during his career, including cases involving grand jury discrimination, voting rights, free speech and assembly, immigration, capital punishment, police misconduct, student rights, privacy, racial and ethnic discrimination, the recognition and application of civil rights based on the Texas Constitution, and the rights of persons with disabilities.
Harrington has written the books Wrestling with Free Speech, Religious Freedom, and Democracy in Turkey, The Texas Bill of Rights: A Commentary and Litigation Manual, and Three Mystics Walk into a Tavern: A Once and Future Meeting of Rumi, Meister Eckhart, and Moses de León in Medieval Venice.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
