Alyse Horan '23 received the Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic's Jackson Distinguished Alumni Award on August 21 for her work on a landmark border-deaths case— work that took her from Clinic student to co-counsel driving the litigation forward. The Clinic presented the award during its pre-semester Bootcamp.

The award is named after the Clinic’s founder and director, Mark H. Jackson, A.B. ’81, J.D. ’85. During Horan’s three semesters at the Clinic and after graduation, as an associate at Alston & Bird, she has worked on a case involving journalist client Michelle García, who is seeking access to records concerning autopsies of individuals who died near the U.S.–Mexico border, along with related communications. For years, García has sought to uncover accurate information behind the deaths of unidentified migrants near the South Texas border, including a more precise number of deaths and the causes behind them, by requesting access to autopsy records from Webb County and various Justices of the Peace in the region. The Clinic, with the SMU Dedman School of Law First Amendment Clinic, filed suit in June 2024, seeking access to the records from the Webb County Medical Examiner’s Office under the Texas Public Information Act and under both the United States and Texas Constitutions and the common law right of access.

Horan helped draft the complaint that brought novel First Amendment claims alongside statutory public records claims, assisted with summary judgment briefing, and took the lead in drafting an appellate reply brief filed in August.

Heather Murray, associate director of the Clinic and managing attorney of its Local Journalism Project, said that in addition to Horan’s stellar legal work, she also helped oversee Clinic students working on the matter – students in the Cornell Clinic as well as at the SMU Dedman School of Law First Amendment Clinic, which is co-counsel on the case. “Students can really see how she engages with heart and with humility,” Murray said.

Accepting the award before current Clinic students and faculty, Horan noted the Clinic has given her opportunities she would not have had as an associate at a large firm. “I’ve had drafting experience I never would have had at a big law firm as a junior associate. It’s been great stepping out from the subject matter at a big law firm and to continue to work on such a public-interest-focused matter,” Horan said.

Mark Jackson, addressing Horan at the award ceremony, said, “It’s not just that you’ve been doing this work for a long time and that you got this award; it’s that you showed the passion and the persistence that a good litigator needs to have in order to achieve a great result.”