Andru Volinsky facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Andru Volinsky
Member of the New Hampshire Executive Council from the 2nd district
In office January 3, 2017 – January 6, 2021
Preceded by	Colin Van Ostern
Succeeded by	Cinde Warmington
Personal details
Born	(1956-03-13) March 13, 1956 (age 69) New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Amy Goldstein
Children	3
Education	University of Miami (BA) George Washington University (JD)

Andru H. Volinsky (born March 13, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer. He is known for working to make society fairer for everyone. As a member of the Democratic Party, he served on the Executive Council of New Hampshire for the 2nd district from 2017 to 2021.

As a lawyer, Mr. Volinsky was the main attorney in important court cases. One famous case, Claremont School District v. Governor of New Hampshire, helped make sure that children in New Hampshire have a right to a public education. He also worked to make sure schools were funded fairly. In 2020, Mr. Volinsky ran for Governor of New Hampshire but did not win.

Early Life and Education

Andru Volinsky was born in New York City. He grew up in Levittown, Pennsylvania. He finished high school in 1973. His father was a mechanic, and his mother stayed home to raise their four children.

Mr. Volinsky went to the University of Miami on a scholarship. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology in 1976. He then studied law at the George Washington University Law School, earning his law degree in 1980. While in law school, he met his wife, Amy Goldstein. She is also a lawyer who works to help others.

Legal Career and Important Cases

After law school, Mr. Volinsky and his wife moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. There, he taught law at the University of Tennessee College of Law. He taught classes about criminal law and began defending people facing serious charges.

Fighting for Fair School Funding

Mr. Volinsky was the lead lawyer in a series of cases called Claremont School District v. Governor of New Hampshire. These cases challenged how New Hampshire paid for its schools. The people who brought the case included students, taxpayers, and school districts. They argued that the state's school funding system was unfair.

The court decided that children in New Hampshire have a basic right to a public education paid for by the state. This was a very important decision. Even after the first rulings in 1993 and 1997, the state still struggled to fully fund schools. In 2019, the New Hampshire Court again said the state was not meeting its duty. Mr. Volinsky also helped the Dover School District in 2016. He won back over $1.5 million in school aid that had been unfairly held back.

Defending Against the Death Penalty

Throughout his career, Mr. Volinsky has worked to defend people facing the death penalty. In 1986, when he was 30, he argued a case called Gray v. Mississippi before the United States Supreme Court. He won, and Mr. Gray's death sentence was overturned. For many years, Mr. Volinsky represented a client in Georgia named Jimmy Meders. In 2020, Mr. Meders' death sentence was changed to life in prison without parole.

Mr. Volinsky also helped lead the effort in 2019 to end the death penalty in New Hampshire. This effort was successful, even though the governor tried to stop it.

Protecting Rights Against Racial Profiling

Mr. Volinsky represented the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union (NHCLU). He helped young people of color whose photos had been taken and stored by the Manchester Police Department. Mr. Volinsky argued that releasing these photos could show if the police were unfairly targeting people based on their race or gender. This would help the public see what the police were doing and hold them accountable. The court agreed, and the police stopped this practice.

Protecting the Environment

In a case about the Northern Pass project in New Hampshire, Mr. Volinsky represented people from Stewartstown and Deerfield. This project planned to build almost 200 miles of large power lines through New Hampshire. The goal was to bring hydropower from Quebec to Massachusetts. The state committee that approves such projects denied the necessary permits. Mr. Volinsky's work at the Supreme Court helped keep that denial in place, stopping the project.

Recovering Government Overpayments

Mr. Volinsky also worked on cases where money was overpaid by government groups. He helped the New Hampshire Secretary of State make sure that public risk pools were regulated fairly. His legal team helped get back over $50 million in overpaid money from these pools. This money went back to towns and school districts in New Hampshire. He also helped get back almost $30 million from two other risk pools.

Political Career

Mr. Volinsky was elected to the Executive Council in 2016. The Executive Council is a group of five people who work with the governor to manage the state government. He was re-elected in 2018. In 2020, he ran for the Democratic nomination for Governor of New Hampshire but lost to Dan Feltes.

Mr. Volinsky supported Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. In the 2024 Democratic primary, he encouraged voters to write in "ceasefire" to show their feelings about President Joe Biden's approach to the Gaza war.

Personal Life

Andru Volinsky lives in East Concord, New Hampshire with his wife, Amy. They have three grown children: Josh, Mollie, and Bekah. They raise alpacas, chickens, and grow organic vegetables. Mr. Volinsky even built his barn using timber from his own land. He and Amy have climbed all 48 of New Hampshire’s mountains that are 4,000 feet or taller.

Awards

• The National Education Association-New Hampshire Friend of Education Award (1997 & 2019)
• NH Civil Liberties Union Bill of Rights Award (1997)
• Merrimack County Attorney of the Year (2000)
• Concord Monitor, One Hundred People Who Shaped the New Hampshire Century (2000)
• NHPR 25 Most Influential People in the last 25 Years (2007)
• Capital Region Food Program Volunteer Hero Award (2018)