Asian American Criminal Trial Lawyers Association

Former AACTLA board member Ji Seon Song shining a desperately needed spotlight on policing in the emergency room in the Harvard Law Review.

This profile in The New York Times of SF Deputy Public Defender Eric McBurney is dispelling the myth of a story that went around the world. It’s a public defend...er’s job to reveal the complexity of truth and to stand up for our misunderstood and mischaracterized clients. https://www.nytimes.com//eric-mcburney-anti-asian-attack.h San Francisco Public Defender's Office

JOB POST: Alameda County Public Defenders is recruiting for their Deputy Public Defender position. They are seeking dedicated and experienced felony attorneys, ...who are able to handle litigation of all types with the exception of special circumstance homicides. Felony trial experience is essential. Apply by May 17 at 5pm PDT: http://ow.ly/NRcm50EChtv

Join us on Wednesday May 19, 2021 at 5:30pm for a special healing circle for self-identified womxn AAPI defenders held by board member Christine Start, a Solano County Deputy Alternate Defender. Besides being a bad-ass public defender, Christine is also a certified professional coach for visionary womxn of color lawyers and leaders, an adjunct lecturer at UC Davis School of Law, and serves on multiple boards serving the AAPI community. Space is limited so RSVP soon by email and paypal (sliding scale $5-25) to [email protected].

Paralegal positions open for Solano County Public Defender and Alternate Defender https://www.jobapscloud.com/Solano/sup/bulpreview.asp

We barely finished writing about the police killing of Daunte Wright when I watched the body cam footage of 13-year old Adam Toledo killed by police. Even though we center the conversation on Black lives, police violence against BIPOC communities more broadly is prevalent and heart-wrenching. This is the final paragraph of our statement: "It is the systematic dehumanization of Black lives by a system that upholds white supremacy that led to the killing of Oscar Grant and Geo...rge Floyd. It is our complicity in this system led to the killing of Daunte Wright. It is our responsibility to speak out and change, reform, and dismantle said system. Because at this point, it is not a question of *if* the police will kill another Black person, but *when*." RIP Daunte Wright, Adam Toledo, Iremamber Sykap, and countless others. https://drive.google.com//1JEWbgUzQ3rZCzLVdcDB4HUhBB/view

We send our deepest condolences and support to the loved ones and community of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. We continue to stand in solidarity w...ith the Black community as their fight for change and justice continues. We also send our support to the loved ones and community of Iremamber Sykap, a Micronesian teenager who was killed by Honolulu PD last week.

We are devastated and outraged at the murder of Daunte Wright, a 20 year old Black man, father, son and neighbor, who was shot and killed by Brooklyn Center pol...ice yesterday. We stand with his family and all those grieving who need justice, not the unleashing of more militarized violence on traumatized communities. All people deserve to feel safe going about our daily activities, and we know that none of us are safe until we all are. We also know that in these moments, a focus on property damage is often used to distract from the loss of life. Let us not lose sight that we must center Daunte Wright's life and the demands of his family and community, as we call for justice and an end to all systems rooted in dehumanization, control and violence. We ask all our Asian American communities to stand in solidarity as we continue to say unequivocally that #BlackLivesMatter and work for a world where all of us can live with freedom and dignity in safe and caring communities. Contribute to the GoFundMe organized by Daunte's family. Funds will go to Daunte's funeral expenses and to the future care of his son, Daunte JR.: https://www.gofundme.com/f/dauntewright #justicefordauntewright #justice4dauntewright #blm Graphic by @wereleavingearly

From the article: Santa Clara County Public Defender Sajid Khan has often criticized District Attorney Jeff Rosen and now he is considering running against him. Decision day is coming up relatively soon, and we will all know more in the coming weeks and months whether or not I decide to run for that seat, Khan said. ...... Khan said he is eager to see someone else as the county’s top prosecutor. "We need a Santa Clara County district attorney who is committed to truth-telling about systemic racism, shrinking mass criminalization and incarceration, addressing root causes of crime and bringing our criminal legal system in line with basic notions of justice and humanity," Khan said.

Congratulations to Rob Bonta for being nominated to be California's next Attorney General. As a state assemblymember, Bonta has been a trailblazer on innovative criminal justice reform. He has the vision to continue California's leadership in this area, including racial justice, bail reform, and affirming a society where people can live and thrive as individuals and in community. Below is a picture of Bonta at our 2017 GALA, accepting our Outstanding Legislator award. Also pictured from left to right are Hon. Roger Chan, former AACTLA president Kasie Lee, Board member Sue Ra, Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods, former Board member Abigail Rivamonte and her husband David Mesa, Assemblyman David Chiu, and our keynote speaker Jose Antonio Vargas.

On March 16, 2021, eight people were shot and killed at three different spas in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Their names were Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, and Daoyou Feng. Six were Asian women. This devastating loss of life brings unspeakable pain on us and our communities and come at a time when Asian Americans face horrific violence nationwide. However, violence against our community is not ne...w, nor recent. In fact, violence against Asians goes back all the way to the 1800s and is intertwined in the fabric of our country. Throughout the years, Asian people have been killed, degraded, interned, and erased, often by the very institutions that are sworn to protect all people. ... We have relied too long upon police, prosecution, and prisons to protect us from racialized violence. These institutions are systematically biased, disproportionate, and dehumanizing. These institutions have failed in the last 170 years to remedy the root causes of violence and hate in our communities. Thus, we condemn any effort to use this moment to increase police presence in our communities, to expand our criminal punishment bureaucracy, or to push for more incarceration. These only further a racist system of mass criminalization and incarceration. Instead, we call upon our leaders to invest in our communities and to prioritize support for mental health, treatment, restorative justice, and non-carceral responses to racialized violence. We stand in solidarity with AAPI advocates and the BIPOC advocates who have been fighting for transformational change. We cannot charge and punish our way out of this moment. We must work together to affirm a society where people can live and thrive as individuals and in community. Read the full statement: https://drive.google.com//1ONZKqd_vD1cDcWthZQYNEbUlL/view

On March 16, eight people were killed at three different spas in North Georgia including six Asian women. We are heartbroken by these murders, which come at a t...ime when Asian American communities are already grappling with the traumatic violence against Asian Americans nationwide, fueled by the United States’ long history of white supremacy, systemic racism, and gender-based violence. As we collectively grieve and respond to this tragedy, we must lead with the needs of those most directly impacted at the center: the victims and their families. We condemn misogyny, systemic violence, and white supremacy against our communities in all of its forms. Read and sign our full statement at the link bit.ly/aaajcommunitystatement to make your voices heard. This donation page was created to help the victims and their families impacted by the violent acts that took place on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. http://bit.ly/SupportGeorgiaAAPICommunity

Hello friends! We are a week away from Vilaska's big night! If you are an interested law student, please email us at [email protected]. AACTLA will be meeting at the Big Rec Taproom at 3066 24th Street around 7pm to mingle then head over to the event. Hope to see you all there!

Please join the Bay Area Public Defender offices and march with us in your respective cities for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and the countless others who suffered their fate, especially our clients who have been abused or murdered by police. We will gather at the main courthouses of each county at noon on Monday June 8, 2020.

Hello friends! We are a week away from Vilaska's big night! If you are an interested law student, please email us at [email protected]. AACTLA will be meeting at the Big Rec Taproom at 3066 24th Street around 7pm to mingle then head over to the event. Hope to see you all there!

Hello fellow friends and warriors! AACTLA is teaming up with the incredibly talented Vilaska Nguyen for a night of fun and laughs. AACTLA is donating 10 tickets to law students! If you are an interested law student, please email us at [email protected]. AACTLA will be meeting at the Big Rec Taproom at 3066 24th Street around 7pm to mingle then head over to the event. Hope to see you all there!

7.20.19 training pictures

Our clients' backgrounds matter. Where they come from, where they are going, and how they experience the world are tied to these backgrounds. How do we tell their stories at every stage of proceedings, including understanding their needs with respect to their case, their dignity,and their future? Come share ideas and hear about the approach! RSVP to [email protected] with subject line "Mitigation Training"

We wholeheartedly support Mayor Breed’s outstanding selection for San Francisco’s next public defender: Mano Raju!

AACTLA TRIBUTE TO JEFF ADACHI Pioneer. Leader. Father. Husband. Son. Advocate. Boss. Friend. Mentor. Ally. These are just a few of the many roles Jeff Adachi played in our lives. Jeff was a tremendous force within the criminal defense community, the Asian American community, and the community at large.... Jeff believed the public defender's office should do more than provide the best representation to people accused of crime. He believed public defenders were activists in the courtroom and in the community. With his vision, the SF Public Defender's Office was on the cutting edge of holistic representation. National conversations about where public defense should go in the future--with respect to law enforcement accountability, pretrial justice, early representation, reentry, immigration, and more--start with the question, "What is Jeff Adachi doing in San Francisco?" In addition to his leadership in the fight against mass incarceration, Jeff demonstrated what it meant to be a trial lawyer through his representation of clients in court and as a mentor and sponsor of hundreds of criminal defense attorneys. He experienced, and drew energy from, the challenges of criminal defense firsthand: "When you go to court your client is presumed to be guilty; he or she is wearing red or orange; the prosecutor wants to win the case and wants to see your client convicted; the judge is often an ex-prosecutor who is also against your client; the jury is often--at least in the beginning--predisposed against your client; and it is just you against everyone else. Being able to turn that around is what appeals to me about being a defense attorney." AACTLA is indebted to Jeff for his very early support since AACTLA’s inception. He keynoted our first Installation gala. He used his voice to support the presence of Asian Americans in the criminal defense bar. "There are a lot of battles to be fought, so I just hope that the next generation that is coming up does not shy away from that challenge. I hope that they realize and recognize the sacrifices that people have made to put myself and other Asian American leaders in the positions that we are in. I hope we are able not only to leverage that and do greater things for ourselves, but to also make room for the next generation of attorneys who are coming up. They are the ones who will pick up the mantel and continue the fight against injustice." Jeff made us braver in our daily battles. He lives in our hearts. We will carry his fighting spirit forward everyday. - AACTLA Board Note: The quotes are from an interview with Jeff in the Asian American Law Journal. Asian American Law Journal, Jeff Adachi, 15 Asian Am. L.J. 225 (2008). You can read the entire interview here https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/aalj/vol15/iss1/8/.

Jeff Adachi - a pillar and role model of our criminal defense community. Cannot believe you are gone. We are grateful for all of the lives and careers you have affected. Our thoughts and condolences go out to your family and friends, who are also our family and friends. Rest In Peace.

APPLICATIONS FOR THE GARRICK S LEW SCHOLARSHIP NOW AVAILABLE! DEADLINE 4/19/19. The Garrick S. Lew Fellowship awards $10,000 to a 3L law student committed to a criminal defense practice after graduation. The Fellowship is funded through a grant from the Minami Tamaki Yamauchi Kwok & Lee (MTYKL) Foundation’s Garrick S. Lew Legacy Fund to the AABA Law Foundation, which administers the Fellowship and selects the recipients. The MTYKL Foundation created the Garrick S. Lew Legacy ...Fund in conjunction with the Lew family to support efforts that continue Garrick’s legacy of advocating for our Asian American communities, AAPIs in the legal profession and criminal defense. APPLICATION DETAILS HERE: https://goo.gl/nZnZJz APPLICATION DEADLINE: 4/19/19 Finalists will be notified for scheduling of interviews by Friday, May 17, 2019. The Recipient of the Fellowship will be notified by May 24, 2019. For more information about the scholarship, please visit: https://mtykl.org/garricklewfund/

GO JEFF!!!! Thank you for your continuous leadership!!!