i'm president of the bar association of san francisco. basf, as we note the bar association to be called, has had a long relationship with the public defenders office. it is crucially important for administration of justice. and so is san francisco conflicts panels where administration, which the bar association has provided in partnership with public defenders. so in san francisco when a public defender has a conflict of interest, criminal defendants and minors are represented by private attorneys from a panel administered by the bar association of san francisco. maintaining this independent body of attorneys is critically important as a well-run public defenders office. we are each other's complement. we are the sum of the parts that makes whole the criminal departments working so well in san francisco. in 2003 the superior court contracted with the bar association of san francisco indigent to have cost-saving oversight to the administration and billing associated with conflicts. so tron is the director of the courts administration and

university school of law, former chief assistant san francisco public defender, was president of the bar association of san francisco in 1989, and also served as vice president of the state bar in california. he's an internationally known legal analyst and provides regular legal analysis on cbs television and radio here in san francisco. he offered san francisco's handgun control ordinance and proposition 190, amending the california constitution & reforming the state commission on judicial performance. peter is a well known and expected -- respected leader in the community and a perfect person to moderate tonight's forum. it is my pleasure to introduce our moderator for this evening, peter keane. [applause] >> thank you very much, cynthia. it is a great pleasure for me to be here, and i thank the league and the bar association and the criminal trial lawyers association for inviting me to do this. i am a neutral moderator. i have not endorsed any candidate in regard to this race, and you will hear from the candidates who will have an opportunity to answer the questions which i have formulated. i wan

the american bar association has one of the best legal libraries in the world. coaching and has said -- has built a law school that has no books. we're working with those countries to provide them with legal materials because they have been asking. they also ask for lawyers to help them with their loss students -- loss students -- law students. we have reached out to see if we can do some exchange program. what i tell them not to do, i think that they ought to not -- the same thing i said earlier. they ought to try to find the separation of funding issues that the government needs to make it not a political system. they need to look at what is adequate. in these countries, access seems to be the biggest issue. they ask me about access. it is ironic that we have our own access issues, which we talked about earlier, but they are very concerned about not having sufficient access to the legal system for their citizens. >> the problem of under- nourishment, so to speak, of the justice system is one aspect. you have talked about, is it that the trial level, the origin

as president of the american bar association, i have an opportunity to choose the theme for our law day, and i chose the legacy of john adams from concord to guantanamo, because every high-school student had to think about why it is our obligation to defend those who have ideas different than our own. why we live in a constitutional democracy. a constitutional democracy is the difference of two words, each of which are two letters. that is the rule "of" law, and the rule "by" law. the rule by law as when a majority get together and get -- and decide what rights, if any, the minority has. nazi germany was one of the most lawful and unjust society is in the history of the world. the nuremberg laws were rules by law. what exists around most of the world and in cuba today come in my own experience, is that the most powerful, the most privileged, get together and decide what rights, if any, the minority have. the united states constitution is the rule by law. the rule by law is to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority. it is the classic definition of law. now, the rule of law

i'm also a member of the house of delegates of the american bar association, where it first met steve. this is a series of programs underwritten by the charles gesky family, which examines the constitution in the 21st century. this examines the balance between safety, security, and public order, and the protection of civil liberties and the integrity of the constitution on the other. tonight program will focus on threats to our american justice system caused by under-funding and indecisiveness. i would like to mention that the question answer portion of the program will be moderated by a professor geoffrey hazard, a distinguished professor of law at uc hastings. the professor is a leading expert in the field of civil procedure of legal ethics and is good at asking questions. it is my pleasure to introduce our very special guest, stephen zack, president of the american bar association. with nearly 400,000 members, it is the largest volunteer professional membership organization in the world. mr. zack is the first hispanic american to serve as the president and the second to be born abr

we want to thank our co-sponsor for tonight's forum, the bar association of san francisco, and our media partner. you will hear from the five candidates for san francisco district attorney. all will have a chance to present their views on issues affecting the city and to answer your questions and those of the committee of the bar association on issues. to submit questions for the candidate, look for a volunteer who will be collecting index cards you find on your table. we are privileged to have as our moderator tonight peter king. he is a professor of law at golden gate university school of law, former chief assistant san francisco public defender, was president of the bar association of san francisco in 1989, and also served as vice president of the state bar in california. he's an internationally known legal analyst and provides regular legal analysis on cbs television and radio here in san francisco. he offered san francisco's handgun control ordinance and proposition 190, amending the california constitution & reforming the state commission on judicial performance. peter is a well kn

by the way, before i get to that, in vietnam, i recently met with the president of their bar association, similar to the american bar. in most countries, they have a government bar association that is part of the government, in effect. then they just have an non-club federated are. the person was a 70-year-old viet cong that was the chair. one of the most interesting conversations i ever had. someone who did not told anyanger, -- not hold any anger, but wanted information and help from america. the american bar association has one of the best legal libraries in the world. coaching and has said -- has built a law school that has no books. we're working with those countries to provide them with legal materials because they have been asking. they also ask for lawyers to help them with their loss students -- loss students -- law students. we have reached out to see if we can do some exchange program. what i tell them not to do, i think that they ought to not -- the same thing i said earlier. they ought to try to find the separation of funding issues that the government needs to make it not a