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

did an update on an interviewe i, the bar association did. your legal rights. lastly, under the director's report is the proposed committee schedule. we are currently working off the schedule in 2011, so chris and i wanted to present this and have you take a look at it. this is not written in stone. we will be following up with committee chairs on whether these work. you have said fridays are not a good day for you, so we may need to change. we will be following up, are we wanted to get it out there that this is on the boats, and we can modify from there. >> the director did want me to note that next month's meeting our commission meeting will be held on monday, may 7, because may 14 is the flavors of san francisco event, and that will be in room 408. >> item 11, president's report. >> all i have to ride is i am no longer president after five years, so it feels third. nothing else to report at this time. >> vice presidents report, which i assume we will continue until the following month. item 13, commissioner reports. >> i have a report. i m

we have roger from the bar association. no carla johnson from the office of disability. -- we have carla johnson from the office of disability. i want to especially it acknowledge my colleague to help us get the resources and brought legal expertise to the table. i do not want to take too much of your time. thank you for coming. >> thank you, supervisor chu. i want to express my admiration for a supervisor chu's commitment to you. so, from our office, what we heard, many small businesses were receiving lawsuits regarding it the ada. tonight we will hear about the legal requirements, what has been in place. any small businesses that nderst informed as far as their obligations for the ada, there are the mechanisms to provide that information to you. so, we are tasked with providing the information. there have been about 300 small businesses that have received the lawsuits. knee individuals who use this mechanism and come up -- the individual to use this mechanism. while it is important to have ada access, but we want you to u

through the partnership with community boards into the bar association, we are able to provide a neutral mediators for the program. mediations have been conducted in languages other than english. our mediation program is voluntary. the complaint at the officer must both agreed to mediate for it to go forward. the mediation participation rate of san francisco police officers is the highest in the nation. we would like to share a few other statistics and heavy occ resovles pending -- resolves pending complaints. we had a reduction in complaints. last year, we sustained allegations and 7% of the caissons and found improper conduct in 25%. 4% of the allegations were not true. the largest percentage was for unwarranted action followed by conduct reflecting discredit. allegations of the unnecessary force were a small percentage, only 10%. 27% or african-american, 35% were caucasian. 18% decline the to state their race. native american and pacific islanders were 1%. 3% identified themselves as the other. those that declined had comprised 17% in 2011. the occ is located on the seventh floor, the

the american bar association opposed model ethics rules. prosecutors having to turn over potentially exculpatory information, those rules are murky. the american bar association has proposed stronger ethics rules from any time the may know of that information. three states have adopted this. another information would be california, because it is a state level commission with a freestanding independent expert agency that is available that would subtract in these situations. researching potential issues, highlighting when they come to bear. others the you can consult with our, keeping in mind the active discussion right now, with state bar association's, opening their case file, should laboratories have to file reports? finally, there is something like a final review by entities like the national academy of science. science is such a specific issue for these lawyers and journalists, they have a hard time understanding what a match means. one in 1000, 10 thousand, 1 million? this may all sound alike, but to a scientist and, ultimately, for a s

the effort karen american bar association's around the country into -- the african american bar association's need to be engaged around the country. >> i am wondering if -- >> you are from? >> i am from southern maryland. i am wondering if anybody in the legislature has done anything to introduce information as it relates to -- is terrorism. what happens in our communities, the way they go into our communities and profile our black men. that is terrorism. [applause] the way they are shooting them, several times is is terrorism. that is a hate crime. a bottom line is, we're looking at them patrolling our neighborhood but acting as terrorist to our young, black men. [applause] >> quick response before we go to break. >> to contrasts -- to address the response, i want to make it clear that our members represent less than 10% of the u.s. house of representatives and even less than that when you consider the other side of the chamber, which is the senate. what i encourage everyone in this room to do and everyone watches the show is to get out and vote so we have representation for the very issue t

we have a partnership with community boards and the san francisco bar association to provide neutral mediators for the program. the mediation can be and has been conducted in languages other than english. the mediation program is voluntary, meaning both the officer and complain that must agree to the mediation. i am proud to report that eligible officer participation in our mediation program is over 90%. mediation by dissipation rate of san francisco police officers is the highest per capita in similar mediation programs in the nation. i am also happy to announce this evening that i just learned today that the occ is the winner of community board's 2012 excellence in alternative dispute resolution practices. i would also this evening like to share a few statistics with you about complaints the occ received last year and how we resolve them. in 2011, we received 784 complaints, representing an 8% reduction in complaints we have received over 2009 when we received 854 complaints. last year, we sustained allegations in 7% of the cases we close. we found proper conduct in 25% of the alle

the american bar association had looked at his record and gave him one of the lowest ratings that it ever given. there were a number of individuals from civil rights organizations who had come forward to testify that this was not a good nomination, that this was a nomination that was going to set us all back as a country. so that was there. but then, as you say, nothing really like what happened once my testimony took place. and i stand by that testimony. it was the right thing to do. and i'll tell you why. people say, well, it was a sexual harassment claim against him. but really it was testimony about the integrity of the individual who was going to be appointed for a lifetime position. >> what was interesting to me at the time was the way in which the black community largely closed ranks around clarence thomas as opposed to you. they said, you know, why not allow this man to go to the highest, you know, bench in the land? why is this woman stopping this black man from succeeding? how did that feel? >> it to me was just a testament to how powerful racism has been in this country. a

the american bar association opposed model ethics rules.g to turn over potentially exculpatory information, those rules are murky. the american bar association has proposed stronger ethics rules from any time the may know of that information. three states have adopted this. another information would be california, because it is a state level commission with a freestanding independent expert agency that is available that would subtract in these situations. researching potential issues, highlighting when they come to bear. others the you can consult with our, keeping in mind the active discussion right now, with state bar association's, opening their case file, should laboratories have to file reports? finally, there is something like a final review by entities like the national academy of science. science is such a specific issue for these lawyers and journalists, they have a hard time understanding what a match means. one in 1000, 10 thousand, 1 million? this may all sound alike, but to a scientist and, ultimately, for a suspect, such evide

the american bar association opposed model ethics rules.prosecutors having to turn over potentially exculpatory information, those rules are murky. the american bar association has proposed stronger ethics rules from any time the may know of that information. three states have adopted this. another information would be california, because it is a state level commission with a freestanding independent expert agency that is available that would subtract in these situations. researching potential issues, highlighting when they come to bear. others the you can consult with our, keeping in mind the active discussion right now, with state bar association's, opening their case file, should laboratories have to file reports? finally, there is something like a final review by entities like the national academy of science. science is such a specific issue for these lawyers and journalists, they have a hard time understanding what a match means. one in 1000, 10 thousand, 1 million? this may all sound alike, but to a scientist and, ultimately, for a su

located on the southwest corner of the intersection of 15th and 8th street where the american bar association building now stands. james was its first steward and was highly regarded. but that version of the club only lasted a few years. during the next year that building was operated as a hotel, but, by april of 1869, and not 1971 -- 1871, as almost universally asserted, james had taken over the building and opened the next major phase in the evolution of the wormley hotel business. in his new and larger facilities, james had greatly expanded his capacity with 150 rooms, dining rooms, barber shop celebrated liquor stores and universally regarded hospitality, his establishment had become even more the center of political and social life of washington. it housed members of congress in absolute comfort, as well as served as the home of several foreign ligations. its proximity to la fayette square made it the residence of choice for the elegant and wealthy members of society and government. during this same time, james' sons were actively combatting the long established discriminatory practices

he was on the bench for a while until they bar association of lawyers got together with us, and then we got in touch with the jqc to take him down. so bar associations around the country need to be engaged, so that when police do this, they are coming down. [applause] >> my name is bobby simpson. i am from southern maryland. i am wondering if anybody in the congressional black caucus, anyone working in the legislature, has done anything to do introduce information as it relates to -- it is terrorism. what happens in our communities, the way that they profile our black men, that is terrorism. the way that they are shooting them several times is terrorism. that is a hate crime. while we are looking at people who look different from the people in the united states, the youth bottom line is, we look at our white brothers and sisters on a daily basis patrolling our neighborhoods but acting as terrorists to our young black men. >> briefly, to address the point about the congressional black caucus, i want to make it abundantly clear, our members represent less than 10% of the u.s. house of

the american bar association standing committee on the federal judiciary unanimously rated mr. rosenstein "well-qualified." previously in 2005, he had been confirmed in a noncontroversial voice vote as united states attorney of maryland. prior to his service as u.s. attorney generals he held several positions in the department of justice under both republican and democratic administrations. on june 24, 2508, senator specter, ranking republican of the committee, sent a letter to mr. rosenstein's home state senators pointing out that the seat to which mr. rosenstein had been nominated had been vacant since august of the year 2000. at that point, that was eight years. he requested -- senator specter requested they return their blue slips to his nomination. that request was declined. reportedly because the nominee lacked the ties to maryland and was doing a good job as u.s. attorney for maryland. and of course that rationale somewhat is perplexing, if not inconsistent. nevertheless, despite his stellar qualifications, mr. rose enstein waited 414 days for a hearing that never came.

i'm also president of the national bar association. i'm for everyone having their day in court and a proper defense. i think this family has only wanted civility in this case. they continue to want a fair, public trial. that's what's important that we have in this particular case. at the end of the day, i think you described him correctly. he is the shooter so he must stand his day in court. if he believes he has a defense, he should put it on. >> he is playing on the motion of hate on his website to get money to defend himself. >> we've always said there's no place for hatred in america. this particular family, the martin family, believes that there's no place for that. we should all be together. there should be civility. these situations should be handled in a court of law. that's what we believe to this day. >> he wants people to pay for his living expenses and he puts that on his website. i think it speaks volumes how desperate they are and trying to gin up emotion on his side. the other thing is the cancellation of the grand jury.

we won't even pursue objections if the bar association wants to get rid of you.hat doesn't mean anything because it is not the court it is the bar association that determines whether or not you have a right to practice. john knew it was a set-up. it is all or nothing for this guy. all or nothing. >> bill: well, i mean, the charge is, that these two people, friends of his gave money to his mistress. they didn't give it to the campaign and the campaign right a check to rielle hunter so how is it an abuse of campaign funds? >> if you're the prosecution you're arguing look, the guys that came up with the money, one of whom is dead and the other one is 101 years old understood that this really was campaign money. we needed to keep a family image. that's what they're going to argue. they're going to have rielle hunter having to explain that look, this had nothing to do with the campaign. you're going to see kate edwards, john edwards' wonderful daughter, recent harvard grad who is going to testify and listen to this, fred barron's widow, fred's dad going to be testifyi

. >> reporter: and then this man, the former president of the american bar association, the former president of florida state university, and a current professor in the university's law school. >> this is off the charts in terms of overcharging in my judgment. >> reporter: christian fernandez is accused of killing his 2-year-old brother david by pushing him twice in a bookshelf. he also broke his leg one time before opinion but all acknowledge that christian had been abused for much of his life, particularly by his stepfather who committed suicide when he found out he was going to be arrested for that abuse. his mother was away when he assaulted his brother. when she came home and saw her 2-year-old was seriously hurt, she waited eight hours before getting medical attention. for doing that, she, too, is implicated in this case. she pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter. but her 12-year-old son got the far more serious charge. listen to what angela corey said last year about why she charged the 12-year-old who had no previous arrest record as an adult. >> at what point do you step in and

>> i don't think the death penalty is applied fairly this is something the american bar association hasng out a long time. just like the case of reginald clemons in missouri. everything we know that makes the death penalty unfair was going on in that case. we had lawyers that were not adequate to put on a good defense. we had a prosecutor that was running for political office who made admittedly prejudicial comments to the jury that he was admonished for by the judge, not just in this case, but in other cases. the jury itself was stacked in the sense that people who said they could impose the death penalty, even though they were against the death penalty as a matter of public policy, were thrown off the jury improperly. and there was an interrogation where he was -- everybody agrees, certainly injured and had all the earmarks of one of those coerced confession situations that we know has convicted a lot of innocent people. when you look at a whole record like this, and then there were allegations -- claims of procedural bars that prevented the judges from hearing all of the evidence. yo

because of our use of expert lawyers, you may not know this, but i'm also president of the national bar associationry in-depth. i think that this expert's opinions are very important in this case and analyses that was done by both pertains will go a long way with assistanting us in this case. >> he did not have an audio clip of trayvon martin to do a comparison and determine what percentage likelihood was that it is, in fact, trayvon screaming on that tape. is that something your going to provide to him or another expert analyst? >> we are more than happy to do that immediately so he can do additional testing. i think it's important -- he did make it clear the test he did was one way of testing it and the second aspect that he would do if he had a replica of trayvon's voice which we will give to him. >> george zimmerman if you read the police report maintains he was the one screaming for help. he said i scream for help and no one came to help me. do you think that is at all possible there is some screaming he has done on that tape? >> i doubt it very seriously. our clients tell us that that voice t

i'm with the chair of the standing committee and the american bar association with national security.what is conspicuous absence from your marks, as very thoughtful, other than reference by doctor brzezinski of the war of the ft, what you see the role of the international organization, the u.n., i know both of you has been a great deal of time trying to make those organizations relevant. author regional organizations, or do they conspicuously not going to play a role as you see in the relationship between this power negotiations of the conflict in the region? .. >> constructive, pacifying role in africa. the problem that we're discussing today, unfortunately, involves powers with more or significant regional scope of influence or potential disruptiveness. and that means in turn that the source of the resolution of these problems can only come from the major powers. and this is why it is so important that we and the others who work with us -- because we cannot solve it by ourselves -- have some sort of a shared strategy for coping with the problems that brent and i have been discussing

he was the past president of the district of columbia's bar association and served in leadership roles with a number of civil and human rights organizations, including the national lawyer's committee for civil rights under the law and the free south africa movement. and i was very privileged to be with john last year and his wife, my friend, gay, in which is therland as we worked through and i chaired a committee for the u.n. on minority political participation. john will be deeply missed by so many. my thoughts and my prayers are with his wife and all of his family and his friends. and as we remember john and the progress that we've made with his leadership, we know that the work for justice is far from over. the recent events in florida are really a grim reminder of the long road ahead. on february 26, 2012, trayvon martin, a 17-year-old african-american youth, was tragically gunned down while walking home from a local 7/11 store. the gunman, 38-year-old george zimmerman, was not immediately charged for the murder and was released by the police department. stanford police chief bill

i am lifted american bar association on law and national security.what is conspicuously absent from the mark and always very thoughtful is a very tan the reference by dr. brzezinski about the role of the pt, with d.c. as the will of role of the international organization coming to you and umno has been a great deal of time trying to make the organizations relevant. are there regional organizations were at the conspicuously not going to play a role in cc between the empowered negotiations of avoiding in managing conflict in the region? >> well, i would say that it depends a great deal on how powerful are the forces that are collecting in some sort of a conflict. if they are secondary or tertiary importance, i think regional or international organizations can be quite influential and i think the best example of that pertains to several instant lives in which international regional organ nations that leda pacifying role in africa. the problem we are discussing today unfortunately involves powers with more significant regional scope of influence or poten

i rise to salute the access suggestive committee's of the american bar association from states all over the nation and particularly my constituents that i just met with, the chair of the access to justice committee, judge lindsey, and a number of others who have come to join us to again emphasize that when lawyers as myself take our oath of office and become members of the bar, we have an obligation and a duty to public service, that public service is to ensure that every american under the constitution has access to justice and to insist that they are able to be represented and their legal rights protected. i beg that this house accept the 402 million dollars that is the senate marked for access to justice program and not the $328 million that is the house mark. shame on us if we realize that more and more laws are complex, more and more americans suffer, more and more americans need help, more and more americans are under foreclosure over the years and even though we have worked hard in this government to restore those homes, they need legal rights. let us support the funding for acce

the violence against women act has been called by the american bar association the single most effective federal effort to respond to the epidemic of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in our country. this legislation provides access to legal and social services for survivors. it provides training to law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, attorneys, and advocates to address these crimes in our nation's communities. it provides intervention for those who have witnessed abuse and are more likely to be involved in this type of violence. it provides shelter and resources for victims who have nowhere else to turn, who are literally victims in their own homes. and there is significant evidence these programs are working. in idaho the number of high school students reporting that they have experienced violence by a dating partner has dropped since the center for healthy teen relationships began its work in 2006. the u.s. department of justice reported that the number of women killed by an intimate partner decreased by 35% between 1993 and 2008. the legislation is wo

i'm with the american bar association on law and non security. what is sort of conspicuously absent from the remarks, as always very thoughtful, other than the mention by dr. brzezinski -- are there regional organizations are they not going to play a role as you see in the relationship between the power negotiations on avoiding and managing conflict in the region? >> well, i would say that it depends a great deal on how powerful the forces that are colliding in some sort of a conflict. if they are of secondary or tertiary importance, i think regional or international organizations can be quite influential, and i think the best example of that pertains to several instances in which international regional organizations are playing a constructive pacifying role in africa. what we're discussing today involves powers with more regional scope of influence or potential destructiveness, and that means in turn that the sort of resolution of these problems not only come from the major powers -- and this is why it is so important that we and the others work