justice system? >> i think maybe that is the seminal question as to why we are gathered here today and why we are talking about this issue. lawyers alone will never accomplish that. judges have the worst. they're not supposed to be out there asking for money for other court systems. the average citizen has to demand the attention of the courts. sandra day o'connor has one of the best statement. in every society, there have to be a safe place. in a democracy, that is a place that is the courts. we have to have the average citizen talking about how they want to preserve that save space in our society and talk to their legislatures, because there is a view among legislators, not all of them, but many, that the courts are another agency. it is not another agency. it is a co-equal branch of government but is necessary to protect our fundamental liberty, and to be such a branch, it needs adequate funding. when they say we have an economic crisis, we do have an economic crisis. there is no question about th

equal justice. "under lock" the meet -- needs the rule of law under the constitution. -- "under law" means the rule of law under the constitution. when i was leaving cuba, we were taken off the plane and held incommunicado in a private room. there were just locked rooms. you didn't know if you would ever see your family again. it only takes one night of that to change your life forever. in many ways, i believe that was the moment i decided to be a lawyer. i never wanted to feel so helpless again in my life. i also knew what was happening there was wrong and that somebody should care about it. if i ever had an opportunity to make a difference, i would do that. i believe that that moment is one that emphasized to me the importance of the rule of law and why we have to preserve our system of justice. most importantly, i remember that night because of a conversation i had with my grandfather. we have learned that the business he learned his whole life to establish was being taken over. what happens is t

without this building blocks, no criminal justice system will ever succeed. and public safety is not about to process, not just about due process in a court room. it is also about due process in life. only this attitude shift will get us to real public safety. and being the d a is also being part of the community. i will not sit and wait for bad things to happen to people. i will into the pit problems and intervene. we all know a town in the classroom is less likely to end up in a court room as a defendant or rectum. we know people exposed to violence are more likely to be victims and perpetrators of violence. identifying those risks and getting them services early as the best way to reduce victimization and increased public safety. this is not something that i commit to lightly. this is not just about the courtroom, but it is also about the classroom. i am committed to shutting down the school to prison pipeline that we have perpetuated for too many years in to many urban centers, including our own. we need to prevent children from ever entering the juvenile

and it goes, "the only justice in the hall of justice is in the hall." so the perception is that justice is not rendered via the path of law or via the path of court. justice, as the native american says, is just us, to it the native establishment. for the native american, the white power system. for us in contemporary time, there is no justice. there is no justice in the courts. and that's sad commentary. and it's mainly predicated, from my perspective, on the swollen power and control that the executive class has now administered on the judicial class. the judicial power, discretion, separateness now has been vastly, vastly inroaded. the kind of final comment, and i'll put it into contemporary setting, is when it is said the law is fair, it applies to everyone equally. no one is above or below the law. the rule of frame is the street people cannot sleep under the bridge, but the chief of police and the district attorney cannot sleep under the bridge. see how fair it is? it's equal. isn't it? [applause] >> actually, we'll have the d.a. here and the chie

justice system. what would you do to improve it? we'll start with you first, john. what would you improve? this is an imperfect society that we have. we know that. what can we do to improve it? >> gee. you know, i don't know anything about the criminal justice system. but i think you need to start out in, you know -- we need to have income redistribution in the country. i mean, it's crazy. and if you do that, you know, in an important way, then a lot of these problems are just going to get fixed by themselves. they're fundamentally economic problems. we used to have 90% taxation of, you know, very high income individuals. we don't do that anymore. i meek, god, dividends and capital gains are taxed at 15%. that's just incredible. it's an incredibl incredible st. -- steal. so that's what i would say. >> well, it's a subject matter that's ripe for hours of discussion. but very quickly, we litigate in the criminal form too many times of actions and behaviors. so the first thing is, take out all the so-ca

and it goes, "the only justice in the hall of justice is in the hall." so the perception is that justice is not rendered via the path of law or via the path of court. justice, as the native american says, is just us, to it the native establishment. for the native american, the white power system. for us in contemporary time, there is no justice. there is no justice in the courts. and that's sad commentary. and it's mainly predicated, from my perspective, on the swollen power and control that the executive class has now administered on the judicial class. the judicial power, discretion, separateness now has been vastly, vastly inroaded. the kind of

into that only a military making it difficult to bring justice or accountability. i have every right to know what my government should do if you want to know why i pay taxes. i would characterize obama as a charismatic version of american exceptionalism. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so silly you think you understand it and then you. hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you. are welcome to the big picture. mr. the police corruption is. one of the protest nobody seems to know. but never a pepper spray to face but part of the argument that they're being overly dramatic . hi guys it's time for tonight's tool time award and tonight it goes to the highest court in the land the supreme court of the united states is responsible for being the last word on many of the big questions of face this country from citizens united to weighing in on who won the gore bush presidential election they get the last say yesterday they heard arguments for a case that deals with profanity and indecency on broadcast airwaves meaning the channels tha

to the 2011 justice summit by the book. i'm so excited to be here. you know, we've been doing these summits now for seven years, but this by far is the most exciting summit. i cannot wait to hear the panelists that we have today. we're going to be delving in to some of the most critical issues affecting the criminal justice system at this time. and we're going to talk about, what is justice and what it means. you know, plateo said, "i do not know what justice is, but i know what it is not." and that is very true when you think about it because it's something that we take for granted, that we believe in, that we hope for, but the reality is is that we don't understand and appreciate justice unless we are deprived of it. and in many cases the definition of justice is the correction of an injustice, and that's really the spisht that we're approaching today. we have three action-packed panels. our first panel celebrates the 50th anniversary of a novel that really defined american justice in the 1960's and that's "to kill a mockingbird." and many a lawyer

and he appointed marino as an associate justice of our court. i think maybe the third in the history of the state of california and hispanic in that category. he has since completed his task in that regard, but in the process, he has made friends everywhere, friends under every circumstances. so tonight, admission high school in the mission, part of the city that traditionally carries the hispanic label, he is about to administer the oath of office as a hispanic jurist to a cuban likewise with the hispanic flavor to it, all part of what goes. [laughter] >> i just got back from havana -- [laughter] >> and i must tell you the story i told george this. he is story. i said, george, i went all over havana. nobody ever heard of you. [laughter] are you sure you are from cuba? he assures me that he is. tonight, it is a corporate for us to celebrate this oath of office from carlos moreno to the district attorney of san francisco for at least four years, my friend, george gascon. [applause] >> thank you, mr. mayor for that wonderful introduction. to me, y

now, the rule of law is what justice kennedy and justice roberts recently spoke about. in their opinions, one was involving the flag-burning case. texas vs. johnson. the other one was by justice kennedy. the other one was by justice roberts very recently in the demonstrations of military fit -- demonstrations at military funerals. they both said the same thing. they said, we don't like what these people did. as a matter of fact, what they did and their beliefs are abhorrent to most americans, and to us personally, but unless we protect their rights, all our rights are in jeopardy. and that is why the concept of a constitutional democracy is so important and must be preserved, but is not understood today. it is not understood by many americans. why? it is not that hard to understand. we live in a democracy. a democracy is supposed to be governed by a majority opinion. so, why isn't the court just governed by whatever the majority of people think? the answer is that that is what is also called mob rule. a constitutional democracy is one that protect everyone's rights, eve

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 has been working with jeff since 2003 to make sure that indigent panels are effective and that they do all -- that we do all we can to prevent recidivism. so thank you, j

it's recognition in what it means to unite criminal justice, public safety, and the power of redemption, it has taught us in san francisco, and every other county in california -- who had initially scoffed, often, at the programs initiated by the sheriff mike -- by sheriff mike hennessey, and many other counties, conservative counties, have come full circle to believe that there is merit in replication to legitimize the course we are on. it also demonstrates the need that there is no deviating from the course in which i had campaigned on, which is why i vowed to make sure that we build and build effectively in preparation for the new era of criminal justice in the state of california period. i believe that it is more than just slogans or bumper stickers that speak about how we must tackle recidivism, repeat offender rates. i believe in the power of redemption in a believe that that infrastructure has been well established, but not well established or supported and not in the city and county of san francisco. i know you would agree that this profound change is necessary and that we shoul

justice sutter's record was summed up. i think sutter was more liberal than those involved in the selection process anticipated. to this day, anytime i go to a conservative meeting, 15 people come up to me and hit me with a sutter two by four across the forehead about bush's second nominee. i think clarence is a solid vote. the supreme court appointments once on the bench occupied closer to the left and right of the spectrum than did their appointing president. sutter's nomination was the direct result of the lessons. namely, don't appoint a scholar jurist who boasts opinions to his name. especially to the court swing seat. with his credentials and few decisions on hot-button issues on federal litigation, sutter had the stealth nominee. his state court record illustrates the hazards who possesses federal judicial questions. clarence thomas' ideology was conservative. more so than president bush whose republicanism was more lean right. thomas reflects the long american tradition of representing constituencies on the highest

and we're going to talk about, what is justice and what it means. you know, plateo said, "i do not know what justice is, but i know what it is not." and that is very true when you think about it because it's something that we take for granted, that we believe in, that we hope for, but the reality is is that we don't understand and appreciate justice unless we are deprived of it. and in many cases the definition of justice is the correction of an injustice, and that's really the spisht that we're approaching today. we have three action-packed panels. our first panel celebrates the 50th anniversary of a novel that really defined american justice in the 1960's and that's "to kill a mockingbird." and many a lawyer was motivated by atticus finch in his closing argument in that case which in many ways represented the civil rights movement that was to come and it already begun. we have best-selling authors. we have a real-life atticus finch, tony serra, who is here and has motivated so many of us to do what we do. our second panel looks at abuse of power,

justice sutter's record was summed up. in his bush 41 oral history. i think sutter was more liberal than those involved in the selection process anticipated. or as governor sununu put it, wit slightly more pitt, to this day, anytime i go to a conservative meeting, 15 people come up to me and hit me with a sutter two by four across the forehead about bush's second supreme court nominee, thornburgh uttered a blandered truism, i think clarence is a solid conservatively oriented vote. president bush's supreme court appointments once on the bench occupied positions closer to the left and right of the spectrum than did their appointing president. sutter's nomination was the direct result of the bork debacle less sons, namely, don't appoint a scholar jurist who boasts opinions to his name. especially to the court swing seat. with his quiet persona, credenti credentials, paper trail and few decisions on hot-button issues on federal litigation, sutter represented the i pit mi of the stealth nominee. yet his movement away from a conservative state cost record i

girls in the juvenile justice system.t's just overwhelming, the number of individuals that are traumatized in these systems. and what we're trying to do is to really develop programs where we start to address what happened to you versus what's wrong with you. i think that was your phrase, maxine, that what was wrong versus, what happened versus what's wrong, so we can start to kind of chisel away at what happened so we can start to build people back up with strength-based kind of programming. and i think women are particularly vulnerable because, if you take a look at it on the sexual abuse side, 1 in almost 20, 1 in 4, it is the statistics that i've seen and also in terms of domestic violence 15 to 45 percent, anywhere between 15 and 45 percent. so it is, that issue is particularly acute, i think, in terms of what the outcomes may be for the criminal justice system, correct? and i think the multiple systems that you find individuals with trauma histories intersecting with. you can look at the homeless programs, the subst

people are standing up for justice everywhere. we have to reach everyone everywhere every place in order to solve this problem. we do have a plaque to presented -- present to j.t > as a result of everything he has been through, but more importantly, to help him in the future -- present to j.t. as a result of everything he has been through, but more importantly, for everything he will do in the future. you can support the work he does with a reentry program for persons coming back from prison. so if we could present this to you. [applause] moving forward, our work cannot stop here. i would like to have christine talk about what we are going to be doing moving forward. we have had meetings with district attorney george gascono about doing things differently. within the police chief, a new district attorney, we have that opportunity -- with a new police chief, a new district attorney, we have that opportunity. i would also like to acknowledge supervisor ross mirkarimi to come up here just for a moment and say hello, and let me have c

i believe that we all want the same justice. that we all want to serve with distinction. so, today marks that changing of the guard. the badge has been passed. sheriff hennessy completes a career that is amongst one of the most distinguished in the history of our city. i know that he has been acknowledged already. it would make me feel very good, because i know how she ideas, if we all stand and applause sheriff -- stand in applause of sheriff mike hennessey. [applause] we will miss you. but i have your cellphone. [laughter] i have also been reading those articles about his first beginnings, too. how many escapes were there in your first year? i understand about new beginnings. it is such a remarkable tennis -- estimate to mike hennessey's record that every single candidate vowed to promise to build on his 32 years of legacy. i certainly trumpeted that as loud as i possibly could. yet i made it very clear, and i wanted to distinguish from the very fact that i do not pretend or poor tend to want to fail or can fill mike hennessey's ussho. you have my solemn declaration tha

. >>> twisted justice? >> i just saw him up with the bat and he started to swing, and that's when i reached for the gun. >> this new york city cop says he fired to save his father's life. >> i was convicted of second-degree murder. >> but he would walk free after that conviction was overturned. so how did he end up back in prison. >> you must have been crushed? crushed when they told you you had to go back. >> revealing investigations, fascinating characters, stories with impact. this is "cnn presents," with your host tonight, brooke baldwin and dr. sanjay gao give up gupta. >>> way off the radar, just south of mexico is a region that's more violent. >> the northern triangle of guatemala, el salvador, and honduras the deadliest place in the world outside of active war zones. >> in fact, the homicide rate in honduras alone has more than doubled in five years. cnn's kaj larsen journeyed to the heart of the violence. >> reporter: in the past year, over 17,000 people have been murdered in guatemala, el salvador