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Message from the BALIF Board
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I will keep this short, as many thoughts have been swirling around in my mind.
And, yet, I am at a loss for words.
From the presidential pardon of Joe Arpaio and Patriot Prayer to Hurricane Harvey, the events from the past few days have weighed heavily on me, as they have on all of us. So, what can you do?
Give whatever help you can to those affected by Hurricane Harvey. Condemn racism and hate. Support and love.
Mario Choi
BALIF Treasurer
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BALIF's Statement Regarding
Piedmont Mayor's Resignation
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Jeff Weiler resigned as the Mayor of Piedmont over the weekend after a public outcry concerning racist and transphobic statements he posted on Facebook and elsewhere, that included:
- "Black Lives Matter encourages cop killing,"
- "Democrats are the plantation slave masters of today," and
- "Transgenders are mentally ill."
BALIF condemns these statements as inappropriate, divisive, false, and particularly harmful when made by a public official. While BALIF is heartened that Weiler resigned as Mayor in response to wide-spread community criticism, he remains a member of the Piedmont City Council. BALIF encourages its members and the community to continue to speak out when confronting bigotry, racism, sexism and homo and transphobia. It cannot be tolerated.
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BALIF Teams Up
for
September Happy Hour
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Medina Orthwein LLP Files Suit Against CDCR Exposing LGBTQ Prisoner Harassment and Abuse.
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On Monday, August 14, 2017, Felicia Medina and Jennifer Orthwein, two Directors on the BALIF Board and Partners at Medina Orthwein LLP, filed a complaint on behalf of Dr. Lori Jespersen, a Psychologist employed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), in the United States District Court - Eastern Division of California.
The complaint alleges that Dr. Jespersen has been discriminated against, harassed, and retaliated against for advocating on behalf of gay and transgender prisoners and because of her own sexual orientation and gender non-conformity. Dr. Jespersen has blown the whistle on correctional officers and CDCR's habitual violations of the Prison Rape Elimination Act and HIPAA.
In response, Dr. Jespersen safety has been put in danger by correctional officers, prisoners, and CDCR. Custody staff locked her on units alone with prisoners, including a multi-term violent sex offender. She has been stalked and intimidated by a custody officer who also incited violence against her by prisoners and was then constructively demoted by CDCR to a desk job and is no longer allowed to see patients.
"LGBTQ prisoners are disproportionately subjected to harassment and physical and sexual abuse. I admire Dr. Jespersen's strength and courage to expose how LGBTQ people are suffering behind CDCR's walls," said Jennifer Orthwein.
"It is time for CDCR to be held accountable and take intentional, meaningful steps to address their abusive and hostile culture. Dr. Jespersen's lawsuit seeks not only to vindicate her rights,
but the rights of some of the most vulnerable populations caught up in the prison industrial complex," said Felicia Medina.
Read more about this lawsuit here:
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BALIF Board Member Convicts
Santa Clara Deputy Sheriff
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On June 29, 2017, George Tran, a prosecutor and board member of BALIF, proved at a jury trial and convicted Santa Clara Deputy Sheriff Benjamin Lee for brandishing a loaded firearm at employees in a Jack In The Box drive-thru. The deputy was also drunk driving, stopped at the drive-thru after a night of partying with his friends. According to the employees, the deputy got angry and rude. He demanded his food, and refused to put his gun away when asked. That was when one of the employees called 911. Santa Clara County Judge Vanessa Zecher sentenced the deputy sheriff on August 18, 2017. As part of that sentence, Judge Zecher placed a 10-year ban prohibiting him from owning or possessing any firearms and ammunition.
"This is a reminder that the community will not tolerate bullies or abusive government actors. Defendant Lee soiled his badge and the office he served. Because of his criminal act, he has further eroded public trust in law enforcement and made less safe for good police officers to do their jobs," stated George Tran. "This was the right outcome. The victims stood up against a bully and made it better."
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BALIF Member Elected as
State Bar President
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This week the State Bar of California Board of Trustees elected a new set of officers, including BALIF Member and Bar President Michael Colantuono.
Outgoing State Bar President James P. Fox said: "I welcome this new board leadership team, and am confident they will continue the momentum of reform and ensure a focus on the agency's core public protection mission. We have accomplished much, but there is still more work to do."
At its meeting the board also adopted a new mission statement to guide the work of the agency. The new board officers will be responsible for ensuring that the agency's work adheres to this mission. Additionally, the Board of Trustees is expected to adopt reforms recommended by the 2017 Governance in the Public Interest Task Force.
New Mission Statement:
The State Bar of California's mission is to protect the public and includes the primary functions of licensing, regulation and discipline of attorneys; the advancement of the ethical and competent practice of law; and support of efforts for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system.
Board officers elected today:
- President: Michael Colantuono (BALIF member)
- Vice President: Jason P. Lee
- Treasurer: Todd F. Stevens
"I look forward to working with the Board of Trustees and all our hard-working Bar staffmembers to protect Californians, promote access to justice, and pursue a diverse profession to serve our diverse state," said Colantuono.
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BALIF Statement on Trump's Proposed Transgender Military Service Ban
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BALIF is, again, disappointed and disgusted by this president and his administration's constant harassment and discrimination against our community. According to the RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research,
⅓
of service members returning from conflicts abroad report symptoms of a mental health or cognitive condition. This should come as no surprise, though. A decade-old study conducted by the American Psychological Association found that 22% of veterans sought mental health treatment in the private sector.
Banning transgender persons from joining the military further impedes the ability of transgender service members experiencing mental health issues from seeking treatment on account of their transgender status. Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military, much like the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy previously enforced by the military, stigmatizes certain service members, causing unnecessary fear and anxiety for a population, statistically, already experiencing higher rates of mental health issues. This stigmatization leads to an increased inability to obtain treatment for mental illness, to efficiently detect mental health symptoms, and to facilitate early intervention to prevent chronic mental illness.
Unfortunately, we do not know how many service members, or potential service members, such a ban would disenfranchise. The U.S. does not collect data on trans people's existence. Refusal to collect data on, or even acknowledge trans people's existence, and trans people's fears of disclosing their existence make it impossible to accurately estimate the number of people who will be impacted by such a ban. The fluctuations in estimates and the reasons for these fluctuations further exemplify the disenfranchisement and marginalization of trans people.
Despite the lack of accurate data, we know disenfranchising transgender service members currently enlisted in the armed forces is a threat to our national security. It denies service members who have made great sacrifices for our country the mental health treatment they unquestionably deserve. The president cannot claim to support our troops while simultaneously tweeting half-baked screeds that destabilize the security and unification of all service members by disenfranchising some service members.
We remain steadfast in our opposition to the Trump administration's ignorance and recognize that an attack against some of us is an attack against all. Unlike the armed forces under President Trump's leadership, BALIF refuses to leave any member behind. BALIF is very proud to have authored an amicus brief in Fulcher v. Secretary of Veteran Affairs to prevent the Trump administration from rolling back health services to transgender veterans.
Read that brief here.
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USF Spotlight of On Lu
Former BALIF Co-Chair 2012 & 2013
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Congratulations to former BALIF Co-Chair On Lu on being featured by the University of San Francisco School of Law. Get the full scoop
here
. BALIF remains proud of your accomplishments, and we love seeing our LGBTQ attorneys succeed.
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BALIF Files Amicus Brief
Fulcher et al. v.
Secretary of Veteran Affairs
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On June 28, 2017, the Impact Fund, BALIF, and the National Women's Law Center, authored and filed an amicus brief in support of appellants in Fulcher et al. v. Secretary of Veteran Affairs. Lambda Legal and Transgender Law Center recently filed a petition with the DC Circuit Court seeking to amend or repeal the rules that exclude medically necessary surgery for transgender veterans from coverage provided to veterans through the VA.
Congress passed the Veterans Health Care Eligibility Reform Act in 1996 to ensure that the medical needs of all American veterans would be met under the VA health care system. The VA later adopted a discriminatory rule that singles out transgender veterans and excludes coverage for medically necessary surgery to treat gender dysphoria, even when substantially similar surgeries are covered for non-transgender veterans.
BALIF, the Impact Fund, the National Women's Law Center, along with 13 other leading non profits and legal organizations, argued in its amicus brief that the VA's rule discriminates against transgender veterans on the basis of their sex and their transgender status. Specifically, amici detailed case law demonstrating that there is a growing national consensus among courts and federal agencies that discriminating against transgender people because of their (1) perceived failure to conform to gender stereotypes; (2) transgender status; and/or (3) gender transition is unlawful sex discrimination.
The case is currently pending before the DC Circuit, with further briefing and oral argument expected this year. Read appellants brief here.
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Giving to the BALIF Foundation
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Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the BALIF Foundation. The Foundation recently launched and is working to assist BALIF in bringing LGBT judges to the bench and supporting scholarships, stipends and fellowships for law students and attorneys working in the LGBTQ community.
You can donate here. In the four years ahead, we believe the Foundation's work will be critical in helping to protect our community.
For more information about the BALIF Foundation or how to get involved, contact Jamie Dupree
jdupree@fddcm.com.
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BALIF & The BALIF Foundation
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BALIF is the Bay Area's LGBT Bar Association, which is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit, which can engage in political activity. Its Board members are elected by the BALIF membership and chair various committees of the BALIF bar association.
The BALIF Foundation is BALIF's charitable arm. Donations to the BALIF Foundation are tax deductible because it is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The BALIF Foundation is dedicated to increasing the number of LGBT judges on the bench through educational programming, supporting LGBT community organizations, and providing scholarships, summer stipends, and fellowships for LGBT law students and young attorneys seeking to help the LGBT community through legal work. It gave its inaugural summer fellowship for the summer of 2017.
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Job Postings Now on BALIF Website
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Looking for a job or a law school internship? As a BALIF member you get access to all job postings. Click
here to see the opportunities, or log into the
BALIF website with your membership ID and password, and select JOBS on the menu on the left.
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| September 14 - BALIF Teams Up for Happy Hour |
Partner Level
Counsel Level
Advocate Level
A.L. Nella & Co., CPA
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Jones Day
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
Latham & Watkins LLP
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Pacific Gas & Electric
Sanford Heisler, LLP
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP
Sidley Austin LLP
Uber
Weaver, Austin, Villeneuve & Sampson LLP
Wells Fargo Legal Specialty Private Bank
White & Case LLP
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Benefactor Level
Individual Sponsors
Steven Medeiros, ACLU of Northern California
Joanna Barron, ADR Services
Jeremy Sousa, Altep
Susan Bluer, Bluer & Bluer
C. Todd Norris, Bullivant Houser Bailey P.C.
Laurie Klimchock, CAOC
Michael Colantuono, Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, PC
Jim Laufenberg, Coldwell Banker
Peter Borkon, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
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Nyla Moujaes & Peter Catalanotti
Jamie Dupree
Stephan Ferris
Jaclyn Gross & Kevin Jones
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BALIF Foundation
Board of Directors
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Jamie Dupree, Chair
Shay Gilmore
Chelsea HaleyNelson, Secretary
Laura Maechtlen
Nina Paul
Linda Scaparotti
David Tsai
John Unruh, Treasurer
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