California Bar Assoc. US leaders, courts stop breaking the lawRuth Hull This years annual meeting of the California Bar Association has been reported as the smallest annual meeting in many decades. While bar leaders blamed the unpopularity of San Jose, convention attendees had a different concern. Many felt the bar had fallen from grace and that the program lacked courage and depth. Unlike prior years, there were no programs on the PATRIOT Act, the National Defense Authorization Act, or Habeas Corpus. When asked what happened to the formerly bold programs previously sponsored by the public law section regarding the threats to the freedom and privacy of the American people, the new chairman stated that most of the members now worked for the government. They werent interested in objections to the PATRIOT Act or the NDAA. That sections reception was attended by a very, very small crowd, compared to other receptions. Actually, the chairmans point was well taken. Attorneys working for Homeland Security (the organization charged with rounding up Americans who might get out of line) were in attendance. The business law section helped to make up for the lack of public interest programs in the public law section through sponsoring a breakfast panel on the subject of privacy. While that breakfast was well attended, most conference participants arrived expecting a pretty dull convention. With a non-controversial agenda taking over the bar convention programming, how is it that liberal activist attorneys came away saying this was the best convention ever? The answer is that a non-controversial agenda couldnt hide the fact that revolution was in the air. Speakers broke ranks with expectations and let the bar and the government know that the world and the public want change. The first convention session included a program called, When Judges Cross the Line, Attorneys got an earful of situations wherein judges had been kicked off the bench for misconduct against litigants or attorneys. Victoria Henley, Director and Chief Counsel of the California Commission on Judicial Performance, attorneys Anthony Capozzi and Nanci Nishimura let attorneys know that misconduct from judges was being taken very seriously. The state bar, itself, seemed to lose control of the agenda on Friday as David Yosifon, a professor at Santa Clara Universitys School of Law , took on the State Bar of California itself and rocked the house to enthusiastic ovations and audience requests that he extend his time. Yosifon presented allegations that the State Bar of California was an oppressive monopoly. In a session where other presenters were trying to figure out how to stop the unauthorized practice of law this was a very bold move. Professor Yosifon spoke of the public harm that the monopoly was causing. The bar has become a tool of the rich to force their will on the less affluent. It deprives those unable to afford attorneys of their rights, their freedom and any chance at equality in our society. Justice has become a thing of the past in the courtrooms and the culprits are attorneys who are well paid by the rich to create injustice. At a convention run by the organization characterized as an arrogant monopoly, it took tremendous courage to call the profession what it was. Yosifons brave presentation was a subject for discussion and admiration among participants for the remainder of the convention. At a seminar regarding the legacy of Martin Luther King, there were many revolutionary presenters but the one who spoke out the most was Thomas Saenz (President and General Counsel for MALDEF). Dr. Saenz spoke out for the undocumented Mexican immigrants, noting that the immigration policies, making them wait longer than people from other countries, were the reason they were forced to remain undocumented. He also spoke of the oppression of local ordinances requiring tenant licenses, which invade the privacy and rights of people renting housing. At the King Seminar, other civil rights leaders, such as Eva Paterson, Clarence Jones and Jenny Pizer, the Honorable Cynthia Lou and Dale Minami made strong civil rights presentations. Dale Minamis family had been interned in the World War II camps for Japanese Americans and he compared the treatment of Arabs in the post-9/11 world to the treatment of Japanese Americans in World War II. The respect for the legal profession is at an all-time low, according to polling. Most Americans would agree with Dr. Yosifon regarding the monopolistic aristocratic inequities created by the bar. All photos by Ruth Hull This article first appeared at Digital Journal Ruth Hull is an activist and writer whose career has included work as a criminal defense attorney, a licensed private investigator, and an educator. 