On Friday, September 17, 2021, the San Diego Chapter held our 2nd Annual Conference at the beautiful Sheraton Hotel and Marina. Members from across the country and representing all 7 chapters attended MCLE trainings put on by some of our best and brightest.
The conference kicked off with a Fireside Chat with the Honorable Judge Dana Sabraw, moderated by AUSA Connie Wu. Judge Sabraw serves on the US District Court, Southern District of California, and has been a staunch supporter of our organization. Thank you, Judge Sabraw!
We then heard from Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Hao Nguyen who flew out from our newest chapter in Minnesota to discuss “Social Justice Reform & How It Affects Prosecution.” Ramsey County Attorney Choi is one of only a handful of elected API prosecutors in the United States. Thank you, Ramsey County Attorney Choi for your time and support!
In the afternoon, attendees were able to choose between two different panels at 1 pm and at 2:15 pm.
At 1 pm, the two panels were “Handling High Profile Cases & Ethics” and “Juvenile Justice Reform & Best Practice Models.”
At the “High Profile Cases” panel, we were honored to here from NAPIPA members who have handled some of the most high profile prosecutions in the country, including the Golden State Killer case (Thien Ho, Sacramento) and the Brock Turner Stanford Rape case (Alaleh Kianerci, Santa Clara).
At the “Juvenile Justice Reform” panel, we heard from NAPIPA members who are experts in juvenile delinquency law and how various jurisdictions are handling the massive changes in juvenile justice law.
At 2:15 pm, the two panels were “Combating Hate: Updates, Community Engagement & Collaborative Efforts” and “Pipeline to Managment & Leadership Development.”
At the “Combating Hate” panel, NAPIPA members who are experts in hate crime prosecution discussed the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents, and how to best prosecute those cases.
At the “Pipeline to Management” panel, NAPIPA members discussed how API prosecutors, who are statistically underrepresnted in leadership positions in their offices, can work to advance within their offices.
Finally, everyone got back together at the “Pathways to the Bench” panel. This panel starred four judges who got to the bench in different ways, were all former prosecutors, and were all former NAPIPA members. The Honorable Judge Johnny Gogo (former NAPIPA Nor Cal President), the Honorable Judge Esther Kim (former NAPIPA So Cal President), the Honorable Judge Tony Cho (former NAPIPA So Cal Board Member), and the Honorable Judge Alana Robinson (former NAPIPA SD Chapter member) discussed how they decided to leave prosecution offices for the bench and what they had to do in order to get there.
After the wonderful conference, everyone hung out on the balcony overlooking the San Diego Bay, had a beer, and connected with other members from across the country.