We are living through difficult times. The evisceration of the Voting Rights Act has led to the disenfranchisement of people of color. Interpretations of the Second Amendment undermine reasonable—and as California has shown—effective gun control measures. And after almost 50 years of reliance, a fundamental right—to abortion— has been withdrawn - an apparent first in the history of fundamental rights. Now that the Supreme Court has struck down Roe v. Wade, many states have started to and will continue to institute draconian laws criminalizing abortion and creating a new category of second-class citizens—women. Fears that other constitutional rights are at risk are well-founded.
BASF's Civil Rights Committee hosts an event on May 27, 1964 with a panel of experts. As lawyer citizens, our role is not only to represent the interests of our clients, but to use our moral voice to advance the law and to uphold our democratic values. Looking back, in this anniversary year, on the Bar Association of San Francisco’s (BASF) 150 years, we have done a great deal for that cause. Our timeline tells the story of an association of lawyers, each generation of which acted as principled leaders. We urged bail reform in the 1960s, and instituted broadly available pro bono services through the Volunteer Legal Services Program, co-founded by past presidents Jim Brosnahan, Joanne Garvey and Thomas Smegal in 1977. Under the leadership of Tanya Neiman, the program, now known as the Justice and Diversity Center, grew to be the largest pro bono organization of any bar in the country.
In the 1980s and 1990s, we lawyer citizens launched the field of holistic legal services for domestic abuse survivors, those with housing precarity, people with AIDS, and others whose access to justice was littered with obstacles. BASF helped to change the face of the profession as well as the judiciary under the leadership of Executive Director Dru Ramey, who led BASF from 1985 to 2005, through a host of widely adopted Goals and Timetables, model policies and initiatives, including diversity and inclusion commitments from law firms of all sizes. 2002 President Hon. Angela Bradstreet (ret.) championed the No Glass Ceiling Task Force, while 2010 President Arturo González and Yolanda Jackson, then-Diversity Director and Deputy Executive Director, launched the Bottom Line Partnership Task Force.
After the 1993 San Francisco mass shooting at 101 California, then-President Karen Kadushin called for gun control measures. California proceeded to institute a slate of reforms that have cumulatively produced one of the lowest death rates from gun violence in the country. For more than 11 years, BASF pushed for marriage equality—from 2004, when then-Mayor Gavin Newsom authorized the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples, to the nationwide expansion of marriage equality following the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. Past President Therese Stewart was a signal contributor to that effort through her work with the City Attorney’s Office in the Prop 8 trial.
After the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, BASF formed the Criminal Justice Task Force in 2015, bringing together members of the criminal and civil rights bars, the judiciary, law enforcement, academics and police oversight agencies who worked together to produce ground-breaking reforms on use of force, body cameras, implicit bias training, and bail reform. When the Trump Administration announced plans to target immigrants, DREAMers, the Muslim community and LGBTQ people, and when it vowed to reverse voting rights and abolish the Affordable Care Act, 2017 President Merri Baldwin mobilized the community and started the Immigration Taskforce, and Past President Kelly Dermody convened the Good Ally Strategic Engagement Conference, bringing together 1,300+ legal professionals, nonprofit and community leaders to rise to the unprecedented challenges of the day.
Today, BASF once again rallies to the cause of justice and the rule of law. On June 1 of this year, BASF announced the Legal Alliance for Reproductive Rights (LARR) in partnership with the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. LARR brings together more than 50 law firms committed to providing pro bono services to those whose basic right to personhood is threatened by the Supreme Court opinion in Dobbs. Consistent with BASF’s history of innovative work over the past 150 years, LARR is a first-in-the-nation response by a bar association to a looming crisis. On behalf of BASF, I thank each of the member firms for their generosity and civic-mindedness. Their noble example will encourage other bar associations and other law firms across the country to stand up for what is right and true.
Membership in BASF is the best way I know of to perfect our vocations and to advance social justice and with it, our democracy. We have spent 150 years honoring that great cause. We do so still.
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