Sacramento Lawyer Magazine by Sacramento County Bar Association

May/June 2015

www.sacbar.org

Painting by Terry Flanigan

Ethics and Religion

(Is there a Role for Religion in Judicial Decision-Making?)

SACRAMENTO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE

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EDITOR’S MESSAGE Betsy S. Kimball is a partner in the firm of Kimball & Wilson, LLP and a certified specialist in both legal malpractice law and appellate law.

An Unusual Issue of this Magazine

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Betsy S. Kimball bkimball@kimballwilson.com

by Betsy S. Kimball ASSOCIATE EDITOR Ellen Arabian-Lee

by Ellen Arabian-Lee, Guest Editor

uring my tenure as Editor, we have put some non-traditional covers on this magazine (e.g., Eve in the Garden of Eden with a peace symbol). On the cover of this issue is Sacramento attorney Terry Flanigan’s original 2015 portrait of Justice Rod Davis (ret.), now an Episcopal priest. Why is a priest on the cover of the SCBA’s magazine? Fair question. A number of months ago, I received an unusual request: would the magazine please publish several articles about a conference held last fall for clergy and the court. I am a big fan of all things bench/bar.─I think that, as lawyers and judges, we are all rowing the same boat, lately against a swift tide. I agreed to the request. With a tip of the cap (Giants, of course) to Justice George Nicholson, this issue offers three articles which will take us to an event that few of us attended, the First Annual Court/Clergy Conference. We publish here the text of Presiding Justice Vance Raye’s introductory remarks, the keynote address of Father Davis, and an event summary by Levin. The conference raised issues in one particular context (shorthanded as judicial ethics) that most of us face in our different, but related, context as practicing lawyers: the intersection of our personal belief systems (whether religion-driven or secular) with what we are asked to do as lawyers. And, to those who dismiss these articles as

having little to do with us because we are not judges, I pose this question: do we litigators have a greater duty to our clients than perhaps we realize to assess and account for the strongly held beliefs (religious or otherwise) of the judges before whom we and our clients appear? Shifting gears: On a rainy evening last December, I had the pleasure of attending a reception for Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar. In response to a question from Justice Elena Duarte, the justice gave some sage advice for lawyers at each career stage, which my friend, Ken Mennemeier, rightly calls “profound stuff.” Justice Cuéllar: To law students and new attorneys: Congratulations, entering the legal profession is a sacred trust, and a privilege. As attorneys, we are stewards of the law. To mid-level attorneys: Take calculated risks. Dare yourself to be willing to try something unconventional. To senior attorneys: Mentor. Embrace the responsibility to mentor. Pay forward the service done for us by our own mentors. Great thanks to Associate Editor Ellen Arabian-Lee for standing in for me on the last issue. And last, turning from our better angels down to our stomachs (eating is important too), this issue contains a review–complete with mouth-watering food photos–of House Kitchen & Bar.

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STAFF EDITORS Bryan Hawkins, Heather Cline Hoganson, Maureen Onyeagbako MAGAZINE COMMITTEE Betsy S. Kimball, Samson R. Elsbernd, David Graulich, Coral Henning, Heather Cline Hoganson, Yoshinori H.T. Himel CREATIVE DIRECTOR Mary J. Burroughs (916) 564-3780 - mburroughs@sacbar.org PRODUCTION DESIGN Milenko Vlajsavljevic ADVERTISING SALES EVENTS - MEMBER CLASSIFIED ADS (916) 564-3780 - scba@sacbar.org SCBA OFFICERS Angela Lai - President Heather Hoganson - 1st Vice President Sabrina Thomas - 2nd Vice President Sil Reggiardo - Secretary Treasurer SCBA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mary J. Burroughs - mburroughs@sacbar.org

Sacramento Lawyer (USPS 0981-300) is published bi-monthly by the Sacramento County Bar Association, 1329 Howe Avenue, #100, Sacramento, CA 95825. Issn 1087-8771. Annual subscription rate: $6.00 included in membership dues, or $24.00 for nonmembers. Periodicals postage paid at Sacramento, California. Postmaster: Send address changes to Sacramento Lawyer, 1329 Howe Avenue, #100, Sacramento, CA 95825. Copyright 2015 by the Sacramento County Bar Association. Each author’s commentary reflects his/her individual opinion only and not that of his/her employer, organization with which he/she is affiliated, or Sacramento Lawyer magazine, unless otherwise stated.

CONTENTS SACRAMENTO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE

MAY / JUNE 2015 VOLUME 116, NUMBER 3

COVER STORY 18 Religion’s Place in Judicial Decision-Making FEATURE STORIES 16 Introducing Father Rod Davis 24 The Inaugural Sacramento Court/Clergy Conference 28 Judge Jennifer Rockwell: A Rich and Exciting Life of Public Service SECTION & AFFILIATE NEWS 11 Wiley W. Manuel Bar Association Members Donate Time, Stories, Muscle 26 SacLEGAL and SCBA Probate and Estate Planning Law Section Partner for Program on Taxing Same-Sex Couples after Windsor BARRISTERS’ NEWS 30 Barristers’ Club Update EVENTS 8 Judge Robert Thiessen’s Retirement Party: An Evening to Remember 10 The Results Are In - 12th Annual Race for Justice 12 SCBA Presentations Help Sections, Members VLSP 25 Doing Good for the Profession and for the Public RESTAURANT REVIEW 32 House Kitchen and Bar

18 11 32

IN THE NEXT ISSUE 14 King John, Magna Carta and the Origins of English Legal Rights

DEPARTMENTS 4 Editor’s Message 6 President’s Message 31 Index of Advertisers Sacramento Lawyer magazine welcomes letters and article suggestions from readers. Please e-mail them to editor@sacbar.org. The Sacramento County Bar Association reserves the right to edit articles and letters sent in for publication. Please contact the SCBA at 916-564-3780 for deadline information, fax 916-564-3787, or email mburroughs@sacbar.org. Web page: www.sacbar.org. Caveat: Articles and other work submitted to Sacramento Lawyer magazine become the copyrighted property of the Sacramento County Bar Association. Returns of tangible items such as photographs are by permission of the Executive Director only, by pickup at the SCBA office only.

10 COVER

Ethics and Religion (Is there a Role for Religion in Judicial Decision-Making?)

www.sacbar.org www.sacbar.org | May/June | May/June 2015 2015 | SACRAMENTO | SACRAMENTO LAWYER LAWYER

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Angela Lai

¡Sí, se puede!

President, Sacramento County Bar Association

Celebrating the Posthumous Admission of the First Chinese Lawyer to the State Bar of California by Angela Lai

I write, hundreds are marching to celebrate the life and work of Cesar Chavez, a leader of social justice who worked to promote the acceptance of cultural diversity, chanting the slogan made famous by the labor leader: “¡Sí, se puede!” For many in the Sacramento legal community, diversity in the profession is not a new concept. Sacramento is home to a diverse list of minority bar associations – the Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento, Leonard M. Friedman Bar Association, La Raza Lawyers Association, South Asian Bar Association, Sacramento Lawyers for the Equality of Gays and Lesbians, Wiley Manuel Bar Association, and Women Lawyers of Sacramento – all with a seat on the board of the Sacramento County Bar Association (SCBA). Sacramento is also home to the Unity Bar Association of Sacramento, one of the first coalitions of minority bar associations in this nation, which was a forward-thinking idea when it was founded in the 1980s and continues to be one of few such coalitions to represent the voices of minority legal communities today. In addition, the SCBA offers tremendous resources to promote diversity, such as the Diversity Fellowship Program for law students and support to pipeline programs such as the Florin Law Academy and the C.K. McClatchy Law and Public Policy Academy. We have come a long way in our quest for a more inclusive legal profession. On March 16, 2015, the California Supreme Court unanimously agreed to grant Hong Yen Chang, a Chinese immigrant, posthumous admission as an attorney – 125 years after the state bar denied his admission because of his race. In a nine-page decision, the

Court declared that “it is past time to acknowledge that the discriminatory exclusion of Chang from the State Bar of California was a grievous wrong. … It was [] a blow to countless others who, like Chang, aspired to become a lawyer only to have their dream deferred on account of their race, alienage, or nationality.” Chang was reportedly the first Chinese immigrant to earn a law degree in the United States, and the first to be licensed in any state. More than 125 years ago, Chang – a graduate of Columbia Law School and member of the New York bar – came to California, where he planned to serve the Chinese community of San Francisco as a lawyer. Chang met the conditions under (then in the Code of Civil Procedure) to practice law. The California Supreme Court even acknowledged that Chang’s “moral character [was] duly vouched for.” Despite his credentials, the California Supreme Court denied Chang’s application to the State Bar of California solely on the basis that he was of Chinese ancestry and, therefore, could not become a citizen under the Chinese Exclusion Act and was thus disqualified from the practice of law in this state. Such discrimination would be intolerable today. Notwithstanding the discrimination he faced, Chang went on to lead a distinguished career in banking and diplomacy. Chang’s case came in an era of widespread discrimination against the people of Chinese ancestry. The Chinese Exclusion Act, approved in 1882 in Congress and lasting for 60 years, was the first and only federal law in U.S. history that excluded a single group of people from immigration on the sole basis of their race. The Califor-

SACRAMENTO LAWYER | May/June 2015 | www.sacbar.org

nia Constitution in 1879 dedicated an entire article to restricting the rights of Chinese residents. Last year, the SCBA submitted a letter to the State Bar of California in support of Chang’s application for posthumous admission, and in support of the efforts by the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association at the U.C. Davis School of Law, which petitioned the State Bar of California and the California Supreme Court on Chang’s behalf. As I drafted the support letter on behalf of the SCBA, I could feel chills going all over my body. If I had come to the U.S. for college just 53 years earlier than I did, I would not have been able to practice law in California either. Indeed, the Court’s decision does something much more powerful than correct the injustice and discrimination that a Chinese immigrant suffered. It sends a powerful message of the State Bar of California and our legal profession’s commitment to justice, diversity, and inclusion. It underscores the importance of a diverse legal profession. But we still have a long way to go. It is not enough to have diverse faces. Even in America’s most diverse city, Sacramento, and a state as diverse as California, the numbers of law firm partners and corporate counsels are far from reflecting the diversity demographics of those admitted to the bar, let alone the population as a whole. Women lawyers are still not paid at the same level as their male counterparts. May we continue to work together to promote diversity and leadership in our profession. ¡Sí, se puede! Yes, we do!

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EVENTS

Blair Trigg is the 2015

Judge Robert Thiessen’s Retirement Party: An Evening to Remember

he SCBA Workers’ Compensation Section hosted the retirement party of Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board Judge Robert Thiessen, in mid-February. 200 attendees, including members of the judge’s family and friends, came out to honor Judge Thiessen for his nearly 20 years of service. The event was held at the California Automobile Museum, a very appropriate venue for Judge Thiessen’s entrance in a classic Ford convertible. Speakers at the event included Sacramento Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, Sacramento District Office, Presiding Judge Joel Harter and Judge Noah Tempkin. Presiding Judge Harter presented Judge Thiessen with a plaque containing a Resolution from the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, the Department of Industrial Relations’ appellate body

by Blair Trigg

which hears appeals from the local WCAB District Office. The Resolution commended Judge Thiessen for his dedication to the workers’ compensation community and thanked him for his exemplary service at the Sacramento District Office, where he served on the bench from June 1, 1995 to January 31, 2015. Presiding Judge Harter added his thanks to Judge Thiessen for his many years of judgeship at the Sacramento WCAB District Office, both as colleague and friend. Judge Tempkin kept the audience in good spirits with fond stories of his time on the bench with Judge Thiessen. Judge Tempkin recalled that, prior to going on the bench, he had the pleasure to appear before Judge Thiessen as a practicing attorney. He lauded Judge Thiessen for his “genuine, thoughtful, and considerate” work as a WCALJ. Dan Tichy, of Timmons, Owen,

Sacramento WCAB Judges Dudley Phenix & Joseph Samuel

Treasurer of the SCBA’s Workers’ Compensation Law Section. He may be contacted at btrigg@blackandrose.com.

SACRAMENTO LAWYER | May/June 2015 | www.sacbar.org

Jansen and Tichy and 2015 President of the Workers’ Compensation Section, also presented Judge Thiessen with a plaque from the SCBA to a chorus of cheers, proof that the judge was liked and respected by the entire practicing community. As the last speaker, Judge Thiessen thanked the members of bench and bar alike and reminded listeners that he would miss serving the community that had grown so fond of him in turn. As the retirement party grew to a close, Judge Thiessen and his wife, Nancy, followed by several attendees, took to the dance floor to celebrate the evening with a few fun steps. On behalf of all the SCBA Workers’ Compensation Section members and the Sacramento workers’ compensation community, we wish Judge Thiessen a very satisfying and enjoyable retirement.

Daniel Tichy presenting Judge Robert Thiessen with the SCBA plaque

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EVENTS

Alyssa Alimena is

The Results Are In 12th Annual Race for Justice by Alyssa Alimena

LSNC’s Development Assistant. She may be contacted at aalimena@lsnc.net.

Kevin Graft Photography and Alan Stachowitz

his year’s 12 th Annual Race for Justice, Valentine Run/Walk, sponsored by Seyfarth Shaw, LLP, was a record-breaking success. The race raises funds to support the programs and advocacy of Legal Services of California (LSNC), Sacramento’s non-profit legal aid organization. LSNC Executive Director Gary F. Smith said, “Many thanks to all of our run sponsors – especially our title sponsor Seyfarth Shaw, LLP – and thanks to all of our race participants. It was a beautiful day, lots of fun and a great contribution toward access to justice in northern California.”

Race participants Cassie Hartley, Kyleah Rozario, Cynthia Langston, & Karri Rozario

12TH ANNUAL RACE FOR JUSTICE RESULTS The Winner Jane Kibii, Sacramento Running Association Elite, 21:17.60 (5:20 per mile) – course record*

Representatives from Seyfarth Shaw, LLP--Shelley Gordon, Brad Doucette, Matt Doucette, Sara Kazemian, & Julie Yap with pup Jeannie

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Fastest Attorneys - women Hillary Hansen, LSNC, age 26-35 division Jennifer Haffner, LSNC Chico office managing attorney, age 36-45 division Cynthia Bosco, California Department of Healthcare Services, age 46+ division Fastest Attorneys – men Galen Farris, Office of the Attorney General, age 26-35 age division Ed Brooks, Law Office of J. Edward Brooks, age 36-45 division Iain Mickle, Boutin Jones, Inc., age 46+ division *Editor’s note: Ms. Kibii finished 2nd in the 2014 California International Marathon.

Heather Thomas is First Vice President of the Wiley W. Manuel Bar Association and an attorney with Legislative Intent Service. She may be contacted at hemthoma@yahoo.com.

iley W. Manuel Bar Association members, friends, and family donated their time and talents to different projects. On Saturday, February 28, 2015, about 12 members and friends of WMBA lent a hand and some muscle to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento. Habitat is a nonprofit organization that advocates for fair and equitable housing policies and strives to eliminate substandard housing. Habitat was readying a 1,200-squarefoot Del Paso Heights house for a single mother, and her two children, who had been living in a small apartment that also housed her salon business. Her new home is an environmentally friendly, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-approved house. WMBA volunteers helped put the finishing touches on the Del Paso Heights building. The crew installed the mulch in the front yard, helped fill and compact decomposed granite for the patio, filled wooden planters with soil, used pickaxes to create beds for wildflowers, and touched up exteri-

Lincoln Law School student Joseph Abhulimen prepares a wheelbarrow for another load of mulch

SECTION AND AFFILIATE NEWS

Wiley W. Manuel Bar Association Members Donate Time, Stories, Muscle by Heather Thomas

Lincoln Law School students Brandy McDowell, Monique Benjamin, & Anna Brown-Dawson, along with attorneys Sandra Talbott, Heather Thomas, & Alana Mathews-Davis were among those who volunteered with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento in February

or and interior paint. Volunteers included Lincoln Law School students and Black Law Student Association board members Monique Benjamin, Brandy McDowell, Joseph Abhulimen, and Anna Brown-Dawson, attorneys Sandra Talbott and Alana Mathews-Davis, court reporter and business owner Cheryl Kyle, Wiley Manuel President Carlton Davis and First Vice President Heather Thomas, along with other friends and family. Thomas organized the event. The house was dedicated the following weekend, on March 7. WMBA also administers the Contracts for Success program. Contracts for Success attacks the achievement gap between African-American students and other students by offering role models of success. At each event, lawyers and judges share their stories with middle school and high school students, and in turn the students talk with professionals about their career goals. WMBA President Carlton Davis organizes the program, which presents 7-10 events

annually. On February 21st, C.K. McClatchy and Florin High Schools hosted Contracts for Success events. Speakers included Judge Troy Nunley, Lincoln Law Student Christina Lighter, and attorneys Justin Ward, Adrian Carpenter, Maggie Stern, and Thien Ho. About 60 students attended. The Wiley W. Manuel Bar Association, named after Justice Wiley William Manuel, is an association of African-American legal professionals in and around the greater Sacramento region. Its stated goal is to provide an organized bar affiliation to represent the professional interests of the legal community in Sacramento, with special emphasis on Black attorneys; to promote the administration of justice; and to make use of legal tools and legal discipline for the advancement of the economic, political, educational, and social interest of Sacramento, especially the Black community. Membership is open to any interested legal professional. For more information or to join, please visit wileymanuelbarassociation.com.

www.sacbar.org | May/June 2015 | SACRAMENTO LAWYER

SCBA NEWS

Heather Hoganson is the

SCBA Presentations Help Sections, Members by Heather Hoganson

he Sacramento County Bar Association hosted its annual Section Leadership Institute on February 5th at Pacific McGeorge School of Law. From a small orientation program for new section chairs started years ago, the Section Leadership Institute has become an expanded program aimed at growing section success by assisting the leaders of the sections with ideas, context, and practical advice. Approximately 50 representatives from the SCBA’s 17 sections attended the Institute. After a welcoming introduction by SCBA President Angela Lai, Section Representative Daniel Yamshon spoke on the importance of sections and the role they play in the SCBA organizational structure. Taylor Bentley, Chair of the SCBA’s MCLE committee, explained State Bar mandatory continuing education requirements, including the rule changes of this past July, and how sections can apply for both regular MCLE credit as well as specialized credit for State Bar certified specializations (such as Probate, Workers’ Compensation, and Family Law). Lawyer Referral and Information

Daniel Yamshon listens to a comment

Service (LRIS) Chair Peter Kyung discussed the ways in which sections can promote and be promoted by LRIS. SCBA Executive Director Mary Burroughs presented each section with its current accounting, membership lists, and all of the new forms for section events, accounting, and MCLE, as well as demonstrated some of the cool new services available from the SCBA office, such as logos, flyers, web site updating, and Legal Directory layouts. The office can also handle staffing section events, including bringing powerpoint projectors

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2015 First Vice President of the SCBA. She may be contacted at heather.hoganson@abc.ca.gov.

and screens. It is the place to turn for help with an event. SCBA First Vice President Heather Hoganson detailed the progress of the Section Task Force, including the passage of new uniform bylaws, shared some tips for planning section events, and also discussed submitting articles, photos, or calendar items to Sacramento Lawyer. SCBA sections are really the subject matter experts on a variety of areas of law, such as environmental law, labor and employment law, and tax law, to name just three of the 17 specialty sections the SCBA offers. Because of this concentrated knowledge set, the SCBA often relies on sections for assistance with reviewing potential SCBA amicus briefs as well as participating in the SCBA Delegation to the Conference of California Bar Association (CCBA), a mechanism for legislative change. SCBA Delegation Chair Andi Liebenbaum introduced the sections to the work of the Delegation and then followed with a half-hour MCLE presentation, “How to Make Law,” which was open to all SCBA members.

Take five minutes on May 5th to give to Sacramento Law Foundation and make a donation, please click on https://bigdayofgiving.org/#npo/sacramento-law-foundation or copy and paste into your browser. Looking for a reason to be proud of our region? Just log onto www.bigdayofgiving.org and watch the total number and value of donations climb. Give and be a part of the most generous community in the country by raising $5 Million! How you can help on May 5th: 1. Make a donation (starting as small as $25) to Sacramento Law Foundation at https://bigdayofgiving.org/#npo/sacramento-law-foundation 2. Spread the word. Tell your friends, post on Facebook, and tweet about it. This is an opportunity to be part of something really big. Help us get there. 3. Attend the Sacramento Law Foundation Reception on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 from 5pm to 7pm at Foundation Restaurant & Bar, 400 L Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. Come have a free drink on us while you make your donation online (laptop computers will be available). Sacramento Law Foundation 1329 Howe Ave., Suite 100, Sacramento, CA 95825 | (916) 564-3743 | Fax (916) 564-3787 | www.sacramentolawfoundation.org www.sacbar.org | May/June 2015 | SACRAMENTO LAWYER

IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF SACRAMENTO LAWYER

King John, Magna Carta and the Origins of English Legal Rights

2015

marks the 800-year anniversary of the Magna Carta. Many of the most basic principles of the U.S. Constitution— among them, the right to a trial by jury

and the right to due process of law— can be traced to Magna Carta. The next issue of Sacramento Lawyer will run an abridged version of the article entitled “King John,

Magna Carta and the Origins of English Legal Rights,” written by Dr. Paul M. Pruitt, Jr., the Special Collections Librarian, Bounds Law Library, University of Alabama, and published in the March 2015 issue of The Alabama Lawyer. Permission to re-print the article was kindly given by Dr. Pruitt and by the Editor of The Alabama Lawyer and the Alabama Bar’s Director of Publications. Here is the “Prelude” section of the article: “King John: treacherous, tyrannical, mercurial, malicious–the third ruler of the Angevin dynasty.1 John ruled England and a shrinking number of French provinces from the death of his brother, Richard Coeur de Lion, in April 1199, until his own death in October 1216. One historian observed: ‘The legend of his awfulness as a person as well as a ruler dates from his own lifetime.’ King John may have possessed good qualities−brilliant strategist, firm administrator, fiercely determined−but it was his tyranny that caused English barons to revolt against him. That clash led to a settlement, a peace treaty, Magna Carta. Thus, it was a tyrant king who, forced to deliberate with rebellious nobles, put his seal to Magna Carta, a foundation stone of English and American legal rights.”

1 The term Angevin refers to the dynasty’s origins in the French province of Anjou. Previous rulers had been Henry II (1154-1189) and Richard I (1189-1199).See Frank Mclynn, Richard and John: Kings at War (2007), 1-26; and Ralph V. Turner, Magna Carta through the Ages (2003), 13-14.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

Vance W. Raye is the

Introducing Father Rod Davis

Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, State of California.

by Presiding Justice Vance W. Raye

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article contains Presiding Justice Vance Raye’s introduction of Father Rod Davis at the First Annual Court/Clergy Conference.

am pleased to offer a few welcoming remarks on behalf of my court, the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, State of California, after which I will introduce Father Rod Davis. Let me confess at the outset, when I was first approached by my colleague, George Nicholson, about this conference and my possible role in it, I had decidedly mixed emotions. Judges are naturally cautious about generally everything and, particularly, about anything that suggests governmental involvement in religion. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment stands as both a legal and a psychological barrier to discussions about religion by state officials. But on reflection I realized there is nothing that prevents us as judges from recognizing that religion plays an important role in the lives of the American people–and so, to the extent that our cases seek to influence their lives for the better, we need to understand the factors that might impinge on our decisions. Values–whether religious or secular–are quite important in shaping behavior. As judges, human behavior is central to our mission. So our decision-making must take values, including religious values, into account. And then there is also the fact that churches–as institutions–offer an amazing panoply of resources to help people, particularly families in crisis. Indeed, we are meeting in this wonderful facil-

ity, B’Nai Israel, a congregation whose history is replete with examples of the temple’s involvement in helping people. I am aware, from a bit of reading that I did, Moses Hyman is known as the father of Temple B’nai Israel. He is also a founder of the Hebrew Benevolent Society, which cared for the sick and the poor during the devastating floods that inundated Sacramento in 1850. We need to know about resources of this sort, about child care and counseling facilities and parenting programs and such. The fact there is a religious component to them does not affect their value–except to enhance it. I know from experience about the force, the efficacy of religion, in altering destructive lifestyles and viewpoints and changing lives for the better. We do not have to endorse the message to embrace the positive outcomes that occur from church sponsored programs. And we do not have to endorse the message to consider the impact these messages might play in the lives and behavior of the litigants who appear before us. And so despite my initial uncertainty, I fully embrace this conference…. It is quite heartening to be in this ecumenical setting with representatives of different religious groups and with trial and appellate judges to discuss these important matters. Apart from my own positive perception of the value of this conference, another appealing attraction for me is the privilege of introducing the

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first speaker on the program, my former colleague, Rod Davis. We have been colleagues at multiple levels. When I left the Air Force in 1974 and joined the California Attorney General’s Office, I was assigned office space right across the hall from Rod Davis. In fact, I was thinking yesterday–it was in November that I believe we met. November, 40 years ago– could that be? He was bright eyed and bushy tailed–fresh out of law school. He was extremely enthusiastic about the law, and everything else. I met him my first day in the Attorney General’s Office. We developed a friendship since that time encompassing our hobbies–we were both avid tennis players. And, we even played in a tournament or two–with mixed results. I could go on and on about our long, personal relationship, but I should step back and tell you the standard things that one talks about in introducing a speaker. Father Rod Davis is a native Californian, the son of a father, Lester Davis, a railroad engineer from Portola in Plumas County, who served his state as a member of the state legislature, and a mother who did likewise upon the untimely death of Rod’s father at age 47, when Rod was only three years old. Rod’s mother was the only woman in the legislature for most of her service. She did not remarry and raised Rod and his two sisters. Based on what I know of his older sister, Karen, who served with me

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in the Governor’s Office, and Rod, she Kamp as Attorney General, Rod was California at its Sacramento Center. So raised her children well. appointed statewide head of that unit. the discipline required to engage in rigHe attended public schools of But with the election of George Deukorous academic courses at the end of a Sacramento, graduating from Sacramejian as Governor, his days with the demanding day at the court was nothmento High School, before attending Attorney General’s Office were to be ing new to him. and graduating from the University limited. As soon as a vacancy appeared I have marveled at his ability to of California, Davis. He was accepted on the Sacramento Municipal Court, he juggle his various roles over the years into Hastings College of the Law in was appointed to it by the Governor. as a judge, a husband, a father of two San Francisco. Despite his ambivaAnd the rest, as they say, is history. young boys who have grown into outnshleaLaw.com lence about law as a field of study–the He was quickly elevated to the Superior standing young men, and as a student 525-8444 C/ (916) 825-9952 F/ (916) same ambivalence that I had–he en- 525-8446 Court and, after less than four years, elin long and tough courses of study. He rolled and ultimately graduated from evated to the Court of Appeal. clearly delighted in the joy of formal 50 / Sacramento, CA 95814 www.genshlealaw.com Hastings. As I noted, he immediately I think it is fair to say Rod shined as learning. And he clearly was devoted to joined the Attorney General’s Office a judge. He was a skilled and thoughtall that the priesthood entailed. where he had a very successful career, ful jurist. But that was not a path he Some may have been surprised by first as a criminal appellate lawyer and wanted to follow for the rest of his life. Rod’s shift in public service from the then as a trial attorney, serving for a He first explored and then committed bench to the pulpit. I was not. He lived a time as the acting District Attorney of to becoming an Episcopal priest. For life that suggested his ultimate direction. 1/3 School Page Ad: Sierra County. Ultimately, he became years, he attended the Pacific We are all the better for his deciLaw Corp ad St. Michael’s Episcopart of a special unit of the office that of Religion in Berkeley, part Jay-Allen time. This Eisen sion–particularly July/August 2014 issue where he currently serves as prosecuted individuals charged with was not his first part time educational pal Church MAGAZINE defrauding Medi-Cal. endeavor. He also obtained a MPA deAssociate Pastor for spiritual formation. With the election of John Van de gree from the University of Southern And so are we all this morning.

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his remarkable scene took place in late 2014 at a conference of judges and clergy from throughout the region and represented broad and diverse religious traditions. Under the leadership of Judge Jim Mize, participants met for a day-long program to exchange thoughts about how deeply held religious beliefs of judges and litigants impact one’s experience with the judicial system. It was a challenging topic about which I was asked to offer some remarks.

Although some clergy in attendance had once practiced law, I believe Judge Mize turned to me because I served as a judge before becoming an Episcopal priest. My first reaction to the invitation was to recognize that many clergy in attendance would consider such a background for a priest to be a bit problematic. For while I am able to wholeheartedly embrace the title “judge” when I hear a lesson depicting Deborah or one of the other more inspirational judges in the He-

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brew Bible, I get a bit squeamish about the title when I hear the Parable of the Unjust Judge–an oft quoted lesson in the Christian New Testament. It is then that I often see parishioners look at me with a wry smile or a wink. Nonetheless, I had to agree with Jim that for the judges and clergy meeting that day, I was able to offer a perspective from both sides. I spent five years on the Sacramento trial court, making decisions in death penalty cases, child custody determinations,

mental health hearings, and other matters that clergy encounter when trying to address circumstances their membership face. Next, for 20 years, I reviewed such matters on appeal, and in one instance affirmed a death verdict while temporarily sitting on the California Supreme Court. Then, answering to an urge that, like a fly that just wouldn’t go away– rather than a voice coming from parting clouds–I completed a seven year journey of supervised discernment and seminary education leading to ordination as an Episcopal priest. Needless to say, this was a shocking turn of events for my family–best represented by the reactions of my two sons. My oldest son, Kevin–now a lawyer in Sacramento–turned to me, and flawlessly delivered that John Belushi line from the movie The Blues Brothers: “You mean to tell me you’re going to become some jive ass preacher?” My youngest son, Brian, merely sighed and said, “Thank God you waited until we were out of high school, Dad.” Enough about me. I want to share some of the remarks I made to the clergy and judges who attended that unique conference. I began by acknowledging the unique historical context we are presently living in. When David Souter, an Episcopalian, retired in 2009 and then John Paul Stevens, who chose to identify generally as a Protestant, retired in 2010, the religious composition of the members of the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed to include just two religious traditions, Roman Catholic and Jewish. There are six Roman Catholics currently serving on the court (Justices Alito, Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, Sotomayor, and Thomas) and three Jews (Justices Breyer, Bader Ginsburg, and Kagan). Thus, for the foreseeable future the personal religious perspectives of the U.S. Supreme Court will come from traditions representing 27 percent of the U.S. population–Roman Catholics constituting of about 25 percent and Jews constituting about two percent. www.sacbar.org | May/June 2015 | SACRAMENTO LAWYER

COVER STORY It is important to first acknowledge that for most of American judicial history Roman Catholics and Jews were on the receiving end of exclusion and discrimination. And throughout the Court’s history, some traditions—notably Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Unitarian, and Jewish—have been significantly overrepresented in comparison to their prevalence in the American population, while other groups have been significantly underrepresented. Though Baptists constitute the country’s largest Protestant group, there have been just three Baptist justices. The second-largest Protestant group, Methodists, have supplied only five. And consider that the following traditions have never had a single adherent named to the highest court: Orthodox Christians, Mormons, Pentecostals, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and non-denominational evangelicals. To my knowledge, no Supreme Court justice has ever publicly claimed to be an atheist or an agnostic. Abhorring an exclusionary religious bar to service on the Court should be fundamental to us as Americans. Article VI, paragraph 3 of the U.S. Constitution states quite plainly that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” However, affording the Court with a particular perspective, life experience and background, religious or otherwise, has never been considered the same as excluding anyone. And a lack of different perspectives on the Court is certainly not new and not limited to religion. The composition of the Supreme Court has never reflected the broad diversity of the nation’s population. Currently not a single justice has come from an educational experience other than that of Harvard or Yale. Also consider that for the first time not a single justice has had the formative experience of holding an elective office. I asked the judges and clergy in at-

tendance, should we care at all about the religious perspectives of judges? Even bringing up such a question is a delicate matter for judges, and I sensed the unease of the judges attending when I posed the question. I remember well when I was a brand new “baby judge” and was sent to study at the Witkin Judicial College, as were all new judges. One day we all walked into a huge lecture hall in Berkeley, and there posted around the room on butcher paper stretching from the ceiling to the floor were the names and offenses of the “rogues gallery” of California judges

... should we care at all about the religious perspectives of judges? who had been removed from office or otherwise disciplined for misconduct. By far and away, the most recurrent and serious misconduct concerned a loss of impartiality. Several years later, one of the “rogues” required a defendant to go to church as a condition of probation. If he missed a Sunday, he risked being sent to prison. This story seemed to perk up the clergy in attendance. They are always interested in hearing new ways of getting their members to worship more regularly. In any event, the message that was drummed into our heads at Judicial College was, “Just apply the law, stupid.” But remarkably, while the curriculum acknowledged that the role of a judge is often to interpret the law and that judges are vested with broad discretion in many rulings, nothing–absolutely nothing–was ever mentioned about in what way, if at all, a judge’s religious perspective can or cannot fac-

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tor into his or her decisions. That comment triggered different perspectives between the judges and clergy at the conference that day. On the one hand, judges are trained and conditioned to cloak their deeply felt religious beliefs so that those before them can feel that the decisions that are being made reflect the will of the Legislature and not some religious perspective that may or may not be shared by the litigants themselves. On the other hand, clergy are trained and conditioned to believe that adherence to at least the fundamental tenets of a person’s religious tradition should never be suppressed, but rather should anchor the values and standards that govern all individual decision-making. My hope that day was that if the clergy in attendance took nothing else away from my remarks, that in their pastoral encounters with judges they would have a more nuanced understanding of what judges wrestle with in trying to be faithful to their religious beliefs while being true to the oath they have taken to impartially apply the laws and Constitutions of California and the United States. And, my hope for the judges was that if they took nothing else away from my remarks, they would forthrightly face up to how their deeply held religious perspectives impact their decision-making, and begin an ongoing conversation with a spiritual confidant–clergy or otherwise–that would enable them to wrestle with what may or may not ultimately present a conundrum for them. For except in very rare circumstances, clergy will have far deeper and broader knowledge of matters implicating religious belief. Clergy have not only studied for years and continue to challenge themselves intellectually–more importantly, clergy have an experiential base that judges will never have. Judges largely address matters of death, abuse, mental health,

COVER STORY child custody, etc. formally and at arm’s length. Clergy encounter these same situations up close and personal. And they see the impact of conduct and decisions more broadly and systemically. The ethical obligation of a judge not to discuss pending litigation should be no bar to what I suggested to the judges. Judges can, and I suspect do, know how to place in conversation situations that are or have been before them in general, broad terms that do not cross this line. Doing so with a spiritual confidant is very important to the self-care a judge needs to always attend to. My own experience as a person of faith who served as a judge has led me to conclude that my religious perspective factored into my decision-making–at least in those many decisions I made where I was asked to exercise my discretion rather than merely enforce a rule or standard or apply the analytical skill-set needed to find and follow an analogous case. Discretionary decision-making, the decision-making that selects a sentence, awards or terminates parental custody, and grants or denies hearings, continuances, and restraining orders call upon a judge to turn to his or her values, morals, compassion, empathy, willingness to forgive, or grant a second chance–all of which are matters that are formed and nurtured by one’s religious perspective. Discretionary decision-making assumes that judges bring their life experiences to the process and with it the perspectives, religious and otherwise, that are part of that experience. This experience forms the prism through which judges make sense of this world and those before them. Judges are not analytical “robots,” and the public knows this. A judge’s religious perspective matters. It does not matter in the sense of a judge imposing some religious edict or doctrine, but from

the inescapable fact that a judge’s religious perspective influences how he or she sizes up and measures the complicated conduct and motivations presented and how, if given some level of discretion, he or she reacts to them. I am not suggesting here that denominational or institutional identity will ever trump legal standards or rules. Denominational or institutional identity is far too simplistic a measure of the perspec-

Discretionary decision-making assumes that judges bring their life experiences to the process and with it the perspectives, religious and otherwise ... tive I am referring to. Justice Stephen Breyer is a case in point. Justice Breyer is Jewish. He married an Anglican woman in an Anglican church during which the Anglican priest referred to God rather than expressly to Jesus. One of his daughters is an Episcopal priest. He has said in an interview with Abigail Pogrebin that another daughter considers herself Jewish and that his son is non-religious.1 Discerning Justice Breyer’s religious experiences and perspective is a very complicated proposition. On the other hand, Justice Antonin Scalia forthrightly told Jennifer Senior during an interview for New York Magazine that he believes in the devil and named an example of how he sees the devil at work in the world.2 If, as I know is the case for a least some judges, they are deciding on a sentence and a defendant asks for a lower term

because his conduct is mitigated by the devil’s involvement–the old “the devil made me do it refrain”–the judge, as would Justice Scalia, will necessarily be required to begin with the question whether a devil exists and if so, how it engages the world, if it is credible that it acted here, and to what extent a person can and is responsible for rejecting such influence. A few examples may be helpful here. Challenging for me was the sentencing of a young Gypsy father convicted of kissing the vagina of his newborn daughter in the nursery of Sutter Memorial Hospital. I heard testimony from leading Gypsy leaders contending that doing so was accepted conduct within the unique cultural practice of their faith tradition, and as such was mitigating. Even more challenging were the decisions I made when assigned to the family law department. Implicit and explicit considerations of the devotional practices of parents were presented in the context of trying to discern the long-term best interests of their children. Anyone suggesting that a judge’s own religious perspective does not influence the calculus used to discern what is in the child’s best interest is grossly mistaken. Religious perspective is a factor, one of a lifetime of experiences, and the foundation for a set of values that a judge uses in arriving at the best decision he or she believes can be made in applying a law or rule to a given family’s situation. I do not have any certain answers for this difficult mental wrestling match that a judge engages in–I wish I did. What my experience has led me to conclude is that judges are best served by forthrightly acknowledging to themselves the impact that their own religious perspective may be having, while honoring the religious perspectives that come before them. Judges must constantly work at knowing themselves. Doing so re-

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COVER STORY quires humility, a value I believe was shared by the traditions represented at the conference that day. Hopefully we should all reject any simplistic claim that adherence to a tradition leads to a certain inescapable discretionary decision. Judges, in particular, need to go deeper and look beyond what pundits, commentators, and others with an axe to grind, are insisting that their tradition requires. Judges should search their beliefs for the presence of competing, and less visible values, morals, standards that may underlie and possibly mitigate or prevail over assumptions they read and hear in popular media. That day at the conference, I urged the judges in attendance not to settle for the religious perspective they learned in Sunday school, bar or bat mitzvah preparation, or some formation program they completed in

high school or college. All the great traditions represented in the room are so much richer, deeper, broader

... judges are best served by forthrightly acknowledging to themselves the impact that their own religious perspective may be having, while honoring the religious perspectives that come before them. and more capable of providing insight into the complex discretionary calls judges make than many of the judges I know realize.

SACRAMENTO LAWYER | May/June 2015 | www.sacbar.org

Looking back on my judicial career, I now believe that I would have been a better judge had I been more informed about my religious tradition, more engaged with clergy about the conundrums I faced, and more discerning in assessing how my beliefs might be influencing my discretionary decision-making. That day I urged the clergy who were present to reach out to the judges they know. Judges are conditioned to keep things to themselves. They need an invitation. When offered, I hope judges will accept the invitation and then begin and continue the conversation. Â

Abigail Pogrebin, Stars of David, Prominent Jews Talk about Being Jewish (Broadway Books 2005), pp. 300-304.

Jennifer Senior, In Conversation: Antonin Scalia, New York Magazine (October 3, 2013), http:// nymag.com/news/features/antonin-scalia-2013-10/ index3.html.

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FEATURE STORY

Levin is a research attorney

The Inaugural Sacramento Court/Clergy Conference

at the Third District Court of Appeal, currently serving as lead attorney in the chambers of Justice Elena J. Duarte. He may be contacted at Levin@jud.ca.gov.

by Levin

are taught that the First Amendment creates a “wall of separation” between church and state. Although that phrase is not in the constitution, it was revived in an 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association. And judges have faced disciplinary hearings for compelling attendance at church and other acts touching on religious matters.1 Thus, a “wall” of some kind exists, whatever its provenance. So, given this “wall,” why were nearly 60 judges, justices, lawyers, and religious leaders of many faiths attending the day-long First Annual Court/Clergy Conference on October 30, 2014, co-sponsored by the Sacramento Superior Court and the California Judges Foundation, and earnestly discussing how to bring judges and clergy closer together?2 Answer: Much good, striving to find areas where clergy can better assist members of their congregations caught up in the

Conference speaker, Dr. Glenn Hammel

Conference speaker, Professor Alan Brownstein

legal system, and judges can better understand and utilize as appropriate the faith-based services and resources available to those same litigants—particularly the self-represented.3 After an introduction by Judge Jim Mize, the inspiration for and moderator of the event, and opening prayers by three Abrahamic religious leaders standing together—Rabbi Mona Alfi, Father Gerry Robinson, and Imam Mohamed Abdul-Azeez (whose dulcet voice sang Koranic verse)—Presiding Justice Vance Raye introduced the keynote speaker, Father Rod Davis, who established the theme of the conference through his life’s work and his wise words. Father Davis, who left the Third District Court of Appeal bench after a long judicial career to become an ordained Episcopal priest, detailed the pitfalls of mingling church and state, but refuted the idea that no interaction between court and clergy is either ethically permitted or beneficial to our community. U.C. Davis School of Law Professor Alan Brownstein then dis-

SACRAMENTO LAWYER | May/June 2015 | www.sacbar.org

cussed the religion clauses of the First Amendment, distinguishing the “easy” and “difficult” cases of permissible overlap between church and state, in his lecture “Many Faiths, One America,” and in answers to follow-up questions from the audience. Free will and personal accountability, whether implicated in divine or forensic matters, were explored by neuropsychologist Dr. Glenn Hammel in “Did His Neurons Make Him do It?” which explained the rapidly-changing and still woefully incomplete science regarding brain function. As a vivid illustration, he had an old phrenology skull model, along with a 20+ year old brain model purporting to show by color-coding which areas controlled different thoughts,

Presiding Justice Vance Raye

emotions, and actions. He explained that the color-coded brain was viewed to be as much outdated today as the phrenology model was viewed as outdated a generation ago. Much remains to be discovered in this field. After another question-and-an-

FEATURE STORY swer session, and a generous lunch, the event closed with a panel of two local judges (Hon. Chris Krueger and Hon. Gerrit Wood) and two local attorneys (County Counsel Denis Zilaff and estate-planning attorney Stephanie Epolite), that addressed the topic “Clergy’s Role for the Aging Parishioner,” and gave a thumbnail sketch of conservatorships, guardianships, and other useful information. This generated lively and focused questions by clergy who have parishioners facing urgent issues needing legal intervention, including elder financial abuse, grandparents taking primary care of grandchildren, and the like. A detailed handout was provided to assist the clergy in understanding how the court system can help address these and other issues. Of course, the first stab at any new endeavor is not flawless. Sometimes it took effort to see how each expert’s views—religious, judicial, or scientific—subserved the overarching theme of the day. But the breakout question-and-answer sessions did much to shape the tesserae into the following coherent mosaic: Local judges and clergy not only may discuss areas of mutual interest, for the good of the community they all serve, they must do so.

1 See Rothman, Cal. Judicial Conduct Handbook (3d ed. 2007), Judicial Behavior and Its Implications, § 2:12, p. 53; id., Abuse of Judicial Power, § 3:60, p. 148; In re Quall (June 6, 2008) Cal. Comm. Jud. Performance [inducing contributions to missionary activities]; In re Quirk (La. 1997) 705 So.2d 172 [ordering attendance at church]; accord D. Walsh, “Shasta atheist wins $2 million settlement over drug program,” Sacramento Bee, Oct. 14, 2014, p. B-1 [parolee required to acknowledge a “higher power”]. 2 Many thanks to Senior Rabbi Mona Alfi, who opened B’Nai Israel’s stunning temple sanctuary and dining hall to the event. B’nai Israel is California’s oldest Jewish congregation, dating to the Gold Rush. See www. bnais.com/index.php/about-us/our-history. 3 For some historical context on judicial outreach to clergy, and the longstanding contributions of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard L. Fruin, Jr., see Fruin, Judicial Outreach to Religious Leaders (Spring 2003), 42 The Judges’ Journal 34; and Guccione, Helping Clergy Help Their Parishioners, id. at p. 37.

Vicki Jacobs is the Managing Attorney of the Voluntary Legal Services Program. She may be contacted at vjacobs@vlsp.org.

lawyer’s first appearance in court is something to be remembered, even in its banality. Mine occurred back in 1984, when I appeared in front of a judge at a simple arbitration status conference. My palms were clammy, and you would think it was the first day of trial. I had been prepared by my supervising partner as to what to expect; nevertheless, I did not want to make a mistake. When the subject of mentorship in the legal profession is discussed (and it is a hot topic these days), I often remember how I felt that day, 31 years ago, and am grateful that I have had many mentors throughout my legal career. These were not always painless relationships, but I learned from each of my mentors. It was a mutually beneficial relationship, and, although my value to the firm increased, I also sensed that these mentors enjoyed passing on their knowledge gained through years of experience in the trenches. At the Voluntary Legal Services Program, we are committed to providing opportunities to local law students to develop the skills they will need as future lawyers. Our commitment can be fulfilled with the help of experienced attorneys who are willing to mentor law students by helping them provide pro bono services to VLSP’s low income clients at our Employment Law Clinic. If you would like a chance to mentor a future lawyer and help an indigent Sacramento area resident with a legal problem, we invite you to volunteer at our Employment Law Clinic. VLSP’s Employment Law Clinic is held twice a month on Tuesday evening, starting at 5:30 pm. Our clients have a variety of employment related problems: unemployment insurance denials, wage and hour violation claims, wrongful termination questions, and disability discrimination claims. We currently do

VLSP

Doing Good for the Profession and for the Public by Vicki Jacobs not assist with pension issues or worker’s compensation matters. Each client is interviewed by a law student who is observed (and assisted as needed) by a mentor attorney. The mentors also help their mentees present their cases to our separate panel of experienced employment law attorneys who provide advice to be conveyed to the client by the law student with oversight by the mentor. Having a lawyer in the client interview room with the law student intern is a change from the previous structure of our clinic, and helps strengthen the mentor/mentee relationship. We encourage mentors to provide feedback (both positive and “instructional”) to our law student interns so that their skills can improve. We have outlines of questions to be asked for each type of employment law problem, so you do not need to be knowledgeable about employment law to participate. You just need to know how to interview a client and garner the information that is needed for our panel attorneys to render advice on the client’s problem. You need not take any pro bono work home with you at the end of the clinic. As of the writing of this article, we have had four clinics where we have used this new mentor/mentee format, and we have already seen tremendous improvement in the law students’ interviewing and presentation skills. Further, the mentors are enjoying their mentor experience. If you, or your associates, enjoy working with law students and can use your legal skills to focus on the facts and spot potential issues during a client interview, you would be a great asset to our program. Please contact Heather Tiffee, our Staff Attorney for the Employment Law Clinic, at htiffee@vlsp. org for more information.

www.sacbar.org | May/June 2015 | SACRAMENTO LAWYER

SECTION & AFFILIATE NEWS

SacLEGAL and SCBA Probate and Estate Planning Law Section Partner for Program on Taxing Same-Sex Couples after Windsor by Penny R. Brown

Friday, March 13, 2015, Sacramento Lawyers for the Equality of Gays and Lesbians (SacLEGAL) and the SCBA’s Probate and Estate Planning Section (Probate Section) partnered for a two-hour continuing legal education program at Pacific McGeorge School of Law. SacLEGAL and the Probate Section were honored to have guest speaker Professor Patricia A. Cain from Santa Clara University School of Law present “Taxing SameSex Couples after Windsor.” The event drew a good mixture of SacLEGAL members, SCBA Probate Section members, and professors from Pacific McGeorge. A reception followed the event at the Oak Park Brewing Company.

Speaker, Professor Patricia A. Cain

Professor Cain briefly discussed the facts of Windsor v. United States and the Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2013. The discussion led to how federal agencies, such as the IRS, Social Security Administration, and the Veteran’s Administration, have implemented procedures to comply with the Supreme Court’s finding that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

is unconstitutional. The discussion focused on those federal agencies that adopted “place of celebration” criteria for same-sex married couples when qualifying for various federal benefits. Cain noted that the IRS was the first federal agency to recognize same-sex marriages using “place of celebration” criteria. Revenue Ruling 2013-17 holds that for federal tax purposes, the Service adopts a general rule recognizing a marriage of same-sex individuals that was validly entered into in a state whose laws authorize the marriage of two individuals of the same sex even if the married couple is domiciled in a state that does not recognize the validity of same-sex marriages. Not all federal agencies can adopt the “place of celebration” rule. For those agencies (Social Security Administration and Veteran’s Administration) that are precluded from implementing a “place of celebration” standard, Cain discussed that there are statutes currently in place that guide spousal benefits for those agencies and discussed the legal action that is pending to correct those statutes. The discussion also focused on the complications that arise for those who are registered domestic partners or in a civil union (a marriage equivalent), but not married. Cain described the rapidly increasing number of states (37 as of March 1, 2015) where same-sex couples may marry. Same-sex married couples who could not file a joint return prior to Windsor and Revenue Ruling 2013-17 are now

SACRAMENTO LAWYER | May/June 2015 | www.sacbar.org

Penny R. Brown is Of Counsel with the law firm of Boutin Jones Inc. and the 2015 Treasurer of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the SCBA. She may be contacted at PBrown@boutinjones.com.

required to file a joint federal income tax return. The differences between federal and state laws provide challenges for taxpayers. Some states do not permit samesex couples to marry, but do recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions. Some states provide for a legal status such as registered domestic partnerships (RDP) and civil unions. Some states automatically convert civil unions to marriage, while other states that now permit same-sex marriage no longer offer any other legal status.

Frances An and Laury Porter enjoy the presentation

Dissolution of legal status such as RDP and civil unions prior to marriage raises further confusion and complexity. Cain spoke about the complications that couples face when deciding whether to dissolve their existing legal status before getting married. California is the only state that allows a couple to be both RDPs and spouses, provided of course that each spouse is married to and registered with the same person The holding of Windsor is retroactive. Whether to file amended income tax returns following recognition of the marriage has been a big issue. Cain described the general statute of limitations and whether or not filing amended returns is in the clients’ best interest. Cain also touched on the complex issues associated with ERISA plans and other retirement plans. She described several ongoing cases on the issue of denial of retirement benefits to a sur-

SECTION & AFFILIATE NEWS vivor of a same-sex spouse who died prior to Windsor, based on the DOMA definition of a spouse. Professor Patricia A. Cain is the Inez Mabie Distinguished Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law (SCU). Before joining the SCU faculty in 2007, she served as Vice Provost and Aliber Family Chair in Law at the University of Iowa. She was a member of the faculty at the University of Texas for 17 years before moving to the University of Iowa, School of Law in 1991. She also held the H.O. Head Centennial Professor in Real Property Law at the University of Texas (1990-91). A member of the American Law Institute and prior board member of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, she is a former co-president (with Jean Love) of the Society of American Law Teachers. She is a frequent lecturer on tax planning for same-sex couples and in 2008 contributed to continuing legal education

programs for same-sex couples at The Williams Institute, UCLA (Los Angeles), Lavender Law (San Francisco), Kasner Estate Planning Symposium (San Jose), the Santa Clara Estate Planning Council (Santa Clara), Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Group (Sacramento) and ALI-ABA (national webcast). She has published more than 50 law review articles in journals such the Iowa Law Review, the Southern California Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, the Wisconsin Law Review and the Journal of Legal Education. She also has published several book chapters, treatises and casebooks including Tax Planning for Unmarried Couples (Prentice Hall 1980), Rainbow Rights: The Role of Lawyers and Courts In the Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights Movement (Westview Press 2000), and Sexuality Law (with Arthur S. Leonard) (Carolina Academic Press 2005). The CLE event and reception at Oak Park Brewing Company were a

Penny R. Brown and Pamela Jones at the SacLEGAL happy hour following the presentation

great opportunity for those who work with same-sex couples to hear from a nationally known speaker about the legal issues facing their clients after Windsor. SacLEGAL thanks the Probate Section for partnering to bring Professor Cain to Sacramento and looks forward to continuing to serve the Sacramento legal community, as well as the broader Sacramento community. Â

www.sacbar.org | May/June 2015 | SACRAMENTO LAWYER

FEATURE STORY

Maureen C. Onyeagbako

Judge Jennifer Rockwell: A Rich and Exciting Life of Public Service by Maureen C. Onyeagbako

Judge Jennifer Rockwell

is not often you hear that a lawyer is “a very special person” in the good sense. Yet, Judge Jennifer Rockwell’s colleagues resoundingly share that sentiment towards her. Other descriptions include astute, prepared, genuine, attentive, honest, objective, patient, confident, sound legal judgment, approachable, funny, and remarkable. Judge Rockwell knew from an early age that her ultimate calling

was to public service. The Air Force “brat” is a fourth generation public servant from a line that includes a veteran of two wars, mayor, and Conservation Corps member who worked on the Hoover Dam; nurse and school board member; sheriff; teacher; and state capitol staffer. Her family instilled in her that it is not about what you can get, but rather what you can give to others.

SACRAMENTO LAWYER | May/June 2015 | www.sacbar.org

is a Deputy Attorney General with the California Department of Justice and a Staff Editor of the Sacramento Lawyer. She can be contacted at Maureen. Onyeagbako@doj.ca.gov.

Taking inspiration from her family, Judge Rockwell has consistently seized opportunities to engage with her community. As a law student at the University of Southern California, she participated in the Street Law program, helped students write resumes, and interned at government agencies. After graduation, she served in California’s Executive Fellowship Program before going on to work at the State Treasurer’s Office. Judge Rockwell also spent nine years in the Tobacco Litigation and Government Law sections at the California Attorney General’s Office (AGO). As a Deputy Attorney General, she worked on shutting down an alleged Ponzi scheme, election law cases, and writs of mandates, to name a few. Justice Andrea Hoch worked with Judge Rockwell at the AGO and later at the California Department of Finance, and describes her as “always willing to take the tough assignments.” By working on a broad range of cases, Judge Rockwell refined her ability to learn and litigate unfamiliar issues. Judge Rockwell moved to the Department of Finance in late 2008 and expected to leave the job when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s term ended in 2011. As luck would have it, she joined Finance a month before the Great Recession started. The drop in California’s revenue was greater, percentage-wise, than that during the Great Depression. Thus, Judge Rockwell and her team worked around the clock on budgetary matters just to keep the lights on at California agencies and courts. She did such a good

FEATURE STORY job that Governor Jerry Brown kept her on at Finance when he took office in January 2011. Her hallmarks under his administration include working on pension reform legislation, Senate Bill 105 (recidivism reduction), and Proposition 30 (funding for realignment and education). Judge Rockwell transitioned to the bench in July 2014. During that time, Assistant Presiding Superior Court Judge Kevin R. Culhane sat alongside Judge Rockwell on the bench, observed her with litigants, and used her as a sounding board. He describes Judge Rockwell as “extremely bright” and “well-grounded.” Drawing from his experience as a seasoned judge and law professor, he notes that Judge Rockwell has a unique blend of significant talents, which include the distinct ability to synthesize complex factual situations and also to understand the

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court system will look like 10-plus not run the way it does on Judge Judy u Bet the years into the future, he is confident so they need to be polite and respect- u Comme that Jennifer Rockwell will be a shining ful. She recognizes that for many par- u Litigati star in the middle of it. ties, those cases may be the only con- u Litigati Judge Rockwell reflects that being tact they have with the judicial system. a judge allows her to provide more diSo she wants them to leave knowing rect service to the public compared to that, even if they disagree with the outher previous positions and to wear difcome, they were listened to and got a ferent hats in the courtroom. She has fair shake. been impressed in her criminal cases When not in the courtroom, the with the professionalism and strong wife and mother of two, continues to advocacy skills of the prosecutors and be active. She attends bar association public defenders. Thus, she is more events to support other attorneys and Joe@GenshleaLaw.com likely to sit back while the parties arenjoys interacting with high school825-9952 O/ (916) 525-8444 C/ (916) gue their cases and step in only when students. She believes that youth-cenneeded. Her small claims, traffic, and programs such as Operation 400 Capitol Mall / tered Suite 1750 / Sacramento, CA 95814 ww detainer cases, on the other hand, typProtect & Defend and the Gordon D. Family Law Center ically consist of unrepresented parties Schaber Moot Court competition proand require more active involvement mote an engaged citizenry by getting on her part. Sometimes, it is a matter students to think about their roles in of helping the parties state their sides society and how to seek redress.

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Hall of Fame, 2001 l Lawyers, since 1986 ers since inception nception, recently:

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te Litigation,

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n Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, since 1986

ial Litigation, Barristers’

Club Update – Introducing 2015 Barristers’ 2012, 2013, 2014 President Daniel Reid 2013, 2014

Reid brings significant boardCalifornia ex- Super spends timesince withinception his wife, Courtney, ridn Northern Lawyers perience to his new position, having ing their horses, working n Best Lawyers in America since inception, recently: on their properserved as the Barristers’ Club memberty, and hunting with his dog, Gauge. u Lawyer of the year, Real Estate Litigation, ship chair, secretary, treasurer, and vice Who knows the vagaries of litigation Sacramento, 2014 Barristers’ Happy Hour Mixer nce, 2012, 2013, 2014 president of programs, as well as theofJu2013, 2014 the Year,Sponsored Commercial Litigation, u Lawyer by Digistream and better than a trial lawyer? nior Barristers’ Club president while he2010 Sacramento US Legal Support Litigation, 2012, 2013, 2014 was a student at Pacific McGeorge. The u Bet the Company 2013, 2014 March 5, Barristers’ u Commercial Annual Judicial Reception and SummerLitigation, 2012, On Thursday, and Finance, 2012, 2013, 2014 u Litigation-Banking Associates’ Reception top his list of faClub members gathered at the infamous u Litigation-Real Estate, 2012, 2013, 2014 vorite Barristers’ Club events because Fox & Goose Public House in the Histhey provide wonderful opportunities toric District of Sacramento for a happy for young lawyers to interact with lohour networking mixer with representacal judges outside of the courtroom, as tives from US Legal Support and Digiswell as law students working in their tream. The mixer was incredibly well atfirst apprenticeships. As the 2015 prestended. Members marveled at the festive President Daniel Reid hunting with ident, Reid looks forward to the BarrisBritish décor, mingled with one anoth5-8446 his dog, Gauge ters’ Club continuing to provide MCLE er, and discussed the litigation-related programming and events that are inforservices with representatives from both alaw.com The Barristers’ Club of Sacramento mative and address emerging issues that sponsor companies. The Club looks foris pleased to introduce its 2015 Presyoung practitioners commonly face. ward to hosting similar social functions ident, Daniel Reid. Reid hasJoe@GenshleaLaw.com worked O/ (916) 525-8444 C/ (916) 825-9952 F/ (916) When not working for the NRA in the525-8446 future to build collegiality and cias a lobbyist for the National Rifle Asand tending to his Barristers’ duties, Reid vility within the Sacramento bar. sociation (NRA) Institute for Legislative Action 2012 on behalf of 1750 the / Sacramento, CA 95814 400 since Capitol Mall / Suite www.genshlealaw.com states of Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, and Sacramento County Public Law Library Oregon. Prior to that, worked 1/8Reid Page Ad:as a SCBA 2015 litigation associate for Flesher Broomand Buzz Wiesenfeld ad McKague LLP from 2008-2011 and for July/Aaugust 2014 issue MAGAZINE the Page NRA from Half Ad: 2007-2008. He earned his J.D. from Pacific McGeorge School Joe Genshlea Law and Mediation of Law in 2008 and obtained his B.A. September/October 2013 issue Attorney Nicole Hendrickson and fromad,UCLA, where he majored in hisd to run your Board Members Megan Sammut, Jenni Mixer Attendees Steve Lewis, Jeff and played NCAA baseball as a opriate boxtory below. Harmon, & Kurt Hendrickson catch up at Clause, Danielle Haulman, Erick MAGAZINE left-handed pitcher. the Mixer at Fox & Goose Public House Rhoan, & Mark Velasquez

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Index of Advertisers 100% firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 ADR Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ASA Norcal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Buzz Wiesenfeld, Mediator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Brad L’Engle (Comstock Mortgage). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Carol Delzer (Family Law Center). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Casa Garden Restaurant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Jay-Allen Eisen Law Corporation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Eleakis & Elder Photography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Events Yoga (Jennifer Bale). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 First Legal Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Hon. Darrel Lewis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 House Restaurant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Ken Malovos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Northern California Collections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC Porter Scott Ad for Nancy Sheehan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 PSIC Attorney Shield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Ramirez Arbitration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 SABA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Sacramento County Public Law Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 SCBA Golf Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC SCBA Spring Mixer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Sharif Jewelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Ridge Golf Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Ueltzen & Co.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 UCP of Sacramento Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Viaggio Estate & Winery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC Wilke Fleury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Wilson Law Firm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Women Lawyer’s Artfest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

100% CLUB SACRAMENTO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION SCBA 100% Club Firms are firms with five or more attorneys with 100 percent membership in the SCBA. We thank these firms for their generous support through their membership dues. If your firm would like to be added to the list of SCBA 100% Club Firms, contact the SCBA staff today.

Abbott & Kindermann LLP Bartholomew & Wasznicky LLP Bartkiewicz Kronick Shanahan Best Best & Krieger LLP Boutin Jones Inc. CA Dept. of Human Resources (CalHR) CA Dept. of Veterans Affairs CA State Lands Commission California Farm Bureau Federation Carothers DiSante & Freudenberger LLP Carroll Burdick & McDonough Chang Ruthenberg & Long Cook Brown LLP Cuneo Black Ward & Missler Delfino Madden O’Malley Coyle & Koewler LLP Downey Brand, LLP Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood Campora, LLP Ellison Schneider & Harris Evans Wieckowski Ward & Scoffield LLP Felderstein Fitzgerald Willoughby & Pascuzzi LLP Greenberg Traurig, LLP Gurnee, Mason & Forestiere, LLP Hansen Kohls Sommer & Jacob LLP Hanson Bridgett LLP Hardy Erich Brown & Wilson Hefner Stark & Marois LLP Hiroshima Lewis & Daggett Jacobsen & McElroy PC Kennaday Leavitt & Daponde PC King Williams & Gleason LLP Klinedinst, PC.

Knox Lemmon & Anapolsky Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard Langenkamp Curtis & Price LLP Lauria Tokunaga Gates & Linn LLP Legacy Law Group Longyear O’Dea & Lavra LLP Mastagni Holstedt, APC Matheny Sears Linkert & Jaime, LLP Meegan Hanschu Kassenbrock Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP Nossaman, LLP Olson Hagel & Fishburn LLP Palmer Kazanjian Wohl Hodson LLP Porter Scott Randolph Cregger & Chalfant, LLP Rediger McHugh & Owensby, LLP Remy Moose Manley LLP Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai LLP Simas & Associates, LTD Singer & Associates Law Office Smith McDowell & Powell Somach Simmons & Dunn Spinelli, Donald & Nott Stoel Rives LLP Thomas Law Group Timmons, Owen, Jansen & Tichy, Inc. Wagner Kirkman Blaine Klomparens & Youmans LLP Webb & Tapella Weintraub Tobin Wilke Fleury Hoffelt Gould & Birney, LLP Woodruff O’Hair Posner & Salinger Inc www.sacbar.org | May/June 2015 | SACRAMENTO LAWYER

The Ad Hocs Photos by Mark Long, Eleakis & Elder Photography

ouse Kitchen and Bar, at 555 Capitol Mall, claims that it “offers the most delectable ‘Comfort Food’ in the Sacramento Valley.” The Ad Hocs give this claim zero “Pinocchios.” House does indeed serve excellent comfort food. Appetizers—The deviled eggs with sweet pickle relish and capers are a sure-fire hit; no one wants to stop at one. The yolk is whipped just right, and there is a bit of zing in every bite. The sweet corn tamales are a well-seasoned vegetarian option, served with a spicy green sauce, corn salsa, and sour cream. Entrees—The drunken chicken salad is a go-to. It has bacon, avocado, and goat cheese which are well balanced by the sweetness of candied pecans. Really hungry eaters cannot go wrong with the prime rib French dip sandwich. “Best French dip ever,” opines a Capitol Mall regular. The sandwich is a full half-pound of thinly sliced prime rib on a sweet roll from a Napa bakery (not many rolls can stand up to that much fresh meat) and is dressed with Swiss chesse, fried onions, and a horseradish mayonnaise. House sources all its meats locally from Corti Brothers. “We don’t even have a freezer,” explains House owner, Chris Nestor. The all-day menu features a wide variety of salads, sandwiches, and entrees. Bar—Yes indeed. Good cocktails. Happy hour is from 4:00p to 8:00p.

The Ad Hocs’ own dining experiences, together with their probing examination of some House regulars, revealed that the quality of the food is high and that everyone leaves satisfied—and full. Says former SCBA President B.J. Susich, “House is one of those places where, as you leave, you always feel like you got more than you paid for. It is also the type of place where the staff and owner would be disappointed if you didn’t ask for some meal accommodation. They truly want you to enjoy your experience.” House is open Monday through Friday for lunch and dinner. The atmosphere is relaxed. The food lives up to its billing.

SACRAMENTO LAWYER | May/June 2015 | www.sacbar.org

Sacramento County Bar Association and SCBA Lawyer Referral and Information Service Invites You to Our

Spring Member

Mixer

Join members of the Bench and Bar for an evening of socializing and networking Judges: FREE SCBA Members: FREE Non-Members: $10. per person* *Advanced pricing. Day of event and pay at the door pricing, add $15.

Monday May 18, 2015 5pm to 7pm

House Kitchen & Bar 555 Capitol Mall, Sacramento, CA 95814

Please RSVP online at www.sacbar.org or return this form below. SCBA Spring Member Mixer • Monday, May 18, 2015 Name ________________________________________________________________________________ Court ________________________________________________________________________________ Address_______________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip __________________________________________________________________________ Phone _____________________________Email ______________________________________________ No. of Reservations _____________________________________________________________________ Register online at www.sacbar.org events calendar. Please RSVP by mail, telephone or email to SCBA 1329 Howe Ave., Suite 100, Sacramento, CA 95825 or fax with payment to 916-564-3787, email to mfenchen@sacbar.org. For questions or additional information please call 916-564-3780.

Gourmet Appetizers • Beverages • Door Prizes 33 www.sacbar.org | May/June 2015 | SACRAMENTO LAWYER

About the cover The cover of this issue is an original portrait of Father Rod Davis by Sacramento attorney Terry Flanigan. This is Flaniganâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second cover for this publication in as many years. His Chipman at Gettysburg piece appears on the cover of the March/ April 2014 issue. Flanigan practices with the Flanigan Law Firm. During his distinguished career, Flanigan has served as the appointments secretary to Governor Pete Wilson and to Governor George Deukmejian. In 2014, the California Supreme Court appointed Flanigan to the Board of Trustees of the Bar.

SAVE THE DATE Women Lawyers of Sacramento Presents the 22nd Annual

Fest

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 - 6:00PM-8:30PM THE CALIFORNIA MUSEUM 1020 O STREET, SACRAMENTO, CA 95814

Join colleagues and friends for an exciting evening including local artists, music, hosted food and wine, and

For Sponsorship opportunities orlocal for charitable more information the event, please contact silent auction. Proceeds fund grants to organizations about and scholarships for law students. Kim Garner at kkakavas@gmail.com or Julia Reeves at jreeves@mathenysears.com. GOLD SPONSORS

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PLATINUM SPONSORS

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SACRAMENTO SACRAMENTO COUNTY COUNTY BAR BAR ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATIONMAGAZINE MAGAZINE

1329 1329 Howe Howe Ave., Ave., #100 #100 •• Sacramento, Sacramento,CA CA95825 95825

SCBA Annual Meeting Operation Protect and Defend,of the Year Honoring Distinguished Attorney Sacramento County Bar Association and Federal Bar Association Sacramento Justice ArthurChapter Scotland Proudly Present

Annual Law Day DinnerInstalling Celebration 2015 SCBA

DATE: Thursday, May 7, 2015 • TIME: 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. PLACE: Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel, 1230 J Street, Sacramento KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Renowned Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson Recognizing 100% Firms

Officers & Directors GOLD SPONSORS

PLATINUM SPONSORS

DATE Monday December 15, 2014

Hon. Frank C. Damrell, Jr. (Ret.)

TIME SILVER SPONSORS MCLE Prior to Annual Meeting 11:30 Check in Shaw Valenza LLP • Leonard M. Friedman Bar Association Young, Minney & Corr • Downey BrandFREE LLP for SCBA Members 12:00 Lunch Goodman & Associates • Kanter Immigration Law Office Medina McKelvey LLP • Littler Mendelson, P.C. BRONZE SPONSORS

$100 for Non-Members Jacobsen & McElroy PC • Women Lawyers of Sacramento University of the Pacific, McGeorge School Law - Topic: “Attorney 1 HourofEthics Fees, Law Offices of Kaizuka & Valcarenghi ABAS and ABAS Law Foundation Practically and Ethically” Capitol City Trial Lawyers Association

Speaker: Kenneth Bacon of Mastagni Holstedt

PLACE Sheraton Grand 1230 J Street

Price: $65 per ticket. To reserve your place and/or sponsor a student, please RSVP by mail to Adriana C. Cervantes at Porter Scott, 10:30-11:30am 350 University Ave., Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95825, by email at acervantes@porterscott.com, online website at www.OperationProtectAndDefend.com All checks should be made payable to “Kennedy Library & Learning Center.” No RSVP is finalized without payment.

Keynote Speaker: Phone number: ______________________________Email: _________________________________________________________ Chief Justice of California

Name: ______________________________________Organization/Company: __________________________________________

I wish to purchase: _________ tickets at ($65 each) and donate _________ student tickets at ($65 each) TOTAL purchase $ _______________

Tani Cantil-Sakauye

Menu choice Menu choice Attendee name (salmon, chicken, or vegetarian) Attendee name (salmon, chicken, or vegetarian) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ticket information: www.sacbar.org/event calendar, $45 for SCBA members, $65 for non-members. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ After November 23rd, ticket prices increase by $5 RSVP to rsvp@sacbar.org or call (916) 564-3780. Send checks payable: SCBA, 1329 Howe Ave #100, Sacramento, CA 95825