BALIF's mentorship program is seeking mentors and mentees for 2017-2018.  For more information, see the  program guidelines  and  description  on the BALIF website. If you are a law student, recent law school graduate, or newer attorney seeking a mentor, or if you are an experienced attorney interested in serving as a mentor, please contact Lauren Pietsch,  [email protected] .  

Mentors and mentee pairs will be assigned on a rolling basis throughout the year. 

Jeff Weiler resigned as the Mayor of Piedmont over the weekend after a public outcry concerning racist and transphobic statements he posted on Facebook and elsewhere, that included:

BALIF condemns these statements as inappropriate, divisive, false, and particularly harmful when made by a public official.  While BALIF is heartened that Weiler resigned as Mayor in response to wide-spread community criticism, he remains a member of the Piedmont City Council.  BALIF encourages its members and the community to continue to speak out when confronting bigotry, racism, sexism and homo and transphobia.  It cannot be tolerated.  

On Monday, August 14, 2017, Felicia Medina and Jennifer Orthwein, two Directors on the BALIF Board and Partners at Medina Orthwein LLP, filed a complaint on behalf of Dr. Lori Jespersen, a Psychologist employed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), in the United States District Court - Eastern Division of California.

  

The complaint alleges that Dr. Jespersen has been discriminated against, harassed, and retaliated against for advocating on behalf of gay and transgender prisoners and because of her own sexual orientation and gender non-conformity.  Dr. Jespersen has blown the whistle on correctional officers and CDCR's habitual violations of the Prison Rape Elimination Act and HIPAA.

 

In response, Dr. Jespersen safety has been put in danger by correctional officers, prisoners, and CDCR.  Custody staff locked her on units alone with prisoners, including a multi-term violent sex offender.  She has been stalked and intimidated by a custody officer who also incited violence against her by prisoners and was then constructively demoted by CDCR to a desk job and is no longer allowed to see patients.

 

"LGBTQ prisoners are disproportionately subjected to harassment and physical and sexual abuse. I admire Dr. Jespersen's strength and courage to expose how LGBTQ people are suffering behind CDCR's walls," said Jennifer Orthwein.

 

"It is time for CDCR to be held accountable and take intentional, meaningful steps to address their abusive and hostile culture. Dr. Jespersen's lawsuit seeks not only to vindicate her rights,  but the rights of some of the most vulnerable populations caught up in the prison industrial complex," said Felicia Medina. 

 

Read more about this lawsuit here: 

https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/08/17/prison-psychologist-sues-state-for-retaliation-after-reporting-mistreatment-of-lgbtq-prisoners/

On June 29, 2017, George Tran, a prosecutor and board member of BALIF, proved at a jury trial and convicted Santa Clara Deputy Sheriff Benjamin Lee for brandishing a loaded firearm at employees in a Jack In The Box drive-thru. The deputy was also drunk driving, stopped at the drive-thru after a night of partying with his friends.  According to the employees, the deputy got angry and rude.  He demanded his food, and refused to put his gun away when asked.  That was when one of the employees called 911.  Santa Clara County Judge Vanessa Zecher sentenced the deputy sheriff on August 18, 2017.  As part of that sentence, Judge Zecher placed a 10-year ban prohibiting him from owning or possessing any firearms and ammunition.

 

Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the BALIF Foundation.  The Foundation recently launched and is working to assist BALIF in bringing LGBT judges to the bench and supporting scholarships, stipends and fellowships for law students and attorneys working in the LGBTQ community.  You can donate here.  In the four years ahead, we believe the Foundation's work will be critical in helping to protect our community.

And the Foundation is looking for Founding Circle members through the end of 2017 - pledge and pay as little as $1,000 to always be listed as a Founding Circle member of the BALIF Foundation.

For more information about the BALIF Foundation or how to get involved, contact Jamie Dupree [email protected].  

BALIF is the Bay Area's LGBT Bar Association, which is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit, which can engage in political activity.  Its Board members are elected by the BALIF membership and chair various committees of the BALIF bar association.

 

The BALIF Foundation is BALIF's charitable arm.  Donations to the BALIF Foundation are tax deductible because it is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.  The BALIF Foundation is dedicated to increasing the number of LGBT judges on the bench through educational programming, supporting LGBT community organizations, and providing scholarships, summer stipends, and fellowships for LGBT  law students and young attorneys seeking to help the LGBT community through legal work.  It gave its inaugural summer fellowship for the summer of 2017.