On Saturday, Sept 27, The Bar Association of San Francisco’s delegation to the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations will honor the work of the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice and its leaders Gerald Uelmen, John Van De Kamp, and Jon Streeter. The reception is being held in connection with the California State Bar annual convention in Monterey.
The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice was created by Senate Resolution No. 44 of the 2003-04 Session of the California State Senate, adopted on August 27, 2004. According to the CCFAJ web site, the Commission’s duties were: "1. To study and review the administration of criminal justice in California to determine the extent to which that process has failed in the past, resulting in wrongful executions or the wrongful conviction of innocent persons. 2. To examine ways of providing safeguards and making improvements in the way the criminal justice system functions. 3. To make any recommendations and proposals designed to further ensure that the application and administration of criminal justice in California is just, fair, and accurate." The CCFAJ gave its final report and ceased operations in June.
"We are honoring the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice and its leaders for the extraordinary contribution the Commission has made in revealing how and why the current California death penalty system is ‘dysfunctional,’ and the specifics of what is needed to fix it, if California is going to comply with Constitutional requirements," said Frank Z. Leidman, Vice Chair of The Bar Association of San Francisco delegation to the Conference of Delegates. "The Commission has quantified the cost of repairs that are needed, and, in a non-partisan and unanimous set of recommendations, the Commission has also documented specific reforms that must be implemented and the high cost of those reforms. We now know what must be done and at what cost to bring California into Constitutional compliance."
"Professor Gerald Uelmen, the Commission’s executive director, chair John Van de Kamp, and co-chair Jon Streeter, have taken a highly volatile subject and brought to it their high sense of professionalism," Leidman continued. "While some may argue that the death penalty should be replaced by the ‘alternative’ of life without parole, even death penalty supporters now concede that reforms are needed. BASF believes that the Commission deserves high praise for its process as well as its product, a highly credible Final Report released on June 30, 2008, which is likely to be the starting point for any further discussion of the future of the death penalty in California."
Gerald Uelmen is professor of law and director of the Heafey Center for Trial and Appelate Advocay at Santa Clara Law. From 2005-2008, he served as executive director of the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (CCFAJ). He earned his bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount, and his J.D. from Georgetown. As a Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown, Uelmen did indigent criminal defense work while earning a LL.M. degree. He returned to California to serve in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, prosecuting organized crime cases. In 1970, he joined the faculty of Loyola LawSchool in Los Angeles, where he taught Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Trial Advocacy, Legal Ethics, and Counseling and Negotiation. He also served as associate dean for two years and maintained an active part-time criminal defense practice, participating in the defense of Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers trial and successfully challenging the murder conviction of Gordon Castillo Hall. He served as dean at Santa Clara from 1986 to 1994. From1994-95, he served on the defense team for the trial of People v. O.J. Simpson.
"The entire Santa Clara Law community congratulates Professor Gerald Uelmen and the Commission on the recognition of their work and the honor bestowed by the Bar," says Santa Clara Law Dean Donald Polden. "We are immensely proud that Santa Clara Law could be home to the Commission and support its important work, and we thank Jerry and his colleagues for their dedicated and thorough examination of the extremely important legal and policy issues taken up by the Commission. Justice is an important concept we strive to honor and teach at Santa Clara Law, and Jerry is an outstanding model of justice to our students, faculty, alumni, and other attorneys."
For more information on Gerald Uelmen, see http://lawscuedustage.wpengine.com/faculty/profile/uelmen-gerald.cfm.
For more information or to review reports from the CCFAJ, visit www.ccfaj.org.
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