A Journey Through The U.S. District Courts
Posted by Jay Lowden, Photos By: John Swentowsky on Jan 12, 2017
President Dan McVeigh opened the meeting and wished everyone a happy new year. Along with the new year, he is celebrating the midway point of his term as our Clubs President. With the head table, including two prominent jurists he proposed that we might consider a new theme for our club “join Rotary and go to jail.” Thanks were given to Aaron French (Zanker Recycling), for being musical director for the day and handling the AV chores; Sue Schoenig (Kennaday Leavitt PC) and Denise Santiago (Golden Pacific Bank) were thanked for serving as greeters for the day.
We now know that inclement weather will not keep guests and visitors away as Tom Bacon introduced eight guests, three prospective members and one visiting Rotarian. Jim Leet was introduced to provide the thought for the Day with a terrific reading about service and what it means to be a service organization. President Dan then introduced the head table which included the honorable Bill Shubb (U.S. District Court), the honorable Kim Mueller (U.S. District Court), Jim Leet (Boutin Jones Inc.) Rita Gibson (Rita Gibson Insurance & Investment Services Inc.) and Past President Walter Dahl (Dahl Law, Attorneys At Law).Rita Gibson was the sponsor of the day and provide an overview of Rita Gibson Insurance and Investment Services, including announcing that she just received her RICP (Retirement Income Certified Professional) Certification. 
In 2016, we lost a long time Rotarian and Past President, Charlie Gray. Bob Cole (Goodwin Cole Company) provide a wonderful tribute to “Good Time” Charlie Gray. Through his actions, humor, and commitment to others, Charlie lived a life of service and has left a legacy that will live on through rotary, the YMCA and the community.
The meeting was turned over to Jim Leet to recognize a number or Rotarians for their commitment to the Rotary Foundation. Recognized were Jeanne Reaves (Jeanne Reaves Consulting), and Past President David Cohen (Cohen – Durrett, LLP), who all received their 2nd Eddie Mulligans; Barbara Arnold (Barbara J. Arnold MD Inc.) for her 3rd & 4th Eddie Mulligan and Jeff Setzer (Setzer Forest Products Inc.) for his 3rd Paul Harris Fellow.
Ted White (Sacramento Delta Property Management) was recognized for his company being the No. 2 Property Manager in Sacramento with more than 2,000 properties. Jeanne Reaves made a gift in acknowledgment of forgetting to mention Larry Gilzean (Spare Time Clubs) during the Foundation Day meeting in December; John Swentowsky (Swentowsky Photography) summed his “Good Year” of 2016 with a gift; Tom Gilbert (Gilbert Associates, Inc.) made a gift to acknowledge the terrific work of Dave Higden (California Moving Systems) and his company in quickly moving his belongings to higher ground; and Todd Andrews (Andrews Construction, Inc.) made a gift in memory of Charlie Gray.
One of the highlights of the meeting was a presentation to St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Todd Andrews and Susan Sheridan presented Robyn Raphael from St. Baldrick’s a check in the amount of $70,000 which represented the proceeds from the Sacramento Century event in October of 2016. In return, St. Baldrick’s presented the Rotary Club of Sacramento their Hero Award. Get ready for Sac Century 12017 on October 7th.
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The Honorable Bill Shubb stepped to the mic to introduce our speaker of the day. To sum up his introduction, “her appointment as a Magistrate was one of the best thing I have ever done.” and with that the Honorable Kim Mueller, a member of our club since 2004, stepped to the podium and court was now in session.Judge Mueller said that she was going to share with us what it is that courts do, particularly federal courts, and some of the misconceptions about what judges can and cannot do. For example, they cannot attend political events. She mentioned that part of their role is developing a respect for the rule of law since it has to be taught, it is not something that we are born with. She shared a wonderful quote from Judge Learned Hand who said “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it.”
The majority of her talk was about the role of the Court’s Historical Society and the Justice Kennedy Learning Center located in the Matsui Courthouse. In the learning center, they have exhibits, a reading room and classroom space where they provide informational and education programs. One such program is the Summer Institute for teacher where they use actual court cases, from the local district to teach about the role of the courts. The current case that they are using in this program is the case of Mitsuye Endo. 1n 1942, Endo was 22, living in Sacramento, working for the state when President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 which authorized the restriction and removal of individuals of Japanese descent during the early stages of WW2. Endo was one of just 63 individuals that filed a protest in order to get her job back. The Civil Exclusion Order No. 52 in May of 1942, ordered all Japanese out of Sacramento by May 16. Endo first was sent to Walerga, and then Tule Lake. Endo was born in America, she only spoke English, her brother was in the Army, she was Methodist. She was an ideal candidate to file a petition for writ of habeas corpus, that if granted would free her from government detention. Judge Mueller then traced the steps of Endos case through the courts to its conclusion in December of 1944 when the courts said her petition should be granted. It was a fascinating case to listen to, but more importantly a great example of using a local case to educate teachers, so they can teach others. For more information on the Justice Kennedy Center and the courts history program, please follow the attached links.
http://courthistory.tripod.com/ (E.D. Cal. Historical Society webpage)
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/library/view.php?pk_id=0000000480 (Justice Kennedy Reading List)
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/library/view.php?pk_id=0000000480 (Justice Kennedy Reading List)
