December 2024 President's Letter

Greetings, Friends:

I hope this message finds you well.  It is a busy time of year.  My hope is that all have or will able to find time to unwind and relax with loved ones. 

Thursday of last week marked Thanksgiving.  The following day, Friday, is designated Native American Heritage Day.  Our country has much work yet to do to make amends to those who originally inhabited this great land, as well as with those communities who came to the United States either voluntarily or involuntarily.  We must never forget this history, lest we are bound to repeat it.

On October 26, 2024, President Biden traveled to the Gila River Indian Reservation.  There, he offered a public apology to Native Americans for the government’s role separating Native children from their families and placing them in boarding schools.  The President referred to this callous, barbaric, and devastating practice as “a blot on American history”.  Indeed, it is, and Native families across this nation continue to experience the fallout from this ugly segment of US history.   

This public pronouncement was powerful, and was certainly something I thought about as Laurie Denham and I attended the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) conference.  It took place in Seattle at the start of November.  NAPABA exists to provide optimal representation and influence of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander attorneys in every facet and level of the legal profession and beyond.  Like NAWJ, NAPABA prioritizes equality, community, advocacy, relationships, diversity, equity, inclusion, open-mindedness, and the health and wellbeing of its members and communities as a whole. While at the conference, Laurie and I experienced the reenactment of 2 cases litigated before Brown v Board of Education was decided:  Tape v Hurley and Gong Lum v Rice.  The Tape and Lum families were openly discriminated against for having the audacity of wanting the best public education for their children.  They were denied access because of racism and prejudice.  The reenactments were gripping, as the actors read very raw language from actual court transcripts.  We must never forget these things happened, and as guardians of our respective state and federal constitutions, we are charged to ensure equal treatment under the law.  It is a serious responsibility.

As you know, the theme of my Presidency is Access to Justice is Justice for All.  The law mustn’t leave anyone behind or unprotected.  For that reason and in light of everything above, the theme for NAWJ’s midyear meeting, will be built around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’.  It was there that he prophetically penned: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.  I hope that as you now look to the start of 2025, you will save those dates in your calendar.  Midyear conference will be held at the prestigious University of Michigan Law School, March 20-22.  Registration and more details will open soon.  Suffice it to say, I am excited for what we have in store.

With that, I bid you all peace, joy, and tranquility.  I look forward to seeing you in Ann Arbor.  Happy Holidays!  

Sincerely,

The Honorable Michelle Rick
President, National Association of Women Judges