Thursday, August 8 – Sunday, August 11
State & Local Government Law
2019 Annual Meeting
Hilton San Francisco Union Square (S&L Gov Headquarters)
2019 ABA Annual Meeting
Thursday, August 8 – Sunday, August 11
Hilton San Francisco Union Square
333 O'Farrell St
San Francisco, CA
Schedule
Thursday, August 8
Noon – 1pm
Attorneys General & Department of Justice Meeting
Foley & Lardner LLP
555 California St | Suite 1700M | San Francisco
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum will update the group on the seminal cases state AGs have been working on together, including the recent Equifax settlement, the opioid crisis, the US Census, and healthcare, including federal efforts to defund family planning clinics (the Title X " Gag Rule") and to undo the ACA.
Noon – 1pm
Young Lawyers Committee Conference Call
1:15 – 2:15pm
Executive Committee Meeting
Foley & Lardner LLP
555 California St | Suite 1700M | San Francisco
2:30 – 4pm
Knick overrules Williamson County: What Does It Mean for Eminent Domain? (CLE)
Foley & Lardner LLP
555 California St | Suite 1700M | San Francisco
(This session is now available as an on-demand webinar.)
Since 1985, the Supreme Court’s Williamson County state-litigation requirement doctrine has been interpreted so as to make it almost impossible for local land use determinations to be challenged as regulatory takings in federal court. But, on June 21, 2019, in the case of Knick v. Township of Scott (17-647), the Supreme Court overturned (5-4) the Williamson state-litigation requirement, and held that property owners can now bypass state proceedings and immediately contest local zoning and similar constraints in U.S. district court.
This drastic change in approach breathes new life into the Fifth Amendment’s ban on government takings of private property and will have wide-ranging impact. Indeed, it may result in injunctions against localities and monetary damages against public officials. More broadly, it readjusts the balance between private property rights and government’s police power.
Join our panel of lawyers intimately involved in Knick and hear all about this new development.
Moderator
Steven J. Eagle, Professor Emeritus, Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, Arlington, VA
Speakers
Brian T. Hodges, Pacific Legal Foundation, Sacramento, CA
Nicole Rinke, California Department of Justice, Sacramento, CA
Teresa Ficken Sachs, Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, Philadelphia, PA
Paul Utrecht, Utrecht & Lenvin, LLP, San Francisco, CA
4:15 – 5:45pm
Taking a Bite Out of Blight: Effective Legal Tools and Innovative Strategies in the Battle to Reuse Problem Properties (CLE)
Foley & Lardner LLP
555 California St | Suite 1700M | San Francisco
Problem properties, both vacant and occupied, undermine neighborhood vitality and are a source of constant frustration to lawyers working to stabilize and rebuild neighborhoods. In recent years, creative and diverse legal tools and strategies have emerged in many states and municipalities, enabling lawyers to overcome obstacles to successful anti-blight efforts, while managing legitimate legal concerns. This session will introduce several of these tools using best practice examples and help lawyers understand what it will take to replicate these strategies.
Moderator
Dwight Merriam, Esq., Weatogue, CT
Speakers
Jessica Bacher, Executive Director — Land Use Law Center and Professor, Pace Law School, White Plains, NY
Lin A. Chin, Esq., Special Projects Manager, Hello Housing, Oakland, CA
Amber Knee, Urban Planner, Bicycle and Greenway Program, New York City Department of Transportation
6 – 7pm
Networking Reception with Judicial Division — $35/ person w/ Annual Meeting registration (RSVP on the ABA Annual Meeting registration page)
Jasper's Corner Tap & Kitchen
401 Taylor St
Friday, August 9
8 – 9am
Council Meeting & Publication Presentations
San Francisco Marriott Marquis
780 Mission St | Sierra Suite C | San Francisco
9 – 10:30am
Unintended Consequences: Examining the Disparate Impact of the Administration of Student Discipline on Students of Color & Students with Disabilities (CLE)
San Francisco Marriott Marquis
Yerba Buena Salon 10
On January 8, 2014, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance designed to assist elementary and secondary institutions in meeting their obligations under Federal law to "administer student discipline without discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin." In essence, the guidance places educational institutions on notice that if they enforced intentionally discriminatory rules or of their policies lead to disproportionately higher rates of discipline for student in one racial group, even if the policies were written without discriminatory intent.
On December 18, 2018, the Federal Commission on School Safety, led by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, recommended that the discipline guidance issued in 2014 be rescinded by the Department of Education. In a statement regarding the decision, DeVos stated that the decision to rescind "makes it clear that discipline is a matter on which classroom teachers and local school leaders deserve and need autonomy." Given this turn in the Department of Education's view on this matter, the question becomes "how do educational institutions work to ensure that their disciplinary processes are administered in such a way that they do not disproportionately impact students of color and students with disabilities?"
In this panel, the speakers will provide an overview of the rescinded disciplinary guidance issued by the Department of Education in 2014. Speakers will explain, from their unique perspectives as a member of the board of education for a large school district, civil rights attorney, and educational advocate the impact of the decision to roll back the guidance. The panel will also explore how the administration of disciplinary processes in education could serve as another example of implicit bias that works to contribute to the school to prison pipeline.
Moderator
Erika D. Robinson, Associate General Counsel, Shelby County Schools, Greater Memphis Area, TN
Speakers
Jackie Byers, Director, Black Organizing Project (BOP), Oakland, CA
Abre Conner, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Northern California (ABA YLD Parliamentarian)
Alex M. Johnson, Program Director, The California Wellness Foundation and member of Los Angeles County Board of Education
9 – 11am
SOC Membership Meeting
10:45am – Noon
Court in Transition? (CLE)
San Francisco Marriott Marquis
Yerba Buena Salon 10
The Just-Ended Supreme Court Term in Review: A review of the major decisions of the U. S. Supreme Court's 2018 term (Oct. 2018 – June 2019), with analysis of how (and whether) the two new Justices are changing the Court's direction.
Moderator
William Hurd, Troutman Sanders, Richmond, VA
Speakers
Dominic E. Draye, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Phoenix, AZ
Misha Tseytlin, Partner, Troutman Sanders, Chicago, IL
Caroline S. Van Zile, Deputy Solicitor General, Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Washington, DC
Noon - 1:30pm
SOC Chairs & Chairs-Elect Meeting
Noon – 2pm
Jefferson B. Fordham Luncheon
E & O Kitchen & Bar
314 Sutter St
In 1998, the ABA Section of State and Local Government Law was inspired to establish the Jefferson B. Fordham Awards to honor the accomplishments of practitioners and institutions active in the varied areas of practice associated with State and Local Government Law.
Keynote Speaker
Paul Henderson, Executive Director of the Department of Police Accountability, San Francisco, CA
Daniel J. Curtin, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award
Frank Schnidman, former Distinguished Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, and former John M. DeGrove Eminent Scholar Chair, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
Advocacy Award
C. Elisia Frazier, Managing Deputy City Attorney, City of Atlanta Law Department
Law Office Accomplishment Award
Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office, Knoxville, TN|
2 – 3:30pm
19th Amendment Then & Now: Lessons for the 21st Century (CLE)
San Francisco Marriott Marquis
Yerba Buena Salon 10 & 11
The Centennial of the 19th Amendment provides the legal profession the opportunity to celebrate 100 years of women's constitutional right to vote, educate the public about the Nineteenth Amendment and the battle for women's suffrage, and promote laws that ensure women's full and equal exercise of their right to vote and to participate in our democracy. This panel discussion will use the Centennial as the point of entry to explore the legacies of the Amendment and engage in provocative conversations about how to ensure full and equal exercise of the right to vote for all.
Moderator
Pete Williams, NBC News Justice Correspondent, Washington, DC
Speakers
Harmeet K. Dhillon, Founder & Senior Partner, Dhillon Law Group, Inc., RNC National Committeewoman for California, San Francisco, CA
Daniel R. Ortiz, Michael J. and Jane R. Horvitz Distinguished Professor of Law & Director – Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, VA
Judge Bernice Donald, Federal Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, Memphis, TN
Camille Gear Rich, Professor of Law and Sociology, USC Gould School of Law, Los Angeles, CA
Co-Sponsors
Section of State & Local Government Law | Center for Public Interest Law | Coalition on Racial & Ethnic Justice | Commission on Disability Rights | Commission on Racial & Ethnic Diversity in the Profession | Commission on Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity | Commission on Women in the Profession | Standing Committee on Election Law | Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights & Responsibilities | Office of the President | Section of Civil Rights & Social Justice | Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress | Division for Public Education | Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline
4 - 5:30pm
SOC Business Meeting
6 – 7:30pm
Chair-Elect's Reception (RSVP on the ABA Annual Meeting registration page)
Jasper's Corner Tap & Kitchen
401 Taylor St
Saturday, August 10
8 – 9am
Membership Committee | Diversity Committee | OneABA Meetings
Hilton San Francisco Union Square
Union Square 25
9 – 10am
Land Use Committee
Hilton San Francisco Union Square
Union Square 25
10:30 – 11:30am
POB | CAB | ULAB
Hilton San Francisco Union Square
Union Square 25
11:30am – 12:15pm
All Committees' Meeting – Conference Planning
Hilton San Francisco Union Square
Union Square 22
1 – 2pm (board bus at 12:45pm for 1pm departure)
Earth, Wine and (Wild) Fires with tour
San Francisco Marriott Marquis
Meet at 12:45pm at the Taylor St Entrance
In the aftermath of the NorCal wildfires, surviving residents and businesses faced a wide variety of legal problems and barriers to recovery. In this unique CLE program, attendees will learn about the devastating fires, understand the framework for providing post-disaster legal services, and learn about disaster recovery and resiliency issues, from insurance to consumer fraud to FEMA assistance. Panelists will present on a chartered bus departing from downtown San Francisco, while en route to Merriam Wineries for a tour and a tasting.
Moderator
Linda Stanley, Senior Project Manager – Public Programs, Equal Justice Works, Washington, DC
Speakers
Tiela Chalmers, Chief Executive Officer & General Counsel, Alameda County Bar Association and its Volunteer Legal Services Corporation
Andrew VanSingel, Chair-Elect, ABA Standing Committee on Disaster Response & Preparedness, Chicago, IL
2 – 3pm
Merriam Winery Tasting & Tour
Co-Sponsors: Young Laywers Division, Disastter Legal Service
Sunday, August 11
8 – 10am
Council Meeting & Nominating Committee Report
Hilton San Francisco Union Square
Continental Ballroom 1
Noon – 2pm
Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Awards Luncheon
1:30 – 4pm
Section Delegates Business Meeting
CLE Credit
CLE credit will ONLY be given to those attendees who are “registered” for the ABA Annual Meeting. For admittance to CLE program, registrants must wear their ABA 2019 Annual Meeting badge and present either their State & Local Government Law CLE Pass, one individual CLE Program Ticket, or the ABA All Access Pass.