The Executive Committee and the National Office staff are hard at work finalizing plans for our Spring Meeting at the Grand Wailea Resort in Maui. Registration for the meeting will open on December 5. As I have travelled to various state and province dinners and meetings, whenever I have mentioned the Spring Meeting, there has been real excitement over going to Hawaii. I urge you to register early if you are planning to attend.
President-Elect John Day has organized a wonderful program with fascinating speakers. To whet your appetites with a bit of what to expect, below are a few of the speakers expected to join us in Maui:
Cyntoia Brown Long is an American author and speaker who was convicted of robbing and murdering the person she alleged bought her through sex trafficking. She was 16 when she was sentenced to life in prison, making her eligible for parole at age 67. A Fellow of the College and several other lawyers instead worked to persuade the Governor of Tennessee to commute her sentence to time served after 15 years in prison. She will offer a compelling, firsthand account of the juvenile justice system coupled with the hope that comes through redemption.
David Howman is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Athletic Integrity Unit of World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field athletics. David will discuss the efforts of the Integrity Unit to prevent doping and the use of performance enhancing drugs in international athletics.
Judge Susan Oki Mollway is the first East Asian woman and Japanese American woman ever appointed to a life-time position on the federal bench. Judge Mollway is a Harvard-trained lawyer who was a prominent civil litigator before going on the bench. She will discuss the Army’s highly decorated Japanese American 442nd Infantry Regimental Combat Team (RCT), in which her father served. The 442nd RCT was organized in 1943 as an all-volunteer unit in response to the War Department’s call to form a segregated, Japanese American army combat unit during World War II. Many of these soldiers had families held in internment camps while they fought abroad. The extraordinary bravery of these troops is legendary. Twenty-one of their members were awarded the Medal of Honor over the course of their service, including former Senator Daniel Inouye.
Those are just a few of the outstanding speakers scheduled to appear at the Grand Wailea. Set on the beautiful island of Maui, this promises to be an exciting meeting that you will not want to miss!
Hope to see you all there.
Richard H. Deane, Jr.
ACTL President
To read more from the December eBulletin, click here.
