President's Message Leon Kimura , 2010 Chapter President It has been an interesting 3-months since the last Outlook, and in the realm of Civil Rights and Civic Engagement the San Jose JACL has been busy staying involved in issues that impact our community. On a local level and at a pragmatic scale, we have been actively participating within the system to help select the new Independent Police Auditor (IPA), retired Judge LaDoris Cordell. We had the opportunity to sit with our new IPA at our June meeting of the Asian Pacific Islander Justice Coalition (APIJC) where she explained the actions she has taken during the fist 30 days of the new job. It is apparent through her actions such as pre-committing to release the investigation report of the IPA Office regarding an alleged information "leak", that Judge Cordell has a high personal level of integrity and i committed to transparency in her office of the IPA. We are pursuing additional opportunities to remain engaged with the IPA to assist as appropriate to help ensure fair and equitable treatment for all in the realm of local law enforcement. On a broader scale, the new Arizona law allowing racial profiling was the topic of intense discussions by the National Board who voted on May 17, 2010, to sign on as a plaintiff in a class action suit challenging the constitutionality of Aizona Senate Bill 1070 (SB1070), which is scheduled to go into effect on July 28, 2010. The JA community has a particularly keen insight and added value to the discussion of racial profiling in the name of national security. I took the opportunity to address the San Jose City Council as they were deliberating whether to take an action against SB1070 and I applauded their courage to take a stand on the issue. They voted to join the County of Santa Clara in an amicus brief against the Arizona law. The vote was not unanimous. And locally, the Chapter's Board of Directors conducted a healthy discussion and vote on the Arizona issues at our June Board Meeting in preparation of our Delegates attendance at the National Convention. The Arisona JACL Chapter was bringing a Resolution to the floor opposing the Arizona law which was adopted on July 3, 2010 at the Convention. Neither votes were unanimous. So listening to the varying opinions expressed regarding SB1070 showed some of the deep seated beliefs that we all have and that issues are not always black and white nor can they be when the plethora of human emotions and experiences color our perspectives. We can learn to appreciate the value we each bring and trust that the collective wisdom will prevail in a democratic process. And thank you Arizona for enabling us all to flex our minds...