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MN: March 14th, we're at Cal State University Long Beach.

RO: Where?

MN: Cal State University Los Angeles. [Laughs] Sorry about that. We have Tani Ikeda on the camera, and Gordon... what is your last name, Gordon? Lee. And Tommy Ochi. We'll be interviewing Rose Ochi, and I'll be interviewing, and my name is Martha Nakagawa. Okay. Rose, this is session number two. Let's go back to the Supreme Court victory you had with the Serrano case. You didn't continue in law. Why not?

RO: Well, you know, it was two years of my life. I mean, sixteen-hour days. And remember, I'm a Reggie Fellow. We made ten thousand dollars a year. And at the end, while it was a major victory, major victory for schoolchildren, not only in California but throughout the U.S. We needed to go to the state legislature to pass enabling legislation. And I thought, well, trials take too long, and I want to get involved in politics and understanding how public policy are made.

MN: And that's how you ended up in the Los Angeles mayor's office.

RO: Yes. My mentor, Terry Hatter, was director of the City Criminal Justice Planning office under Tom Bradley, and he asked me to come, and I began as a program director. Had an opportunity to develop juvenile justice, gang, drugs, domestic violence, just the whole array of criminal justice and juvenile justice programs as well as policy, deadly force. It was a place where I can advise the mayor not only on public safety policy as well as civil rights.

MN: Did any of this help you in your future work with the Manzanar Committee? And if so, how so?

RO: Yeah. All my work, whether it's working on redress or Manzanar, involved understanding the political dynamics, having access to elected officials, and that you develop those over time.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.