Summer Stephan is an American attorney serving as the
San Diego County District Attorney since 2017. Stephan was initially appointed to the position of district attorney in 2017, to finish the term of resigning DA . She defeated challenger
Geneviéve Jones-Wright
Geneviéve LaChelle Jones-Wright is an American attorney and activist who served as a San Diego County public defender from 2006 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she was an unsuccessful candidate for San Diego County District Attorne ...
, a Democrat, in the 2018 general election, with 63.7 percent of the vote. She is the second female district attorney for
San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
.
Early life and education
Summer received her
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree from the
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...
, and her
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from the
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.
Career
Stephan served as a deputy district attorney in San Diego County for 28 years, trying more than 100 jury cases. Stephan served as Chief of the District Attorney's North County Branch as well as Chief of the
Sex Crime
Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes.
Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...
s and
Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...
Division. From 2012 to 2017, she served as Chief Deputy District Attorney under her predecessor,
Bonnie Dumanis
Bonnie Michelle Dumanis (born December 16, 1951) is an American attorney and former San Diego County District Attorney. She held the office from 2003 to 2017. Dumanis is a Republican, though the office she held was officially nonpartisan. She w ...
, who upon her retirement appointed Stephen directly to her position as interim district attorney in 2017.
2018 District Attorney race and allegations of anti-semitism
In her successful campaign for district attorney in 2018, Stephan's campaign created a website that accused Stephan's opponent of being supported by Jewish philanthropist
George Soros
George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...
. When local San Diego media questioned Stephan about the alleged anti-semitic connotations of her attack website, Stephan walked away from reporters and had her security block them from asking her questions. It was widely publicized that George Soros Funded several DA's campaigns including Stephans opponent Genevieve Jones-Wright.
Political affiliation
A life-long Republican, DA Stephan joined some other local politicians in quitting the party in 2019. In an interview, Stephan said her decision to re-register to “no party preference” was a professional one and declined to give her views on the Republican Party or the president. “I don’t want to opine about politics because that’s exactly what I’m trying to get away from,” she said in an interview.
See also
*
List of district attorneys by county
*
List of California district attorneys
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephan, Summer
District attorneys in California
Lawyers from San Diego
Living people
University of California, Davis alumni
McGeorge School of Law alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
California Republicans
California independents