Tracy Emblem (born April 16, 1955) is an American attorney and was a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * ...

for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

's 50th district, in

North San Diego County North County is a region in the northern area of San Diego County, California. It is the second-most populous region in the county (after San Diego), with an estimated population of 869,322. North County is well known for its affluence, especial ...

.Tracy Emblem for U.S. Congress
/ref> Emblem ran in the 2010 Democratic

Primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

but lost to

Francine Busby Francine Pocino Busby (born March 3, 1951) is a former member of the school board in Cardiff, California and was the chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party. She has four times been the Democratic candidate for Congress in California's 50th ...

Personal

Through determination to improve the lives of her children, Emblem worked her way out of

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse < ...

in the 1970s. As a

single mother A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

she utilized

Pell Grants A Pell Grant is a subsidy the U.S. federal government provides for students who need it to pay for college. Federal Pell Grants are limited to students with financial need, who have not earned their first bachelor's degree, or who are enrolled i ...

to put herself through school, and worked her way through

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

at National University in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. Emblem has worked in private law practice in

Escondido, California Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census. Et ...

since 1989.

Legal work

Emblem began her legal career as a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for the California Attorney General's Office, Writs and Appeals Division. She has since practiced law with an emphasis in appellate law and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

. Over the past two decades she has researched and written over 300 writs and appeals, and argued before the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

. Emblem has also served as pro-tem judge with the

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

courts. Emblem has also volunteered her time to free wrongfully convicted prisoners through the

California Innocence Project The California Innocence Project is a non-profit based at California Western School of Law in San Diego, California, United States, which provides pro bono legal services to individuals who maintain their factual innocence of crime(s) for which ...

. In 2004 she won the release of Kenneth Marsh, who was wrongfully convicted of murdering his girlfriend's two-year-old son when he fell off the couch and hit his head on the fireplace

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a low, ...

. Marsh spent 21 years behind bars, even though his girlfriend testified that he was innocent.JusticeDenied.org: Ken Marsh Was Wrongly Convicted
/ref> Marsh and his longtime girlfriend have since married. Emblem's work with th
California Innocence Project
brought her national acclaim. Her work has been profiled on CNN's

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...

, and led her to receive numerous awards. Emblem's recent work involves fighting for Native Americans' rights and for families that have been disenrolled from Indian tribes.

Community activism

Emblem served on the board of directors for the League of Women Voters of Escondido for five years as the

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

director, where she focused on educational programs to teach children about the election process. She also served on the statewide League of Women Voters committee to update the initiative process study, and moderated

ballot initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...

election pros and cons forums. Emblem also served as president of the board of directors for the Escondido Community Development Center, a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that provides early education and child care for low-income families.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emblem, Tracy 1955 births Living people National University (California) alumni California Democrats People from Escondido, California California lawyers American women lawyers American lawyers 21st-century American women