Rebecca Kanter is an Assistant United States Attorney who prosecutes crimes that impact our communities, neighborhoods, and families. From internet crimes against children and human trafficking to international corruption and embezzlement, Rebecca has spent 15 years seeking justice for crime victims. She has also served as the Civil Rights Coordinator and Ethics Advisor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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After graduating from UCLA School of Law, Rebecca served as a judicial law clerk in the Central District of California and then as an associate at the global law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Rebecca teaches as an Adjunct at USD School of Law and previously taught in the UCLA Women’s Studies Program.

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Rebecca is not just a public servant but also a dedicated community volunteer. She is a leader in the legal community, serving on the Board of Directors for the San Diego County Bar Association and Lawyers Club of San Diego, San Diego County’s two largest lawyer membership organizations. 

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In addition to her leadership as an attorney, Rebecca works hard to serve her community. Rebecca is the President of the San Diego Federal Daycare Board of Directors, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring quality, affordable childcare for military and federal families. She was also the President of WiLDCOAST an environmental organization that conserves coastal and marine ecosystems. Rebecca was a founding Board member of the San Diego Leadership Alliance and served her alma mater on the Executive Committee of the UC Irvine Alumni Association. 

My aspirations to be a judge took root when I was a teenager and read “The Courage of Their Convictions: Sixteen Americans Who Fought Their Way to the Supreme Court” by UCSD Professor Peter Irons. Each chapter in the book traces the history of a different Supreme Court case told in two parts – first, tracing the legal issues, procedure and attorneys’ strategies, and second, from the perspective of the individual whose rights or interests were at stake. That is when I first learned about housing discrimination and racially restrictive covenants in Shelly v. Kraemer and the internment of Japanese citizens at the center of Hirabayashi v. United States. 

Professor Irons’ stories made me appreciate the real-world impact that the law, lawyers, and judges have on shaping, for better or worse, the lives of everyday people. The case studies highlighted the impactful role of judges in giving life and meaning to the hallmarks of our democracy: fairness, justice, and equality. As a prosecutor, I have sought to keep these principles in mind in my public service. These cornerstone principles would also be the guideposts of my judicial philosophy. Always remembering the humanity of all individuals appearing in court and mindful that people’s lives, liberty and wellbeing are impacted every day by the decisions judges make will be central to my conduct and decision-making as a judge.

I am a San Diego native who has been married for 27 years and raised four children.

To my mind, there is only one legitimate judicial philosophy, and that is to fairly and justly apply the law as written to the facts proven in the case. These are the principles that will guide my decision-making. Having any other judicial philosophy  leads to result-oriented decisions  in which a judge’s individual philosophy shades his or her decisions. That is dangerous, produces unfairness and is a rebuke to the legitimate law making prerogatives of the voters, the legislature and the higher courts.

I have been a Deputy Public Defender for the past eight years where I have tried approximately 40 trials to verdict.  In 2016, I was awarded the William Fletcher Award by the North County Bar Association for excellent indigent defense. 

Currently, I am a Commissioner for the City of Vista’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) which is a commission who awards funding from a U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant to local nonprofits that address homelessness, substance abuse, and gang prevention for the citizens of Vista. I have worked with the Resilience Project to help create uniformed Police Citizen Review Boards throughout San Diego County to provide citizens a forum to report negative encounters with law enforcement.  And, I have worked with Clean Slate Clinics and Veteran’s Standdowns to help indigent citizens resolve outstanding cases and clean their past criminal records.   

Prior to becoming a Deputy Public Defender, I spent approximately five years as a civilian law clerk, for the United States Marine Corps’ Commandant’s Counsel aboard Camp Pendleton, where I was assigned to the Labor & Employment, Litigation, and Ethics section.

While in law school, I was a legal fellow in Senator Boxer’s San Diego District Office where I was assigned a portfolio comprised of Intelligence, Defense, Foreign Relations, and Judiciary issues.  Prior to interning for Senator Boxer’s District Office, I was a legal fellow on Capitol Hill, for the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office, where I was assigned to the Democratic Policy Committee.

I am a "non-constructionist,” thus I believe that the United States and California Constitutions are living documents that adapt to change as our society continues to evolve.  Public Safety and equity are not competing ideals in my campaign.  I believe in criminal justice reform.  I strongly believe that every litigant deserves their "day in court” and the right to be heard in a completely impartial forum. Finally, I believe that police officers should be held to the same level of accountablilty as all other litigants and witnesses appearing before me.