San Francisco Daily Journal writer Lawrence Hurley spoke with Sanford Rosen at the inaugural, and wrote in the January 21, 2009 edition:
San Francisco litigator Sanford Jay Rosen, of Rosen, Bien & Galvan, who was also on hand for King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, described the crowd as “jubilant.” There is such happiness,” Rosen said. “It’s like coming out of the night and back into the sun.”
In the January 20, 2009 San Francisco Daily Journal, Robert LaFolla wrote:
WASHINGTON-On a summer day in 1963, litigator Sanford Jay Rosen was one of the hundreds of thousands on hand to witness Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
For Rosen, then 25 years old, King’s passionate and principled call for racial harmony cemented his commitment to civil rights and civil liberties, fueling a legal career that has included stints at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Legal Defense Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Council on Legal Education Opportunity and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
His current firm, Rosen, Bien & Galvan in San Francisco, practices both public interest law and commercial litigation. And Rosen has stayed politically active, in part via political contributions. He said he donated more to President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign than all others combined. For Rosen, plunking down $12,500 for tickets to Obama’s inauguration was a no-brainer.
“There was no way I’d miss this opportunity, 45 years later, to be able to hear the bookend to that ‘I Have a Dream’ speech,” Rosen said. “Like so 20 many others of my generation who never thought it could happen, it’s an incredible celebration.”