My path to law. First Gen, Full Circle

• Author: Amando Dominick
• Pages: 26-27

MY PATH TO LAW

First Gen,

Full Circle

Personal tragedies motivate work

as a reform prosecutor

BY AMANDO DOMINICK

#MyPathtoLaw is a guest column that

celebrates the diversity of the legal

profession through attorneys’ rst-

person stories detailing their unique

and inspiring trajectories.

I

wish I could begin my story with

some childhood aspiration like

“I wanted to be a lawyer since

learning of Thurgood Marshall’s

crusades” or “This has been my passion

ever since I rst saw My Cousin Vinny.”

However, the law forced itself into my

life in a more direct way. I was born

in New Orleans and raised through

Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. I was

a senior in high school when my father

was arrested, convicted and handed a

long sentence in state prison that he is

still serving today. This traumatic expe-

rience left 17-year-old me with a load of

emotions and questions that would take

years to explore.

I started college at Baylor University

in Waco, Texas, as a chemistry pre-med

major because I did well on high school

science tests and wanted to help people.

By the time I graduated, I was a psy-

chology major with numerous neuro-

science classes behind me. I had been a

staff writer for the university newspaper

and had worked at a nonprot, at an

elementary school and at Jimmy John’s.

Armed with a college degree, I was

already ahead of my mother, who

didn’t nish ninth grade. But, having no

lawyers in my family, I was unsure of

the best way to utilize my talents and

experiences to achieve my aspiration

of helping others through a meaningful

career. Adding to this uncertainty of

my own future was my father’s situ-

ation still weighing on me from the

inside out.

Choosing a path

After graduating from college, my

expanding worldview led me to ex-

periment with politics. This journey of

self-discovery coincided with the polar-

izing 2016 presidential election. One

topic that naturally drew me in was

the phenomenon of mass incarceration,

which had recently become a promi-

nent part of the national conversation.

Criminal justice reform was a hot issue

for politicians of all stripes during

this election cycle. From undignied

stop-and-frisks to full-blown wrongful

convictions for serious offenses, I heard

the stories of people—often Black and

brown like me—who were wronged by

the system. From discretion in charging

to plea deals to bail and sentencing, I

learned about the unique power that

prosecutors wield over people’s lives. I

also thought of my own family mem-

bers who were career police ofcers—

good people doing their best.

I nally began contextualizing my

experiences. I thought for years that the

frustrations plaguing me were incred-

ibly isolating. On the contrary, my ex-

perience was not a particularly unique

one. Rather, it was a uniquely American

one—I was one of many children of

incarcerated parents in this nation.

Amando Dominick pursued a career as

an assistant district attorney to be part

of the solution.

ABA JOURNAL | APRIL–MAY 2022

26

Inter Alia | MY PATH TO LAW

Photo by Alex Peachey, Temple University Beasley School of Law