Bonnie Dumanis

Bonnie Michelle Dumanis (born December 16, 1951) was the District Attorney of San Diego County, California. She held the office 2003 to 2017. Dumanis is a Republican, though the office she held was officially nonpartisan. She was the first openly gay or lesbian DA in the country. She was the first woman and the first Jewish District Attorney in San Diego. Early life and education Dumanis grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts, the daughter of Ann and Abraham "Abe" Dumanis. Her father was a truck driver as well as a professional musician; her mother worked for a government program assisting women and children. Dumanis received a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Western State University College of Law (now Thomas Jefferson School of Law) in 1976, and was admitted to the bar in 1977. Career Her first job was as a junior typist in San Diego County while she studied law at night. Following her admission to the State Bar of California, she served as a Deputy District Attorney from 1978 to 1990. In 1994, she was elected to the Municipal Court where she served for four years and started the first Drug Courts in San Diego. In 1998, she was elected to the San Diego Superior Court where she started the Domestic Violence Court program to reduce recurrences by perpetrators.