John Bryson
37th United States Secretary of Commerce
Incumbent
Assumed office October 21, 2011
President	Barack Obama
Deputy	Rebecca Blank (Acting)
Preceded by	Rebecca Blank (Acting)
Personal details
Born	(1943-07-24) July 24, 1943 (age 68) New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic Party
Alma mater	Stanford University Yale Law School

John E. Bryson (born July 24, 1943)^[1] is the 37th Secretary of Commerce. The Senate confirmed him by a 74–26 vote on October 20, 2011.^[2] He was sworn in on October 21, 2011. He is the former Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison.

Early life and education[link]

Bryson graduated from Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon, in 1961.^[3] He received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 1965 and his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Yale Law School in 1969.

Career[link]

In 1970, with other recent Yale Law graduates, Bryson helped found and served as legal counsel for the Natural Resources Defense Council.^[4][5]

From 1976 to 1979, Bryson served as chairman of the California State Water Resources Control Board, and from 1979 to 1982, he served as president of the California Public Utilities Commission.

Bryson led Edison International from 1990 until his retirement on July 31, 2008, and was succeeded by Ted Craver.^[6]

Bryson was a director of The Boeing Company, W. M. Keck Foundation, and The Walt Disney Company, and a former Director/Trustee for three Western Asset Management funds at Legg Mason. He serves or has served on a number of educational, environmental and other nonprofit boards, including chairman of the California Business Roundtable, a trustee of Stanford University, a trustee of California Institute of Technology, co-chairman of the Pacific Council on International Policy, and chairman of the Public Policy Institute of California.^[7][8]

Secretary of Commerce[link]

On May 31, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Bryson to succeed Gary Locke as the United States Secretary of Commerce.^[9] Citing Bryson's environmental views, U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) put a hold on his nomination in July.^[10]

The Senate later reached a unanimous consent agreement to vote on Bryson's nomination, and the Senate confirmed Bryson by a 74–26 vote on October 20, 2011. He was sworn in on October 21, 2011, becoming the 37th Secretary of the Department of Commerce.^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Profile at Bloomberg Businessweek
• Profile at Forbes
• Profile at The Walt Disney Company
• John Bryson at WhoRunsGov at The Washington Post
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Works by or about John Bryson in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• John Bryson at the Notable Names Database
• John Bryson is the Right Man at the Right Time to Lead Commerce Department, Frances Beinecke, President of NRDC, May 31, 2011

v t e Current members of the Cabinet of the United States Obama Biden Bryson Chu Clinton Donovan Duncan Geithner Holder Jacksonc Kirkc Kruegerc LaHood Lewc Millsc Napolitano Panetta Ricec Salazar Sebelius Solis Shinseki Vilsack Zientsca c - cabinet-level; a - acting

v t e Cabinet of President Barack Obama (since 2009)   Cabinet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (2009–present) Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner (2009–present) Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (2009–2011) Leon Panetta (2011–present) Attorney General Eric Holder (2009–present) Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar (2009–present) Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack (2009–present) Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke (2009–2011) John Bryson (2011–present) Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis (2009–present) Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (2009–present) Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (2009–present) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan (2009–present) Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood (2009–present) Secretary of Energy Steven Chu (2009–present) Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki (2009–present) Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (2009–present)   Cabinet-level Vice President Joe Biden (2009–present) White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (2009–2010) William Daley (2011–2012) Jacob Lew (2012–present) Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lisa Jackson (2009–present) Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag (2009–2010) Jacob Lew (2010–2012) Trade Representative Ron Kirk (2009–present) Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice (2009–present) Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Christina Romer (2009–2010) Austan Goolsbee (2010–2011) Alan Krueger (2011–present) Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Leon Panetta (2009–2011) David Petraeus (2011–present) Administrator of the Small Business Administration Karen Mills (2012–present)* * took office in 2009, raised to cabinet-rank in 2012 See also: Confirmations of Barack Obama's Cabinet

v t e United States Secretaries of Commerce Secretaries of Commerce & Labor Cortelyou Metcalf Straus Nagel Secretaries of Commerce Redfield Alexander Hoover Whiting Lamont Chapin Roper Hopkins Jones Wallace Harriman Sawyer Weeks Strauss Mueller Hodges Connor Trowbridge Smith Stans Peterson Dent Morton Richardson Kreps Klutznick Baldrige Verity Mosbacher Franklin Brown Kantor Daley Mineta Evans Gutierrez Locke Bryson

Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain (born 11 June 1980 in Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia) was a nine-week-old Australian baby girl, who disappeared on the night of 17 August 1980 on a family camping trip to Uluru (then known as Ayers Rock) in the Northern Territory. Her body was never found. Her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, reported that she had been taken from their tent by a dingo. An initial inquest held in Alice Springs supported this assertion and was highly critical of the police investigation. The findings of the inquest were broadcast live on television—a first in Australia. Subsequently, after a further investigation and a second inquest held in Darwin, Azaria's mother, Lindy Chamberlain was tried for murder. She was convicted of murder on 29 October 1982 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Azaria's father, Michael Chamberlain, was convicted as an accessory after the fact and given a suspended sentence. A third inquest was conducted in 1995, which resulted in an "open" finding.^[1] A fourth inquest was announced in December 2011.

The media focus for the trial was extraordinarily intense and sensational. The Chamberlains made several unsuccessful appeals, including the final High Court appeal. After all legal options had been exhausted, the chance discovery of a piece of Azaria's clothing in an area full of dingo lairs led to Lindy Chamberlain's release from prison, on "compassionate grounds".^{[citation needed]} She was later exonerated of all charges. While the case is officially unsolved, the report of a dingo attack is generally accepted. Recent deadly dingo attacks in other areas of Australia have strengthened the case for the dingo theory.

The story has been made into a TV movie, a feature film, a TV miniseries, a play by Brooke Pierce, a concept album by Australian band The Paradise Motel and an opera by Moya Henderson.^[2] Numerous books have also been written about the case.^[3]

Coroner's inquests[link]

The initial coronial inquest into the disappearance was opened in Alice Springs on 15 December 1980 before magistrate Denis Barritt. On 20 February 1981, in the first live telecast of Australian court proceedings, Barritt ruled that the likely cause was a dingo attack. In addition to this finding, Barritt also concluded that subsequent to the attack, "the body of Azaria was taken from the possession of the dingo, and disposed of by an unknown method, by a person or persons, name unknown".^[4]

The Northern Territory Police and prosecutors were dissatisfied with this finding. Investigations continued, leading to a second inquest in Darwin in September 1981. Based on ultraviolet photographs of Azaria's jumpsuit, James Cameron of the London Hospital Medical College alleged that "there was an incised wound around the neck of the jumpsuit – in other words, a cut throat" and that there was an imprint of the hand of a small adult on the jumpsuit, visible in the photographs.^[5]

Following this and other findings, the Chamberlains were charged with Azaria's murder.

In 1995 a third inquest was conducted which failed to determine a cause of death, resulting in an "open" finding.^[1]

In December 2011 the Northern Territory coroner Elizabeth Morris announced that a fourth inquest would be held in February 2012.^[6][7]

Case against Lindy Chamberlain[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008)

The Crown alleged that Lindy Chamberlain had cut Azaria's throat in the front seat of the family car, hiding the baby's body in a large camera case. She then, according to the proposed reconstruction of the crime, rejoined the group of campers around a campfire and fed one of her sons a can of baked beans, before going to the tent and raising the cry that a dingo had taken the baby. It was alleged that at a later time, while other people from the campsite were searching, she disposed of the body.^[8]

The key evidence supporting this allegation was the jumpsuit, as well as a highly contentious forensic report claiming to have found evidence of fetal haemoglobin in stains on the front seat of the Chamberlains' 1977 Torana hatchback. Fetal haemoglobin is present in infants six months and younger and Azaria was nine weeks old at the time of her disappearance.^[9]

Lindy Chamberlain was questioned about the garments that Azaria was wearing. She claimed that Azaria was wearing a jacket over the jumpsuit, but the jacket was not present when the garments were found. She was questioned about the fact that Azaria's singlet, which was inside the jumpsuit, was inside out. She insisted that she never put a singlet on her babies inside out and that she was most particular about this. The statement conflicted with the state of the garments when they were collected as evidence.^[10] The garments had been arranged by the investigating officer for a photograph.

In her defence, eyewitness evidence was presented of dingoes having been seen in the area on the evening of 17 August 1980. All witnesses claimed to believe the Chamberlains' story. One witness, a nurse, also reported having heard a baby's cry after the time when the prosecution alleged Azaria had been murdered.^[5] Evidence was also presented that adult blood also passed the test used for fetal haemoglobin, and that other organic compounds can produce similar results on that particular test, including mucus from the nose, and chocolate milkshakes, both of which had been present in the vehicle where Azaria was allegedly murdered.

Engineer Les Harris, who had conducted dingo research for over a decade, said that, contrary to Cameron's findings, a dingo's carnassial teeth can shear through material as tough as motor vehicle seat belts. He also cited an example of a captive female dingo removing a bundle of meat from its wrapping paper and leaving the paper intact.^[11] His evidence was rejected, however.

Evidence to the effect that a dingo was strong enough to carry a kangaroo was also ignored. Also ignored was the removal of a three-year-old girl by a dingo from the back seat of a tourist's motor vehicle at the camping area just weeks before, an event witnessed by the parents.

An Aboriginal man gave evidence that his wife had tracked the dingo and found places where it had put the baby down, leaving the imprint of the baby's clothing in the soil. This evidence was discounted, because the man spoke on behalf of his wife, but in the first person, according to Aboriginal custom.

The defence's case was rejected by the jury. Lindy Chamberlain was convicted of murder on 29 October 1982 and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. Michael Chamberlain was found guilty as an accessory after the fact^[12] and was given an 18-month suspended sentence.

Appeals[link]

An appeal was made to the High Court in November 1983.^[13] Asked to quash the convictions on the ground that the verdicts were unsafe and unsatisfactory, in February 1984 the court refused the appeal by majority.^[14]

Release and acquittal[link]

1986 ABC news report of Lindy Chamberlain's release.

The final resolution of the case was triggered by a chance discovery. In early 1986, English tourist David Brett fell to his death from Uluru during an evening climb. Because of the vast size of the rock and the scrubby nature of the surrounding terrain, it was eight days before Brett's remains were discovered, lying below the bluff where he had lost his footing and in an area full of dingo lairs. As police searched the area, looking for missing bones that might have been carried off by dingoes, they discovered a small item of clothing. It was quickly identified as the crucial missing piece of evidence from the Chamberlain case—Azaria's missing matinee jacket.

The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory ordered Lindy Chamberlain's immediate release and the case was reopened. On 15 September 1988, the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously overturned all convictions against Lindy and Michael Chamberlain.^[15] The exoneration was based on a rejection of the two key points of the prosecution's case—particularly the alleged fetal haemoglobin evidence—and of bias and invalid assumptions made during the initial trial.

The questionable nature of the forensic evidence in the Chamberlain trial, and the weight given to it, raised concerns about such procedures and about expert testimony in criminal cases. The prosecution had successfully argued that the pivotal haemoglobin tests indicated the presence of fetal haemoglobin in the Chamberlains' car and that it was a significant factor in the original conviction. But it was later shown that these tests were highly unreliable and that similar tests, conducted on a "sound deadener" sprayed on during the manufacture of the car, had yielded virtually identical results.

Two years after they were exonerated, the Chamberlains were awarded A$1.3 million in compensation for wrongful imprisonment, a sum that covered only approximately one quarter of their legal expenses.

The findings of a third coroner's inquest were released on 13 December 1995. The coroner found that

Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain died at Ayers Rock on 17 August 1980. As to the cause of her death and the manner in which she died the evidence adduced does not enable me to say. I therefore return an open finding and record the cause and manner of death as unknown.^[1]

Media involvement and bias[link]

The Chamberlain trial was the most publicised in Australian history.^[4] Given that most of the evidence presented in the case against Lindy Chamberlain was later rejected, the case is now used as an example of how media and bias can adversely affect a trial.^[16]

Public and media opinion during the trial was polarised, with "fanciful rumours and sickening jokes" and many cartoons.^[17][18] In particular, antagonism was directed towards Lindy Chamberlain for reportedly not behaving as a "stereotypical" grieving mother.^[19] Much was made of the facts that the Chamberlains were Seventh-day Adventists (including false allegations that the church was in fact a cult that killed babies as part of bizarre religious ceremonies),^[20] that the family took a newborn baby to a remote desert location, and that Lindy Chamberlain showed little emotion during the proceedings.

One anonymous tip was received from a man, falsely claiming to be Azaria's doctor in Mount Isa, that the name "Azaria" meant "sacrifice in the wilderness" (it actually means "blessed of God")^[21] ("Azazel" is the name of a wilderness demon to whom a goat was "sent out" on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.^[22]) Others claimed that Lindy Chamberlain was a witch.^{[citation needed]}

The press appeared to seize upon any point that could be sensationalised. For example, it was reported that Lindy Chamberlain dressed her baby in black dress. This provoked negative opinion, despite the fact that in the early 1980s, black and navy cotton girls' dresses were in fashion, often trimmed with brightly coloured ribbon, or printed with brightly coloured sprigs of flowers.^[23][24]

Subsequent events[link]

In July 2004, Frank Cole, a Melbourne pensioner, claimed that he had shot a dingo in 1980 and found a baby in its mouth. After interviewing Cole on the matter, police decided not to reopen the case. He claimed to have the ribbons from the jacket which Azaria had been wearing when she disappeared as proof of his involvement. However, Lindy Chamberlain claimed that the jacket had no ribbons on it.^[25] Cole's credibility was further damaged when it was revealed he had made further unsubstantiated claims about another case.^[26]

The Chamberlains' claim that a dingo had taken Azaria was originally greeted with skepticism by many. Several factors led to this, including a lack of knowledge about dingoes and their behaviour and the fact that these animals generally live in remote areas and are therefore rarely seen by most Australians. Possibly because of the historical human partiality for domesticated dogs, dingoes were not regarded as a dangerous species.

Since the Chamberlain case, proven cases of attacks on humans by dingoes have brought about a dramatic change in public opinion. It is now widely accepted that, as the first inquest concluded, Azaria probably was killed by a dingo and that her body could easily have been removed and eaten by a dingo, leaving little or no trace.

Crucial to the change in public opinion was a string of dingo attacks during the late 1990s on Fraser Island off the Queensland coast, the last refuge in Australia for isolated pure-breed wild dingoes. In the wake of these attacks, it emerged that there had been at least 400 documented dingo attacks on Fraser Island. Most were against children, but at least two were on adults.^[27]

In April 1998, in a scenario strikingly similar to the story told by Lindy Chamberlain, a 13-month old girl was grabbed by a dingo and dragged from a picnic blanket at the Waddy Point camping area. In this case, the child was dropped when her father intervened.

In 2008, the Holden Torana car that was tested for Azaria's blood in the original court case was used in the wedding of Aidan Chamberlain, Azaria's brother, who was six when his sister disappeared. His bride arrived at the ceremony in the car and his father, Michael Chamberlain, said that he was proud the couple had chosen to use the car which was the centrepiece of the case.^[28]

Current status[link]

The cause of Azaria's disappearance has not been officially determined. The last official inquest listed the cause of her death as "undetermined". A body has never been found, only various items of bloodstained clothing. The Chamberlains, who were originally convicted, have been officially exonerated and eventually received some financial compensation. It is estimated that their legal fees exceeded $5 million.

In August 2005, a 25-year old woman named Erin Horsburgh claimed that she was Azaria Chamberlain, but her claims were rejected by the authorities and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Media Watch program, which stated that none of the reports linking Horsburgh to the Chamberlain case had any substance.^[29]

The Chamberlains divorced in 1991 and Lindy Chamberlain has since remarried. She and her new husband lived for a time in the United States and New Zealand but have since returned to Australia.

The National Museum of Australia has in its collection over 250 items related to the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain, which Lindy Chamberlain has helped document in relation to her ordeal. Items include courtroom sketches by artists Jo Darbyshire and Veronica O'Leary,^[30] camping equipment, a piece of the dashboard from the Chamberlain family's car, outfits worn by Lindy Chamberlain, the number from her prison door and the black dress worn by Azaria which was the cause of so many rumours.^[23][31] The National Library of Australia has a small collection of items relating to Azaria, such as her birth detail records and her hospital identification bracelet, as well as a manuscript collection that includes around 20,000 documents including some of the Chamberlain family's correspondence and a large number of letters from the general public.^[32]

On 17 December 2011, a spokesman for the Department of Justice in the Northern Territory announced that a fourth inquest into the incident would commence on 24 February 2012.^[33][34]

In the media[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009)

The story has been written into many different books and accounts.

• The story was told in an Australian TV docudrama, Who Killed Baby Azaria? (1983), with Elaine Hudson as Lindy Chamberlain and John Hamblin as Michael Chamberlain.
• John Bryson's book Evil Angels was published in 1985. In 1987, Australian film director Fred Schepisi adapted the book into a feature of the same name (retitled A Cry in the Dark outside of Australia and New Zealand). It starred Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain and Sam Neill as Michael Chamberlain. There was some criticism at the time of the casting of an American actor as Lindy Chamberlain, however most critics were impressed with Streep's performance and ability to master an Australian accent and Chamberlain commended the accuracy of the movie and Streep's portrayal of her. The film gave Streep her eighth Academy Award nomination and her only AACTA award.
• Richard Davey wrote the play A Cry From The Heart in 1986 - a dramatisation of the police interview of Sally Lowe, who had been with the Chamberlains on the night that Azaria disappeared.
• In 1990, the Rank Strangers' recording of their song "Uluru", which supported the Chamberlains and called for compensation to be paid to them, finished in the final five of the Australian Country Music Awards in Tamworth, New South Wales.
• In 2002 Lindy, an opera by Moya Henderson, was produced by Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House.^[2][19]
• The story has since been dramatised as a TV miniseries, Through My Eyes (2004), with Miranda Otto and Craig McLachlan as the Chamberlains. This miniseries was based on Lindy Chamberlain's book of the same name.^[35]
• Australian neoclassical noir band The Paradise Motel's album, Australian Ghost Story, is a concept album based on the disappearance and subsequent case. It was released on 11 June 2010, the 30th anniversary of Azaria's birth.

The incident has been referred to several times in notable films and television programs, including:

• Seinfeld in a 1991 episode entitled "The Stranded"
• Frasier in a 1994 episode entitled "Flour Child"
• In the 1994 film, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the young boy, Benji, acts out Lindy Chamberlain in a game of charades
• The Simpsons in a 1995 episode titled "Bart vs. Australia"
• Yes, Dear in a 2001 episode title "Worst in Show"
• Family Guy in a 2006 episode titled "Mother Tucker"
• Supernatural, in a 2007 episode titled "Mystery Spot"
• Psych in a 2008 episode titled "The Old and the Restless"
• The 2008 feature film comedy Tropic Thunder
• Real Time with Bill Maher in 10 February 2012 episode
• Oz's band in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer was named Dingoes Ate My Baby

References[link]

External links[link]

• Chamberlain collection at the National Museum of Australia