Arizona Judicial Council Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006 – 2008 Presented to the AJC by Judge Roxanne Song Ong Commission Chair December 2006 Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Mission.......................................................................................................................................... 3 Strategic Plan................................................................................................................................ 3 Appendices A. July 19, 2006 Letter from Chief Justice McGregor B. Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Membership List C. Good to Great Initiative 1-C D. ACJA § 1-107: Commission on Minorities E. Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators Resolutions 2 and 3 F. Commission Accomplishments Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 INTRODUCTION During the past twelve years, the Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary has accomplished great things. These accomplishments include the development of the Disproportionate Minority Contact Report and Bi-annual Report Card, implementation of the Building Blocks program, and participation in collaborative efforts with the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, Maricopa County Public Defenders Office, Arizona Juvenile Justice Advisory Commission, and the State Bar of Arizona Minority Bar. A complete listing may be found in Appendix F. The work of the Commission is given direction by Good to Great, the Strategic Agenda for Arizona Courts 2005-2010 and Arizona Code of Judicial Administration (ACJA) § 1-107: Commission on Minorities. Central to the Commission’s purpose is assisting the Arizona Judicial Branch in achieving the following initiative of Good to Great: Initiative (1-C) Fairness in the Judicial System: Continue to strive for a justice system in Arizona that is free from actual or perceived racial, ethnic, gender or economic bias. • • • • Enhance communication between the courts and minority communities Provide continuing education to the judiciary and judicial staff on issues of cultural competency and racial diversity Increase the diversity of the judiciary at all levels to reflect the communities it serves while maintaining the highest level of judicial qualifications Address the over-representation of minority youth in the justice system through expanding programs like the Building Blocks initiative Guidance for the Commission is also set forth in ACJA § 1-107 that charges the Commission to devise strategies and develop programs with short- and long-term goals that will: • • • • • • Achieve a meaningful increase in the number of vendors under contract to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) who employ minority staff and professionals to provide specialized psychological, and therapeutic treatment services for minority youth offenders; Where appropriate, encourage a meaningful increase in the number of minorities employed throughout the judicial department as clerical, administrative and professional staff, with priority given to efforts to recruit qualified minority juvenile and adult probation officers and staff; Coordinate with other public and private sector programs that seek to address the problems created by the over-representation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system; Institute a judicial candidates' career conference to provide information and training for minority applicants who are seeking judicial positions; Encourage minority group members to obtain internships, clerkships, and participate in other career development and training programs for judicial, legal and law-related positions; and Make recommendations to the Arizona Judicial Council that help the judicial department become more accessible to all people. 1 Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 Shortly after selecting Judge Roxanne Song Ong as Commission Chair and reconstituting its membership, Chief Justice McGregor directed the Commission to develop a strategic plan with projects that seek to enhance fairness and equity in the judiciary and present a report at the December 2006 meeting of the Arizona Judicial Council. With renewed energy the Commission set out to meet the challenges set forth by the Chief Justice, Good to Great, the Strategic Agenda for Arizona Courts 2005-2010, and ACJA § 1-107. The Commission began the strategic planning process on July 25, 2006 by reviewing the history, purpose and goals of Good to Great; ACJA § 1-107; and the many great accomplishments of the Commission. Included in the accomplishments were projects that are currently underway or are on-going such as the 2nd Bi-annual Report Card, assisting with refining the Arizona Judicial Branch web site to allow for easier access to judicial opening announcements; Building Blocks, and Project Restore. In addition, applicable portions of Future Trends in State Courts, 2005, by the National Center for State Courts were also presented to the members. Following the literature review, the Commission discussed and loosely defined their workgroup structure with the intention of conducting the brainstorming portion of the strategic planning process during the August workgroup meetings. Collaboration Workgroup – Margarita Silva, Chair The Collaboration Workgroup focuses on outreach to other courts and government agencies to establish partnerships where similar goals and projects exist. This workgroup has historically collaborated/partnered with the State Bar of Arizona, Minority Bars, Committee on Judicial Education and Training, and Arizona Juvenile Justice Commission. Cultural Competency Workgroup – Lisa Loo, Esq., Chair The Cultural Competency Workgroup promotes cultural competency through the education of judicial officers, court personnel and others that work within the legal field. Diversity Workgroup – Judge Ann Scott Timmer, Chair The Diversity Workgroup focuses on increasing diversity in the judiciary by conducting judicial appointment and intern/clerkship workshops and observing the Merit Selection Process. This workgroup also started the conversation that led to the creation of the Committee to Study Interpreter Issues in Arizona Courts and the subsequent Interpreter Funding Committee. Over-representation Workgroup – Jesus Diaz, Chair The Over-representation Workgroup produced the Equitable Treatment of Minority Youth: A Report on the Over-representation of Minority Youth in Arizona’s Juvenile Justice System and subsequent Report Card. This workgroup also provided implementation and assessment assistance for Building Blocks and Project Restore. At the September 27, 2006, meeting of the Commission, the Workgroup Chairs presented the recommendations that were developed in the brainstorming sessions. The recommendations were discussed and included as the recommendations of the Commission. With the Good to Great initiatives and code section guidance in mind, the Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary respectfully submits the 2006-2008 Strategic Plan with projects that seek to enhance fairness and equity in the judiciary. 2 Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 MISSION The Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary, a standing committee of the Arizona Judicial Council, seeks to address disproportionate minority contact in the justice system; enrich the diversity of the judiciary to reflect the communities it serves, while maintaining the highest level of qualifications; promote cultural competency in its judicial officers and employees; and enhance communication with minority communities through education and collaboration with public and private sector programs that aspire to similar purposes. STRATEGIC PLAN The goals and initiatives of the Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary (COM) for 2006-2008 as delineated with the Good to Great Initiatives are as follows: Initiative (1-C) Fairness in the Judicial System: Continue to strive for a justice system in Arizona that is free from actual or perceived racial, ethnic, gender or economic bias. • Enhance communication among courts and minority communities. A conversation began with the community on October 11, 2000, when then Chief Justice Thomas A. Zlaket, Vice Chief Justice Jones and members of the Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary participated in the Southeast Phoenix Town Hall sponsored by the New Home/Community Partnership Outreach Program. The intent of the program was to find solutions for critical issues facing youth, women and inner city families. The topics included substance abuse, lack of confidence in the court system, child abuse, domestic violence, police/law enforcement issues – juvenile crime and school safety. The success of this program was recognized by the receipt of the Justice 2002 Award for Connecting with the Community. While state and local events such as the Southeast Phoenix Town Hall have enhanced the public’s trust and confidence in the courts, courts and their processes can still be confusing and frightening. The Judiciary can help alleviate this perception among all communities, especially minorities, by ensuring that resources, like the Guide to Arizona Courts, that are distributed to the public are easy to read and understand and are culturally competent. COM Goal 1: Become a conduit for educational resources to inform the minority community about courts, their processes and the Judiciary’s mandate to provide a fair and impartial justice system. Initiatives: • Support, as requested, Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) Resolution 3 (Appendix E) • Host one Court and Minority Community Summit with Chief Justice McGregor and the Arizona Judicial Branch leadership • Translate a “Guide to Arizona Courts” into Spanish and develop a condensed, more easily understood “Pocket Guide” that will be provided to the public via the Arizona Judicial Branch web site and in hard copy 3 Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 • Provide continuing education to the judiciary and judicial staff on issues of cultural competency and racial diversity. The diversity of our nation and state is ever changing. The National Center for State Courts in its Future Trends in State Courts report for 2005 highlighted the 2000 census’ recognition of the growth of intermarriage by allowing biracial and multiracial respondents to mark multiple race categories. The report predicts that courts will continue to face rising demands for culturally competent judicial officers and staff. Additionally, increased diversity will cause the need for dispute-resolution methods that accommodate cultural differences. Training objectives regarding diversity and cultural competency are not only impacted by Arizona’s increasing racial, ethnic and cultural diversity; they are also impacted by growth in human understanding and knowledge. The Commission members deem continued exploration of social research regarding cultural competency and diversity and its applicability to the Court highly important. COM Goal 2: Ensure awareness of and provide resources for educational opportunities regarding the evolving issues of diversity and cultural competency. • • • • • Provide resources and recommendations to COJET and the Administrative Office of the Court, Educational Services Division staff regarding current curriculum for continuing education to the judiciary and judicial staff on issues of diversity and cultural competency and recommending areas for further development Establish definitions for “Diversity” and “Cultural Competency” and incorporate into Court policies set forth for continuing education for the Judiciary and judicial staff Examine the Arizona State Bar Diversity Task Force Recommendations and determine applicability to the Judiciary Monitor the progress of and publicize the best practices stemming from the Pima Workforce Diversity Project Increase the diversity of the judiciary at all levels to reflect the communities it serves while maintaining the highest level of judicial qualifications. The Future Trends in State Courts report also highlights increasing racial, ethnic and cultural diversity and the impact of that diversity on actual and perceived equality, fairness and integrity in the justice system. The Commission sees increasing the diversity of Arizona’s judiciary as a goal that should be addressed by creating an interest in the judicial profession as early as possible in a legal professional’s career. This process begins by providing educational and networking opportunities to minority law school students through partnerships with the Minority Student Bars and local bars. Educating students about judicial clerkship and internship opportunities and supporting those offered by programs such as the American Bar Association Litigation Section Judicial Internship Opportunity Program (JIOP) also creates interest. 4 Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 The process of increasing diversity in the judiciary continues by cultivating the judicial interests of practicing minority attorneys through the Chris Nakamura Judicial Appointment Workshops. COM Goal 3: mentoring. Promote increased diversity in the judiciary through education and Law School Students • Collaborate with Arizona State University College of Law (ASU), the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law (U of A), minority student bar associations and local/state minority bar associations to develop and provide seminars regarding availability of and application for internships, clerkships and judgeships • Support the efforts of the Council on Legal Education Opportunities (CLEO), ASU and the U of A • Support the efforts of the American Bar Association’s Judicial Internship Opportunity Program (JIOP) Attorneys • Participate in the State Bar of Arizona Mentor Project by referring attorneys to the project for services and volunteering to mentor attorneys of color • Partner with the various bar associations to offer the Chris Nakamura Judicial Workshop to attorneys and law school students • Continue to present the Chris Nakamura Judicial Workshop as a session of the Minority Bar Conference on a bi-annual basis • Support, as requested, Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) Resolution 2 (Appendix E) • Address the over-representation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system. In 1993, the Arizona Juvenile Justice Advisory Council published The Equitable Treatment of Minority Youth: A Report on the Over-representation of Minority Youth in Arizona’s Juvenile Justice System. This landmark study used 1990 census data to examine the extent to which race and ethnicity influence decision-making in the juvenile justice system. It concluded that minorities were over-represented at various stages within the system, when compared to their proportion in the general population. In 2002 after publishing the second Equitable Treatment of Minority Youth report assessing the progress made from 1990 to 2000 in Maricopa and Pima counties, the Commission decided to do something more than periodically publish reports assessing progress of two counties. The Commission chose to look deeper at special groups within this population, and ultimately provide a mechanism for sharing improvements in our justice system for youth. That mechanism is the Report Card. The Report Card addresses specific decision points within the juvenile justice system (referral, formal and informal court processing, and various dispositions). It was the intent of the Commission that this report be used to identify potential problems at each decision point in the juvenile justice system; as a tool by administrators and policy makers to prioritize and focus limited resources to improve the system and to reduce over-representation of minority youth in the justice system; and as a baseline to evaluate progress. The Commission’s original goal was to provide the Report Card on an annual 5 Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 basis, but after taking resource availability into account the Report Card will be published on a bi-annual basis with the next edition being available in early 2007. Since the initial and subsequent findings were published, a number of corrective activities have been initiated or sponsored by the Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary to address this issue. One such program is the Building Blocks Initiative. The Arizona Building Blocks Initiative developed as a response to the over-representation of young people of color in the juvenile justice system, endeavors to strategically examine juvenile justice data to determine how best to reduce the over-representation of minority youth in the justice system. In May 2004, Pima County Juvenile Court and its community stakeholders began a collaborative effort to eliminate disparate treatment and improve outcomes for minority youth involved the juvenile justice system (Disproportionate Minority Contact - DMC). That effort was soon expanded to eliminate the inappropriate use of detention for all juveniles (Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative-JDAI). The leadership of these combined initiatives, the DMC/JDAI Executive Committee, has adopted and begun to implement an ambitious strategic plan that has produced significant positive results in the past year. While the DMC/JDAI was not initiated or sponsored by the Commission, it is a local program that is working toward achieving some of the same goals as the Commission is statewide. COM Goal 4: Seek, study and support local, statewide or national programs and projects successful in addressing over-representation and disparate treatment of minority youth in the judicial system. • • • • Produce the 2nd Bi-annual Report Card Support the efforts of projects like Building Blocks and the Pima County Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. Partner with the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Commission to host local and state events relating to DMC Provide technical assistance and support to local court jurisdictions who desire to address the issue of over-representation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system 6 Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 APPENDIX A Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 APPENDIX B Commission on Minorities Public Membership List Chair Honorable Roxanne K. Song Ong Phoenix Chair-Vice Honorable Mitchell D.K. Kalauli Moccasin Niccole L. King Kykotsmovi Lisa S. Loo Esq. Tempe Jesus Diaz Tucson Honorable Antonio F. Riojas Tucson Member Honorable Ann Scott Timmer Phoenix Honorable Gus Aragon, Jr. Tucson Patricia Seguin Phoenix Honorable Maria M. Avilez Green Valley Margarita Silva Phoenix Mike Baumstark Phoenix Honorable Paul Tang Tucson Honorable Rachel Torres Carrillo Phoenix Nicole Yancey Phoenix Patricia Cordova Phoenix Staff Wil R. Counts Ph.D. Phoenix Annette Mariani Phoenix Honorable John E. Davis Tucson Susan Pickard Phoenix Jonae Harrison Phoenix Joi Hollis M.Ed., LPC Tucson Karin S. Humiston Bisbee Wednesday, November 15, 2006 Commission on Minorities Membership List Page 1 of 1 Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 APPENDIX C Goal #1 Goal # 2 Protecting our Children, Families, and the Community: Providing Access to Swift and Fair Justice: The role of courts is to swiftly and fairly resolve cases. To accomplish this goal, courts must become efficient and userfriendly. Challenges include addressing the needs of the growing ranks of unrepresented litigants, protecting the rights of victims, and speeding up the wheels of justice. Specific initiatives to achieve these objectives include creating self-help and information centers for those who cannot afford representation; putting case-related information on the web so that parties, witnesses, and victims can receive timely, accurate information; and re-engineering case processing systems so that cases are resolved more quickly. This is especially important in areas such as DUI processing. Arizona citizens have the right to an adequately funded system that employs modern technology to process cases and communicate information, protects the rights of victims, ensures that self-represented litigants have meaningful access to the courts, and is open and available to all members of the public. The initiatives supporting this goal will help ensure that Arizona’s diverse population can be confident that our system of justice will be swift, impartial, fair, and compassionate to the victims of crime. Arizona’s children and families are precious resources. Courts must be able to act swiftly and dispense justice in family law cases so that children are protected from neglect and abuse, and to make appropriate, permanent placements so that children do not languish in the custody of the state. All this must be accomplished while balancing the rights of parents. Domestic violence cases have skyrocketed and require emergency procedures to ensure the safety of domestic violence victims. In addition, Arizona’s rapidly expanding and aging population has increased the number of cases involving vulnerable persons, elder care, probate, and fiduciary responsibility. The courts must engineer new case management processes and educate court personnel to efficiently resolve these family-related cases. Courts also oversee supervision of probation for those who have been convicted of criminal charges. Initiatives to enhance probation supervision call for increased automation to track probationers, enhanced efforts to collect restitution, additional training for probation officers, and improved methods to assist substance-abusing probationers. Courts must improve processes to protect children, families, and communities through innovative and forward-looking programs. To move the Arizona court system from “good” to “great,” we have adopted the following goals. We elaborate on the goals and set forth specific, concrete steps for attaining them in the pages that follow. Summary of Strategic Agenda 2 1-B 1-C Technology and the Courts Fairness in the Judicial System The Arizona Judicial Branch has aggressively planned and, as funding permitted, implemented new technology projects to improve the provision and administration of justice. Core business systems that are in place must continue to be evaluated and updated to ensure effectiveness. Additionally, integration links between courts and key partners of state and local government are being built. The judiciary aspires to develop and maintain a fair and impartial justice system. The court community should reflect the diversity of the public it serves at all levels and maintain open dialogue with all groups in order to increase respect for courts and understanding between courts and the public they serve. The next level of technology planning and investment involves digitizing records and making them available electronically to judicial officers, court staff, lawyers, litigants, and the public. Courts must plan for managing electronic case records from the point of filing (e-filing), through the life of the pending case, and beyond as required by court records retention schedules. Continue to strive for a justice system in Arizona that is free from actual or perceived racial, ethnic, gender, or economic bias. Initiatives Enhance communication between the courts and minority communities. Provide continuing education to the judiciary and judicial staff on issues of cultural and racial diversity. Initiatives Promote the use of technology within courts to facilitate the processing of cases in an efficient manner. Increase the diversity of the judiciary at all levels to reflect the communities it serves while maintaining the highest level of judicial qualifications. Develop a plan with local courts for the replacement of aging, legacy court automation systems with modern technology. Address the over-representation of minority youth in the justice system through the “Building Blocks” initiative. Continue to develop standards and policies for e-filing, electronic access to court records, and electronic record storage, backup and recovery. 5 Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 APPENDIX D ARIZONA CODE OF JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION Part 1: Judicial Branch Administration Chapter 1: Leadership Section 1-107: Commission on Minorities A. General Purpose. The Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary is established as a standing committee of the Arizona Judicial Council. The commission assists the Council in carrying out its concerns for the status of minorities in the judicial department and in the legal profession in Arizona. These concerns include a desire to accelerate progress in removing barriers to achieving racial equality and equal justice, to increase the number of qualified minority applicants available for service as judicial officers, including pro tems and commissioners, and to expand the number of minorities employed as staff and professionals in the judicial department. The commission will devise strategies and develop programs with short- and long-term goals that will: 1. Achieve a meaningful increase in the number of vendors under contract to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) who employ minority staff and professionals to provide specialized psychological, and therapeutic treatment services for minority youth offenders; 2. Where appropriate, encourage a meaningful increase in the number of minorities employed throughout the judicial department as clerical, administrative and professional staff, with priority given to efforts to recruit qualified minority juvenile and adult probation officers and staff; 3. Coordinate with other public and private sector programs that seek to address the problems created by the over-representation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system; 4. Institute a judicial candidates' career conference to provide information and training for minority applicants who are seeking judicial positions; 5. Encourage minority group members to obtain internships, clerkships, and participate in other career development and training programs for judicial, legal and law-related positions; and 6. Make recommendations to the Arizona Judicial Council that help the judicial department become more accessible to all people. B. Membership and Terms. The chief justice will appoint a chair, vice chair and members of the 1 commission. Members will serve three year terms. C. Responsibilities of Members. Commission members will actively participate in commission and advisory committee meetings. D. Organization. The chair may appoint members to advisory committees to assist the commission in carrying out its responsibilities. E. Meetings. The commission will meet no less than twice a year. Additional meetings may be called at the discretion of the commission chair. All meetings will comply with the judicial department's open meeting policy. F. Actions. The commission will adopt rules of procedure for conducting commission business. These rules will prescribe the minimum attendance for a quorum, the use of proxies and the sizes, of any majority vote required to authorize actions at any commission meeting. G. Staff. Under the direction of the chief justice, the AOC shall provide staff for the commission and as feasible, may conduct or coordinate research as recommended by the commission. H. Funding. The commission, with the assistance of the AOC, may seek grant funding from local, state and national organizations for its expenses of operation, including expert advice and consultations. To the extent available, supreme court funds may also be used to partially or fully fund the commission's expenses. Adopted by Administrative Order 2001-110 effective November 7, 2001. 2 Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 APPENDIX E Resolutions Page 1 of 1 Policy Statements & Resolutions CONFERENCE OF CHIEF JUSTICES CONFERENCE OF STATE COURT ADMINISTRATORS Resolution 2 In Support of Updating the National Database on Judicial Diversity in State Courts WHEREAS, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) have long been committed to access to justice for all through improvements in all aspects of the administration of justice; and WHEREAS, CCJ and COSCA’s Access to and Fairness in the Courts Committee encourages state courts to engage in outreach to increase access to justice and share strategies and information among jurisdictions; and WHEREAS, the ABA’s Standing Committee on Judicial Independence, in collaboration with the National Center for State Courts, is in the process of updating the National Database on Judicial Diversity in State Courts; and WHEREAS, this database, which was last updated in 2003, captures key elements of judicial diversity in state appellate, trial and limited jurisdiction courts; and WHEREAS, this survey will examine factors such as race/ethnicity, gender, methods of judicial selection, state population variables and progress made on the diversity issue; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that CCJ and COSCA support the work of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Judicial Independence and the National Center for State Courts and urge the state court community to report data to them in a prompt and timely manner. Adopted as proposed by the CCJ/COSCA Access to and Fairness in the Courts Committee at the 58th Annual Meeting on August 2, 2006. Bylaws | Mission | Policy Statements & Resolutions | History Member Roster | Reports | Search | Home http://ccj.ncsc.dni.us/AccessToJusticeResolutions/resol2NatlDbaseJudicialDiversity.html 9/12/2006 Resolutions Page 1 of 2 Policy Statements & Resolutions CONFERENCE OF CHIEF JUSTICES CONFERENCE OF STATE COURT ADMINISTRATORS Resolution 3 In Support of Updating the National Database on Judicial Diversity in State Courts In Support of a National Campaign to Ensure the Racial and Ethnic Fairness of America’s State Courts WHEREAS, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) have long been committed to fairness and access to justice for all through improvements in all aspects of the administration of justice; and WHEREAS, CCJ and COSCA’s Access to and Fairness in the Courts Committee encourages state courts to engage in outreach to increase fairness and access to justice and share successful strategies and useful information among jurisdictions; and WHEREAS, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is initiating a four-phase campaign to mobilize the expertise, experience and commitment of judges and court officers to improve the state of racial and ethnic fairness in the nation’s state courts; and WHEREAS, this project will produce a national compilation of promising practices to achieve racial and ethnic fairness in four key areas: z z z z Diverse and representative state judicial workforces and juries Fair and unbiased behaviors on the part of judges, court staff, and others in court interactions Comprehensive, system-wide improvements in racial and ethnic fairness through inter-branch and inter-agency dialogue and action, including elimination of inappropriate racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal and juvenile justice systems The availability of timely and high-quality court interpretation services to non-English speaking persons, and of legal services, especially to recent immigrants; and WHEREAS, CCJ and COSCA have designated three representatives to serve on the Steering Committee guiding this project; and WHEREAS, the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, the National Association for Court Management, the National Association of Women Judges, and the National Association for State Judicial Educators have appointed delegates to serve on this important Steering Committee; and WHEREAS, Phase I of this project has received funding from the Open Society Institute, the State Justice Institute, and the NCSC; and http://ccj.ncsc.dni.us/AccessToJusticeResolutions/resol3CampaignEnsureRacialEthnicFairnes... 9/12/2006 Resolutions Page 2 of 2 WHEREAS, Phase I requires the appointment in each state of a liaison to the project responsible for responding to information/data requests from the Steering Committee and project staff in a prompt and timely manner; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that CCJ and COSCA endorse the National Campaign to Ensure the Racial and Ethnic Fairness of America’s State Courts and urge each chief justice and state court administrator to support actively the work of this National Campaign by: z z Publicizing the work of this project to judges and court staff within the court system; and Appointing a primary contact to serve as liaison from the state judicial branch to the project. Adopted as proposed by the CCJ/COSCA Access to and Fairness in the Courts Committee at the 58th Annual Meeting on August 2, 2006. Bylaws | Mission | Policy Statements & Resolutions | History Member Roster | Reports | Search | Home http://ccj.ncsc.dni.us/AccessToJusticeResolutions/resol3CampaignEnsureRacialEthnicFairnes... 9/12/2006 Commission on Minorities in the Judiciary Strategic Plan 2006-2008 APPENDIX F COMMISSION ON MINORITIES IN THE JUDICIARY ACCOMPLISHMENTS Achieve a meaningful increase in the number of vendors under contract to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) who employ minority staff and professionals to provide specialized psychological, and therapeutic treatment services for minority youth offenders 9 Add language to contract to ensure vendors of juvenile justice treatment were culturally competent Where appropriate, encourage a meaningful increase in the number of minorities employed throughout the judicial department as clerical, administrative and professional staff, with priority give to efforts to recruit qualified minority juvenile and adult probation officers and staff. 9 Coordinate with other public and private sector programs that seek to address the problems created by the over-representation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system. 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 Initiated the Building Blocks Initiative Collaborated with Maricopa County Public Defenders Office to initiate Project RESTORE (a restoration of civil rights project) in Maryvale Collaborated with Coalition for Juvenile Justice to address American Indian issues. Served as National Advisors on Disproportionate Minority Contact and Minority Over Representation Disproportionate Minority Contact Report and annual Report Card Collaborated with Arizona Juvenile Justice Advisory Commission by sharing information on juvenile issues and Disproportionate Minority Contact. Provided speakers and support for Council on Legal Education Opportunities (CLEO) Provided representatives for Community Outreach with Justice Zlaket. Hosted Minority Over Representation Conferences Assisted Arizona in their successful grant application for OJJDP funding to address Minority Youth Over Representation in Arizona Juvenile Justice System 1 of 3 9 9 Created Commission on Minorities Brochure Wrote articles for the “Bench Press” Institute a judicial candidates’ career conference to provide information and training for minorities applicants who are seeking judicial positions. 9 9 Bi-Annual Judicial Appointment Workshops at the Minority Bar Convention (most recent April 7, 2006) Instigated the posting of all judicial announcements on the Arizona Judicial Branch website Encourage minority group members to obtain internships, clerkships, and participate in other career development and training programs for judicial, legal and law-related positions. 9 9 9 9 Judicial Clerkship Workshops at the Unversity of Arizona and Arizona State U of A and ASU Law Schools with a focus on minorities students Coordinate with and participate in COJET o USA Patriot’s Act o Will History Repeat Itself? From the Japanese American Internment to Post-9/11 America: Are Our Civil Liberties in Danger? Incorporated Cultural Competency Component in New Judges Orientation Recommended to Probation Department cultural awareness training for officers as continuing education and addressed “officers carrying guns”. Make recommendations to the Arizona Judicial Council that help the judicial department become more accessible to all people. 9 9 9 9 Received 2003 Justice Award for Community and Court Involvement from Chief Justice Jones Monitored judicial appointments. Met with Chief Justice Re: Concerns involving the Trial and Appellate Courts Commission Developed initial recommendations which resulted in establishing the Committee to Study Interpreter Issues in the Arizona Courts and the Arizona Court Interpreter Funding Committee and collaborated in their efforts Provided input on proposed legislation as requested by AOC legislative liaison 2 of 3 9 9 Participated in the National Conference of State Courts (at one time sent a representative, who was funded by AOC) Monitored interviews of Appellate and Trial Courts Commission, interviews of candidates (helped to change how interviews conducted and met with Chief Justice on Pima and Maricopa “alleged” abuses; these groups were recommended to go to cultural awareness training. 3 of 3