Best Practices GuiDe - Florida Courts



Best Practices GuiDeThe Florida Supreme Court Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity-254059873242015 - 2016 10000002015 - 2016 “Justice without diversity can never be perceived as just.” - The Honorable James E.C. Perry Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity MembersThe Honorable Scott M. Bernstein, Committee ChairCircuit Judge, Eleventh Judicial CircuitThe Honorable Kevin BlazsCircuit Judge, Duval CountyThe Honorable Ken BurkeClerk of Court, Pinellas CountyThe Honorable Peter F. EstradaCircuit Judge, Tenth Judicial CircuitThe Honorable Gill S. FreemanCircuit Judge, Eleventh Judicial CircuitThe Honorable Walter M. GreenCounty Court Judge, Alachua CountyMs. Pamela GuerrierAttorney at Law, West Palm BeachJacina Haston, DirectorThe Henry Latimer Center for ProfessionalismThe Honorable Claudia IsomCircuit Judge, Thirteenth Judicial CircuitMs. Michelle KuAttorney at Law, OrlandoMr. Ricardo Martinez-CidAttorney at Law, MiamiThe Honorable Alicia LatimoreCircuit Judge, Ninth Judicial CircuitMs. Raquel MatasUniversity of Miami, School of LawMr. Alan Lopez PerezAttorney at Law, BartowThe Honorable Errol H. PowellAdministrative Law Judge, Division of Administrative Hearings, TallahasseeMr. Khurrum WahibAttorney at Law, Coral GablesMs. Monica J. WilliamsAttorney at Law, TampaFairness & DiversityBest Practices GuideThe mission of the judicial branch is to protect rights and liberties, uphold and the interpret law, and provide for the peaceful resolution of disputes.Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity Members PAGEREF _Toc442105806 \h 2Introduction PAGEREF _Toc442105807 \h 7Additional Best Practices Invited PAGEREF _Toc442105808 \h 9Leadership PAGEREF _Toc442105809 \h 9Commitment from Leadership PAGEREF _Toc442105810 \h 10Accountability of Leaders PAGEREF _Toc442105811 \h 14Representation of Diverse Leadership All Levels PAGEREF _Toc442105812 \h 14Creating Diverse Leadership in the Court PAGEREF _Toc442105813 \h 15Fairness and Diversity Education PAGEREF _Toc442105814 \h 16Trainers PAGEREF _Toc442105815 \h 17Formal Education PAGEREF _Toc442105816 \h 18Access to Courts PAGEREF _Toc442105817 \h 20Creating Access - Court Culture and Inclusion PAGEREF _Toc442105818 \h 21Public Perception of Justice PAGEREF _Toc442105819 \h 23Leading By Example PAGEREF _Toc442105820 \h 24Judges PAGEREF _Toc442105821 \h 24 Court Staff PAGEREF _Toc442105822 \h 26Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc442105823 \h 29“Judging Fairly: the Science of Equality Key Concepts” PAGEREF _Toc442105824 \h 30Measures of Bias PAGEREF _Toc442105826 \h 31Implicit Bias Affects Behavior PAGEREF _Toc442105827 \h 32Implicit Bias and Judging PAGEREF _Toc442105828 \h 33“De-biasing” and Preventing Effects of Implicit Bias PAGEREF _Toc442105829 \h 33Preventing Implicit Bias from Affecting Behavior PAGEREF _Toc442105830 \h 35Racial Anxiety PAGEREF _Toc442105831 \h 36Stereotype Threat PAGEREF _Toc442105832 \h 37Interventions to Reduce Racial Anxiety PAGEREF _Toc442105833 \h 38Stereotype Threat Interventions PAGEREF _Toc442105834 \h 39IntroductionI want to state upfront, unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any racial, ethnic or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge, regardless of their background or life experiences. - Justice of the United States Sonia Sotomayor, US Supreme Court The Florida Supreme Court Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity was created to help advance the State Court’s efforts to eliminate biases from court operations based on race, gender, ethnicity, age, disability, financial status, or any characteristic that is without legal relevance. Much progress and understanding has been achieved by the work of this Committee since its creation, but fairness and diversity issues still remain a challenge in the courts. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that the Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity presents this Diversity Best Practices Guide – a positive and practical tool that can be used for recognizing and eliminating biased behaviors from court operations. This guide is not designed as a comprehensive guide on fairness and diversity in the courts. Rather, it strives to serve as a useful resource for court diversity teams and the Judicial Branch.For ease of use, this Guide is organized into four topics areas:LeadershipEducationAccess to CourtsPublic Perception Best practices have shown that through leadership, education, improved court accessibility and improved public perception of the courts, it will make a difference in the public’s ability and desire to trust in a fair and impartial court system.The Standing Committee hopes that you discover new ideas within these pages to further your fairness and diversity knowledge and practices. We applaud all who are already making demonstrable strides in improving fairness, diversity, and inclusiveness in the court system. To those who are new to this effort, we thank you for being part of the court’s response and for joining this ongoing effort.Additional Best Practices InvitedThis Guide will be updated and revised to help meet the needs of our judges and staff; and to ensure that the information provided is relevant to the issues facing the courts. If you or your court have developed a successful diversity initiative or have other best practices to share, we encourage you to submit suggestions to the Committee at fairness-diversity@.Leadership“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”John Quincy AdamsAs the third branch of our government, the Judicial Branch has a vital role in promoting public confidence in our system of government. Public confidence can only be earned through a system that demonstrates fairness and unbiased justice. Leadership must come from the Supreme Court with a clear mandate to the state appellate and trial courts. The Chief Judges of the Appellate and Circuit courts must have a strong commitment to the enhancement of fairness and diversity throughout Florida State Courts System. Commitment from LeadershipThe Chief Justice, Chief Judges of the Appellate and Circuit Courts and State Courts Administrator and other leadership officials should demonstrate to the judges and court staff the following:Commitment to fairness and diversity as one of the court's main goals in meeting the vision and mission of Florida’s Judicial Branch. Communicate to judges and court staff the importance that fairness and diversity has on the court internally and to the public at large.Through the Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity, work to build strategies, plans, training and outreach programs that eliminate biases from the day to day court operations. Build trust and confidence in leadership by sharing what you know with others. Leadership commitment may be further shown by:Creating a local court fairness and diversity committee to address proactively issues relating to fairness, diversity and accessibility to the courts.Providing support, encouraging and hosting periodic training of judiciary and court administration staff on issues falling under the umbrella of fairness and diversity, including, but not limited to issues relating to discrimination, bias, and ADA compliance.Conducting an independent and objective assessment of court facilities to identify areas of concern, including signage, court communications equipment, e-filing software, parking and security screening. Establishing a liaison to other agencies involved in the administration of justice to ensure fairness and diversity commitment is understood and that the courts are available to address areas of concern.Establishing and enforcing court policy and procedures for the reporting and handling of fairness and diversity issues. Creating a climate for learning by establishing an outreach program that involves educating judges, court staff and the public about the efforts the courts are making toward fairness and diversity and court accessibility. Rewarding and recognizing efforts made toward fairness and diversity in the courts. Accountability of LeadersThe Supreme Court is the highest level of leadership in our court system. Fairness and diversity should be one of the top priorities of the leaders of the courts. The Chief Judges must communicate to the state appellate, trial courts and court staff their expectations regarding fairness, diversity and unbiased justice in the courts. The Chief Judges must ensure action plans, policy and practices are established and implemented in the courts that hold those accountable who fail to meet these expectations, in addition to rewarding those who value and practice fairness and diversity in the courts. Representation of Diverse Leadership All Levels “In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity”. Gruther v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003) Former Justice of the United States Sandra Day O’Conner, US Supreme CourtFlorida courts have a long history of equal employment opportunities regardless of race, creed, color, nationality, religion, age, gender, sex, sexual orientation, civil union/domestic partnership, and disability, thus creating a very diverse workforce. Such diversity within the court workplace is important because the court’s staff should reflect the community it serves, but the true benefit of diversity should not only be reflected in the court staff but also the leadership of the courts.Creating Diverse Leadership in the Court Promote recruitment and hiring of qualified persons who come from a diverse background. Afford promotional opportunities to qualified diverse court staff. Encourage diverse qualified employees to seek leadership positions both within your court and with court-related organizations.Promote the development of outreach programs that attract the best and brightest to the state court system.Create a record of appointments to committees and court-related organizations, so that management is able to share, with leadership, opportunities to build more diverse leaders and groups. Fairness and Diversity Education“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” Martin Luther King, Jr.Fairness and diversity?education?should be offered on at least an annual basis and should be integrated into orientation programs for new judges and court staff. Fairness and diversity education?should be set up in such a way that it permits trainers to develop their curriculum toward relevant fairness and diversity issues within the community and the courts that it serves. The success of fairness and diversity training programs is dependent upon the level of participation from each judge to members of all of the courts’ staff. Therefore, the chief judge, court administrator and the court fairness and diversity committee should take all necessary steps to make sure that courts staff are aware of when internal and external educational opportunities are happening and encourage participation. TrainersIt is of the utmost importance that the Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity carefully recommend trainers in order to ensure effective and engaging methods of training are provided to the courts. The Committee should seek fairness and diversity trainers who have experience and knowledge of the court system particularly its mission and vision. Trainers should have strong and engaging communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with judges and court staff. When feasible, trainers should be selected to reflect the diversity of the community. Formal EducationFormal fairness and diversity education should be made available at judicial education programs on a statewide and regional basis with assistance from the Florida Court Education Council and the Judicial Conferences. Diversity Teams will collaborate with other courts and voluntary bar associations to make quality education available on a periodic basis and will either apply for continuing judicial education credit on behalf of the training sponsors or assist them in the process. All fairness and diversity educational programs whether through the Judicial Conferences, College of Advanced Judicial Studies, Appellate Circuit Courts, as well as through other sources of judicial education, will be advertised giving all the courts proper notice of the time, date, location and content of the program. If court dockets permit, or when financially possible, judges and court staff should be encouraged to attend and participate in local, statewide, and national conferences with content related to fairness and diversity issues.Fairness, Diversity Awareness, Implicit Bias and Equal Access to Justice, in addition to sexual harassment and ADA compliance training should be offered to court administration staff at the time of hiring and on a periodic basis thereafter.Access to Courts“Mere access to the courthouse doors does not by itself assure a proper functioning of the adversary process.”- Thurgood Marshall Access to state courts is essential to being able to exercise a fundamental right and all persons coming before the courts should have equal access to the courts, court proceedings and programs. Therefore, when providing services, the courts will ensure that persons with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodations as defined in The Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended, which prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in services that are provided by the courts. Creating Access - Court Culture and Inclusion“Persons appear to us according to the light we throw upon them from our own minds”. Laura Ingalls Wilder It is an affirmative responsibility of the judges and court administration to create a court culture that facilitates access to the courts for the people we serve. Court culture can be defined as “how the courts get things done”. Accordingly, judges and court administration should always promote a “culture” within the courts that promotes fairness, diversity and court accessibility. It is imperative that judges, court staff and court administration strive to create, as part of our day-to-day operations, an atmosphere which:Ensures all court users are treated with dignity, respect, and concern for their rights and cultural backgrounds, without bias or appearance of bias, and are given an opportunity to be heard; Strives to identify and eliminate barriers to court access at all levels of service; ensures that interactions with the court are understandable, convenient, and perceived as fair;Ensures that persons with disabilities have access to court facilities and services;Expands the availability of legal self-help programs for litigants with limited financial resources;Ensures that there are adequate numbers of court certified interpreters available to assist in court proceedings where mandated or there is a need.Plans prospectively to ensure language and hearing impaired access to all court users both in court and those involved in court sponsored programs.Improve and expand services, assistance, and information provided to self-represented litigants.Public Perception of Justice“Fairness is what justice really is.” Potter Stewart, Former Justice of the United States Supreme CourtCircuit and county courts are collectively referred to as the “trial courts”. Trial courts are located where people live and work; with the exception of administrative hearings. Florida’s trial courts are the public’s most common connection with the justice system’s resolution of cases and controversies. This is where members of the community directly interact with the court system, which can be accomplished either through observation, participation as litigants, witnesses or victims of crimes. The court’s opportunity to make a first and lasting impression of fairness is created through this experience. It is safe to say that public perceptions of judicial fairness are based upon the public’s observation, experiences and impressions of the judges and court staff. Judges must always remember that whatever they do or say has a direct result upon how the public will view the courts as whole. Judges should seek to create a courtroom that treats all litigants and participants in the court room with dignity and respect. Leading By Example“Have a bias toward action - let's see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.”--Indira GandhiJudges Here are some realistic and attainable goals for providing a positive environment in and outside the courtroom, though they will require conscious effort:Treat the litigants, court staff, and attorneys with respect, fairness, and dignity.Avoid snap decisions or reaching decisions based on instinct and in interactions with the litigants in order to avoid being improperly influenced by implicit bias. Make rulings based on objective reasoning and fair-minded application of the law.Seek to avoid making biased or discriminatory comments or engaging in any type of biased or discriminatory behavior outside of the courts. Judges should keep in mind that what they say or do away from the courtroom has a direct result upon how the public will view the courts as a whole. A judge is a judge, wherever she or he is found, including the little league field or grocery store.When conducting a hearing or trial, use court procedures that can be easily followed by participants when conducting a hearing or trial. Use plain language to explain to litigants (especially those who choose to represent themselves), witnesses, and jurors, what is acceptable behavior and rules of the courtroom.Develop communication skills to explain court terminology and judicial orders to pro-se litigants and explain at their level of competency. Become a better listener.Remember humor and sarcasm, both in word and in print, can easily be misunderstood and become the source of conflict.Court Staff“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya AngelouCourt staff should be mindful that they are the “face of the justice system” and, as representatives of the Florida State Court System, they provide the experience by which the community that we serve forms perceptions of whether or not the court system is fair and impartial justice is received. Interactions with judicial assistants, magistrates, hearing officers, court staff, bailiffs and court clerks should all reinforce that the public can expect an equal level playing field when they appear in our courts. Below are some realistic and attainable goals:Treat all court users with dignity, respect, and concern for their rights, and respect cultural backgrounds, without biases or the appearance of biases.Monitor and report all types of bias-natured behaviors and attitudes within the workplace.Treat all litigants, attorneys, judges and others (including co-workers) with respect, fairness, and dignity.Develop strategies to react appropriately whenever unrepresented litigants get confused or frustrated by the complexities of the legal system.Expect non-biased treatment from the judges, litigants, coworkers, and attorneys. Schedule time to observe personnel interactions with the public to ensure the message that management is sending is being received by those we serve. Provide an opportunity to receive feedback, by completion evaluation form (anonymously) or the implementation of an online survey program. This will allow members of the legal community and the public to provide comments and suggestions for ongoing improvements in the way the courts conduct business.ConclusionPublic trust in the Florida State Court System is essential and it is gained through equality, fairness, and integrity. Therefore, we hope that this resource guide will assist the courts in the continuing efforts to eliminate bias from all aspects of court operations and ensure access to the courts regardless of race, gender, language or economic status and improve the public perception of justice in our courts system. “Judging Fairly: the Science of Equality Key Concepts”The following are descriptions of implicit bias, racial anxiety, and stereotype threat. These concepts are crucial to understanding how our brains process information and help explain how race, ethnicity, gender, and other identified categories may affect judicial decision-making and behavior even when a judge has egalitarian values and consciously rejects stereotypes. Rachel D. Godsil, Linda R. Tropp, Philip Attiba Goff & John A. PowellFor a discussion of one of these phenomena and its potential effect upon judging, see Kang et al, Implicit Bias in the Courtroom, 59 UCLA L. Rev. 1124 (2012). For a more detailed discussion of implicit bias, racial anxiety, and stereotype threat, see Godsil et al, The Science of Equality (Volume 1) (2014).Implicit bias refers to the process of associating stereotypes or attitudes toward categories of people without conscious awareness. Implicit: a thought or feeling about which we are unaware or mistaken. Bias: when we have a preference or an aversion toward a person or a category of person as opposed to being neutral, we have a bias.Stereotype: a specific trait or attribute that is associated with a category of person.Attitude: an evaluative feeling toward a category of people or objects – either positive or negative – indicating what we like or dislike.Measures of BiasSocial scientists have developed an increasingly sophisticated array of mechanisms for identifying and measuring the presence of automatic stereotypes and attitudes we consciously deny, or which fall beyond our conscious awareness.The Implicit Association Test (IAT), developed by Anthony Greenwald and housed at Harvard’s , is one well-known measure (Greenwald & Banaji, 1998). The IAT measures whether there is a time difference between a person’s ability to associate a particular social category with concepts that reflect either stereotypes or attitudes. For example, the attitude-based race IAT measures the latency between a person’s association of Black or White faces with “good” words (positive valence) and “bad” words (negative valence). Scientists are also beginning to use physiological tools to measure implicit responses to race, including functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) (Phelps et al., 2000), patterns of cardiovascular responses (Blascovich et al., 2001); facial electromyography (EMG) (Vanman et al., 2004), and cortisol responses (Page-Gould et al., 2008). These physiological tools provide additional insight into our reactions to race and ethnicity.Implicit Bias Affects Behavior Implicit biases affect behavior and are far more predictive than self-reported racial attitudes. Studies have demonstrated that implicit bias predicts or explains:the speed and likelihood of shooting an unarmed person based on race (Payne et al., 2005; Payne et al., 2002; Correll et al., 2002; Correll et al., 2006); employment callbacks relative to equally qualified white applicants (Pager et al., 2009); the rate of referring otherwise similar black and white patients with acute coronary symptoms for thrombolysis (Green et al., 2007); why black defendants with stereotypically black features receive longer sentences and why stereotypically black defendants are more likely to be sentenced to death in cases involving white victims. (Eberhardt et al., 2006) Implicit Bias and JudgingJudges are very likely to have explicit commitments to the goals of fairness and anti-discrimination. However, a study of federal judges in three different districts found that approximately 87% of white judges show implicit preferences for whites (Rachlinski, et al., 2009). This study also measured whether judges’ implicit biases affected behavior in two simulated cases and found judges with high implicit racial bias levels were somewhat more likely to impose harsh sentences against black defendants when subliminally primed, while judges with high preferences for blacks were somewhat more likely to give more lenient sentences.“De-biasing” and Preventing Effects of Implicit BiasWhile the research on de-biasing is fairly new, recent studies have found success in reducing implicit racial bias, increasing concern about discrimination, and awareness of personal bias by combining multiple interventions to “break the prejudice habit” (Devine et al., 2012). The strategies (thoughtfully utilizing findings from other research and directly quoted below) included:Stereotype replacement: Recognizing that a response is based on stereotypes, labeling the response as stereotypical, and reflecting on why the response occurred creates a process to consider how the biased response could be avoided in the future and replaces it with an unbiased response. Counter-stereotypic imaging: Imagining counter-stereotypic others in detail makes positive exemplars salient and accessible when challenging a stereotype's validity. Individuation: Obtaining specific information about group members prevents stereotypic inferences. Perspective taking: Imagining oneself to be a member of a stereotyped group increases psychological closeness to the stereotyped group, which ameliorates automatic group-based evaluations. Increasing opportunities for contact: Increased contact between groups can ameliorate implicit bias through a wide variety of mechanisms, including altering their images of the group or by directly improving evaluations of the group.This data “provides the first evidence that a controlled, randomized intervention can produce enduring reductions in implicit bias.” The findings have been replicated and further studies will be in print in 2015.Preventing Implicit Bias from Affecting BehaviorTo the extent that de-biasing is an uphill challenge in light of the tenacity of negative stereotypes and attitudes about race, institutions can also establish practices to prevent these biases from seeping into decision-making. Jerry Kang and a group of researchers developed the following list of interventions that have been found to be constructive (Kang et al., 2011): Doubt Objectivity: Presuming oneself to be objective actually tends to increase the role of implicit bias; teaching people about non-conscious thought processes will lead people to be skeptical of their own objectivity and better able to guard against biased evaluations.Increase Motivation to be Fair: Internal motivations to be fair rather than fear of external judgments tends to decrease biased actions. Improve Conditions of Decision-making: (Implicit biases are a function of automaticity Daniel Kahneman’s “thinking fast”). Thinking slow by engaging in mindful, deliberate processing and not in the throes of emotions prevents our implicit biases from kicking in and determining our behaviors. Count: Implicitly biased behavior is best detected by using data to determine whether patterns of behavior are leading to racially disparate outcomes. Once one is aware that decisions or behavior are having disparate outcomes, it is then possible to consider whether the outcomes are linked to bias. Racial Anxiety Discomfort about the experience and potential consequences of inter-racial interaction: people of color can be anxious that they will be the target of discrimination and hostile or distant treatment;whites can be anxious that they will be assumed to be racist and, therefore, will be met with distrust or hostility. People experiencing racial anxiety often engage in less eye contact, have shorter interactions, and generally seem—and feel—awkward. Not surprisingly, if two people are both anxious that an interaction will be negative, it often is. So racial anxiety can result in a negative feedback loop in which both parties’ fears appear to be confirmed by the behavior of the other. Stereotype ThreatThis occurs when a person is concerned that she will confirm a negative stereotype about her group.Stereotype threat can affect anyone, depending on the prevailing stereotypes in a given context; Stereotype threat has been most discussed in the context of academic achievement among students of color, and among girls in STEM fields; Whites can suffer stereotype threat when concerned that they may be perceived as racist. When people are aware of a negative stereotype about their group in a domain in which they are identified, their attention is split between the activity at hand and concerns about being seen stereotypically. Research finds that concern about negative stereotypes can trigger physiological changes in the body and the brain, such asan increased cardiovascular profile of threat and activation of brain regions used in emotion regulation, cognitive reactions (especially a vigilant self-monitoring of performance), and affective responses (especially the suppression of self-doubts). Stereotype threat diverts cognitive resources that could otherwise be used to maximize task performance. Interventions to Reduce Racial AnxietyThe mechanisms to reduce racial anxiety are related to the reduction of implicit bias – but are not identical. In our view, combining interventions that target both implicit bias and racial anxiety will be vastly more successful than either in isolation. Direct Inter-group Contact: Direct interaction between members of different racial and ethnic groups can alleviate inter-group anxiety, reduce bias, and promote more positive inter-group attitudes and expectations for future contact.Indirect Forms of Inter-group Contact: When people observe positive interactions between members of their own group and another group (vicarious contact) or become aware that members of their group have friends in another group (extended contact), they report lower bias and anxiety, and more positive inter-group attitudes. Stereotype Threat InterventionsMost of these interventions were developed in the context of the threat experienced by people of color and women linked to stereotypes of academic capacity and performance, but may also be translatable to whites who fear confirming the stereotype that they are racist.Social Belonging Intervention: providing students with survey results showing that upper year students of all races felt out of place when they began but that the feeling abated over time has the effect of protecting students of color from assuming that they do not belong on campus due to their race and helped them develop resilience in the face of adversity. Wise Criticism: giving feedback that communicates both high expectations and a confidence that an individual can meet those expectations minimizes uncertainty about whether criticism is a result of racial bias or favor (attributional ambiguity). If the feedback is merely critical, it may be the product of bias; if feedback is merely positive, it may be the product of racial condescension. Behavioral Scripts: setting forth clear norms of behavior and terms of discussion can reduce racial anxiety and prevent stereotype threat from being triggered. Growth Mindset: teaching people that abilities including the ability to be racially sensitive are learnable/incremental rather than fixed has been useful in the stereotype threat context because it can prevent any particular performance for serving as “stereotype confirming evidence.” Value-Affirmation: encouraging students to recall their values and reasons for engaging in a task helps students maintain or increase their resilience in the face of threat. Remove Triggers of Stereotype Threat on Standardized Tests: removing questions about race or gender before a test, and moving them to after a test, has been shown to decrease threat and increase test scores for members of stereotyped groups. Diversity ResourcesThe Standing Committee could not have prepared this resource guide without the use of the following online fairness and diversity resources. The Standing Committee recommends that the court leaders and local court diversity teams read the following online articles when crafting their own fairness and diversity plans.American Bar Association Fairness Through Bias-Free Behavior: A Pocket Guide for the Courts Madelynn Herman Race and Ethic Fairness Initiative: National Center for State Courts 2005 Justice Forum University of Alaska Anchorage Public Perception of Judicial Fairness Brad A. Myrstol and Cory R. Lepage Bar Association’s Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity, Diversity Center Group | Special Committees and Commissions for Judicial Diversity” Held by the Minority Leader of the New York State Senate Review: The Journal of American Judges Association.Special Issue on Procedural FairnessVolume 44, Issue 1/2 2007–2008 Competence in the Courtroom:A Judge’s InsightBy Hon. Gail S. Tusan & Sharon ObialoPrecedent Fall 2010's%20Insight.pdfDiversity in the Legal Profession: The Challenge Remains! By Terry Votel diversity on state courts: How does the judicial selection environment advance—and inhibit—judicial diversity? By Malia Reddick, Michael J. Nelson, and Rachel Paine Caufield Bar Diversity in the Legal Profession, Do No Harm: On Addressing the Problem of Implicit Bias in Juror Decision Making Jennifer K. Elek & Paula Hannaford-Agor Supreme Court Fairness & Diversity Standing Supreme Court Committee and Racial Fairness Resource GuideNation Center for State Courts FOR PRACTICING GENDER NEUTRALCOURTROOM PROCEDURES: Texas Supreme CourtGender Bias Reform Implementation CommitteeApril, 2004 Bias: What Crosses The Line? Bias Playing FavouritesThe EconomistDemocracy in AmericaMay 13th 2014 Diversity - Testimony of Hon. John R. Dunne Vice Chair, Committee for Modern Courts “Public Forum: A Lasting Blueprint for Judicial Diversity” Held by the Minority Leader of the New York State Senate Bias in the Courtroom Jerry Kang 59 UCLA L. Rev. 1124 (2012). Judicial Diversity – Brennan Center for Justice by Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Monique Chase, Emma Greenman, Susan M. Liss Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts National Organization for Judicial Education Implicit Bias: Guidance for Court Personnel of the Courts in Your Community:The Influence of Experience, Race and Ethnicity,National Center for State Courts January 31, 2003David B. Rottman Ph.D.; Randall Hansen;Nicole Mott Ph.D.; Lynn Grimes and Ensuring the Diversity of Judicial Staff Attorneys and Law Clerks within the Florida State Courts SystemCOMMITTEE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONSFlorida Supreme Court Standing Committee of Fairness and Diversity 2006 and Eliminating Bias from Court Operations Florida Supreme Court Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity BIAS IN THE JUDICIARYMichele Benedetto Neitz Golden Gate University School of Law61 Cleveland State Law Review 137 (2013) September 19, 2012 to Reduce the Influence of Implicit BiasNational Center for State Courts and Diagnosing Court Culture Court Review, The Journal of American Judges AssociationVolume 45, Issue 4, 104-109 2009Brian J. OstromRoger A. HansonNational Center for Court Studies Resources Florida Court SystemThe following additional resources are quite helpful when dealing with fairness and diversity issues. They can be located online on the Florida State Court System Intranet Judicial Branch Education. are updated periodically by the Florida Court Education Council. Code of Judicial Conduct for the State of Florida and Diversity Education Resources FLORIDA CASES INVOLVING SELF-REPRESENTED LITIGANTS: A Manual for Florida Courts 2014 FLORIDA COURT EDUCATION COUNCIL’S PUBLICATIONS Ethics Bench GuideFlorida Court Education Council’s Publications Committee 2014 ADMINISTRATION BENCHGUIDE 2015 EditionA Project of the Florida Court Education Council’s Publications Committee OF THE JUDICIAL ETHICS ADVISORY COMMITTEETOPICAL INDEX Opinions 1972/1 through 2015/02 Bar AssociationsThe Florida Bar maintains a resource list of voluntary bar associations which is organized alphabetically and by area. It includes websites for those organizations with websites. Many of these voluntary bar associations have members who are willing to participate as sponsors or speakers for diversity events and training activities and serve as an important resource to the courts in our fairness and diversity efforts. The list can be located at: ................
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