Minority and Justice Commission
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Commission Members Present |
Excused Absences |
| Justice James M. Dolliver | Justice Charles W. Johnson |
| Justice Charles Z. Smith | Judge Leroy McCullough |
| Judge Ronald E. Cox | Judge Ron A. Mamiya |
| Judge Elaine Houghton | Guadalupe Gamboa |
| Judge James M. Murphy | Ms. Sandra Fancher Garcia |
| Judge Ricardo S. Martinez | Ms. Mary Campbell McQueen |
| Judge Richard A. Jones |
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| Judge Monica J. Benton |
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| Ms. Donna Claxton Deming |
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| Ms. Myrna Contreras |
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| Larry M. Fehr |
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| Ms. Kazzie Katayama |
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| Charles Edward Siljeg |
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| David C. Ward |
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| Jeffrey C. Sullivan |
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| Ms. Mary Alice Theiler |
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| Ms. Vicki J. Toyohara |
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| Technical Support Members Present | Excused Absences |
| Judge Philip J. Thompson | Judge William W. Baker |
| Judge Karen B. Conoley | Judge Sergio Armijo |
| Judge Kenneth H. Kato | Judge Deborah Fleck |
| Judge James D. Cayce | Judge Robert E. McBeth |
| Jeffrey A. Beaver | Robert Reyes Colón |
| Robert C. Boruchowitz | Lonnie Davis |
| Ms. Madelyn Botta | Ms. Kim Eaton |
| David J. Della | Dr. Charles H. Sheldon, Ph. D. |
| Ms. Irene Gutierrez | Ms. Debora G. Juarez |
| Ms. Ada Ko | Ms. Lorraine Lee |
| Richard F. McDermott, Jr. | Ms. Terry Mark |
| Ms. Esther L. Patrick | Robert Lamb, Jr. |
| Ms. P. Diane Schneider | Ms. Mary Elizabeth McKnew |
| Ms. Barbara J. Selberg | Charles A. Jardine |
| Brian A. Tsuchida |
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Guests Present
Call to Order
Minutes
Report of Co-Chairmen
1995-1996 Commission Report
Ninth Annual Meeting of the National Consortium of Task Forces and Commissions on Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Court
U S WEST Foundation Funding
1995-1996 Report of the Minority and Justice Commission
Finance Committee
Reports from Sub-committees
1995-1997 Biennium Budget Status Report as of December 31, 1996
Professor Mary Ana Beloff
Professor Javier Augusto De Luca
Professor Mark E. Wilson
Ms. Lourdes Fuentes
Eric Jones
Ms. Jill Murphy
The meeting was called to order by Justice Charles Z. Smith at 1:30 p.m. at the law firm of Preston Gates and Ellis, Columbia Center, 50th Floor, Conference Room 9, Seattle.
The October 18, 1996 Executive Committee Meeting minutes were reviewed and approved by consent subject to necessary editorial revisions. The November 1, 1996 Commission meeting minutes were reviewed and approved by consent subject to necessary editorial revisions.
At the December 5, 1996 en banc conference of the Washington State Supreme Court Justice Charles Z. Smith submitted the recommendation to reappoint ten Commission members to a four-year term beginning January 1, 1997 and ending December 31, 2000. The reappointments were unanimously approved. The reappointed Commission members are: Justice Charles W. Johnson, Judge Elaine Houghton, Judge James M. Murphy, Judge Richard A. Jones, Judge Monica J. Benton, Judge Ron A. Mamiya, Ms. Donna Claxton Deming, Guadalupe Gamboa, Ms. Mary Alice Theiler, and David C. Ward.
The Washington State Bar Association Committee on Legal Opportunities for Minorities in the Legal Profession is planning a CLE on judicial appointments and elections for lawyers of color. The planning committee chairperson is Ms. Lorraine Lee, a member of our Technical Support Group. The Commission has been asked to participate in the CLE program perhaps as a sponsor. Ms. Debora G. Juarez and Judge Kenneth H. Kato will represent the Commission at this program. Justice Smith asked the members of the Commission who are judges of color whether they would be willing to participate in this program. Judge Ronald E. Cox indicated he had already been asked to participate and has agreed to do so. Judge Ricardo S. Martinez and Judge Monica J. Benton both agreed to assist Judge Kato by participating in the program. Justice Smith mentioned that perhaps the Commission members participating in this program can report back to Justice James M. Dolliver and Justice Smith for a formal recommendation for participation by the Minority and Justice Commission.
Justice Smith stated the Commission is limited to twenty-one persons who are appointed by the Washington State Supreme Court. The number of Technical Support members are not limited to twenty-one persons. However, Technical Support members participate as fully as the Commission but cannot vote. Judge Thomas C. Warren, Chelan County District Court, a member of the Technical Support group, has asked to be relieved of his participation as a technical support person. At the same time Judge Warren made his request, we had another member of the Municipal and District Court Judges' Association express an interest in the Minority and Justice Commission. Judge James D. Cayce, Presiding Judge of the King County District Court, has been invited to serve on the Technical Support group and he has agreed. Another Technical Support member, Dr. George S. Bridges, Ph. D., has resigned because of the potential conflict of interest by filing a proposal under our research project for the Commission. Charles A. Jardine, a retired Certified Public Accountant, has agreed to become a member of our Technical Support Group and to provide us with some supportive assistance in our accounting process. Our accounting is done by the Fiscal Office of the Office of Administrator for the Courts. Because of the difficulty in reading the OAC report, the Commission has been preparing its own budget reports. Mr. Jardine has agreed to serve on the Finance Committee and assist in the development of a readable budget report format for the Commission.
Judge C. C. Bridgewater, Court of Appeals, Division II, has requested our participation in a diversity forum sponsored by the Ethnic Support Council in Longview, Washington on April 28, 1997 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Justice Smith, Washington State Supreme Court, Judge Deborah Fleck, King County Superior Court and Judge Sergio Armijo, Pierce County Superior Court and will be representing the Commission on a panel.
Justice Smith stated that the artwork by Ms. Nubia W. Owens entitled Justice and Women of Color will be used for the cover of the 1995-1996 Commission Report. An editor we retained has completed the editorial work and the report is being fine-tuned by Ms. Vicki J. Toyohara and her staff. The commission report should be completed by July 1, 1997.
The current moderator of the National Consortium is Justice Charles Z. Smith who has served in that position for the past seven years. Justice Smith's term ends May 10, 1997. Ms. Vicki J. Toyohara has served as the Deputy Coordinator for the National Consortium. Justice Smith attended the Conference of Chief Justices on February 3, 1997 and is urging the participation of all supreme court justices in the United States at the National Consortium meeting in Las Vegas on May 8, 9, and 10, 1997. The program will include a panel of chief justices chaired by the Chief Justice of Nevada, Justice Miriam Shearing. There will be about eight chief justices from around the country who will be participating on the panel. The theme of the Ninth Annual Meeting will be The Court In An Inclusive Society. Justice Smith extended an invitation to all Commission members to attend the National Consortium meeting in Las Vegas.
The Washington State Supreme Court has joined Justice Charles Z. Smith and Justice James M. Dolliver in recommending that the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission invite the National Consortium to hold its Tenth Annual Meeting in Seattle in 1998. A motion was made by Ms. Myrna Contreras that the Commission host the Tenth Annual Meeting. The motion was seconded and carried.
The Site Selection Committee will announce to the National Consortium in Las Vegas that our Tenth Annual Meeting will be held in Seattle in 1998. Ms. Contreras has agreed to serve as the chairperson of the Planning Committee. Judge James M. Murphy, Ms. Ada Ko and Ms. Kazzie Katayama have agreed to serve on that committee.
Ms. Vicki J. Toyohara announced that U S WEST Foundation has verbally agreed to provide us with $4,000.00 for our Justice and Women of Color poster project. Ms. Mary Helen Moore, Manager of Corporate Contributions of U S WEST Foundation, indicated that the funds would be paid to the Minority and Justice Commission during the month of February.
Justice Smith acknowledged that he received the rough draft of the annual report but has not yet been able to complete his review and editing. He hopes to do this and return the draft to Ms. Toyohara sometime next week. The target date for having the report printed and ready for distribution is January 1997.
Judge Elaine Houghton reported that the Commission budget request before the Legislature is for $500,000.00. We have an ongoing budget of $300,000.00 for a two-year period. The Minority and Justice Commission has the support from the Office of Administrator for the Courts lobbyist and, thanks to Ms. Mary Alice Theiler, support of the Board of Governors of the Washington State Bar Association and its lobbyist, John Fattorini. Judge Houghton will keep us informed if there appears to be a problem with our ongoing budget or with our budget request.
Research Sub-committee
Larry M. Fehr reported on three items. The first is the dissemination of the Commission's previous research projects. Dr. Robert D. Crutchfield, Ph. D., Dr. Joseph G. Weis, Ph. D., Dr. George S. Bridges, Ph. D. and Mr. Fehr participated on a panel at the Annual Conference of the American Society of Criminology discussing past Commission research studies, the exceptional sentencing study and the prosecutorial discretion study. Another forum for disseminating our research studies is the Gonzaga Law Review which is publishing a special symposium on the issues of racial disparities in the court system. We have been asked to prepare an article that summarizes our recent research studies for that publication. The draft of an article has been submitted. This special issue will be published in April 1997.
A request for qualifications and quotations for our next major research study has been issued. The focus of this research study is to determine whether and under what circumstances the race or ethnicity of adult persons accused of felony crimes affect bail and pre-trial detention decisions in Washington State. We received numerous proposals. After a review of those proposals the contract was awarded to the University of Washington. The project lead on this research project will be Dr. Bridges. The cost of the study is $65,000.00.
It is a common practice for institutions of higher education to charge indirect costs on research projects. We have looked at other state agencies in Washington State and federal agencies in term of indirect costs attached to their grants. Judge Ronald E. Cox made a motion that for this particular project we attempt to abide by a 10% cap on indirect costs associated with our current research project. The proposal received from the University of Washington did not itemize indirect costs as a line item in their proposal. When the University of Washington was contacted representatives stated that their indirect costs are 48%. Ms. Toyohara contacted Dr. Bridges to discuss whether he could still conduct our research project with a 48% indirect cost on our project dollars. Dr. Bridges indicated he could still do the project. Mr. Fehr indicated that future projects should have a cap on the amount of indirect costs and the Commission may want to revisit this issue at a later time.
Justice Smith requested that the Research Sub-committee report back to the Commission with a proposed cap on indirect costs. Mr. Sullivan expressed his concern that if the study does not include counties in Eastern Washington the study would be valid for only a part of the state and be of no benefit to Eastern Washington. Justice Smith requested that Mr. Sullivan identify those particular counties to Mr. Fehr.
Dr. Bridges indicated he could still do the project.
The meeting was temporarily adjourned for the reception at 3:00 p.m.
The meeting was reconvened at 4:00 p.m.
Work Force Diversity Sub-committee
Judge Elaine Houghton indicated that the Work Force Sub-committee is in the process of updating the Work Force Diversity Resource Directory. The new directory will have an additional 200 listings for a total of 500 listings compared to 300 listings in our previous directory. In addition the new directory will be more user-friendly so listings may be located geographically or by category. Included in the directory will be telefacsimile, e-mail and internet information. The sub-committee is considering putting it on the internet home page for the Office of Administrator for the Courts. The first draft is due on Monday, February 10, 1997, and the final draft is expected to be ready to print on March 14, 1997.
Bar Liaison Sub-committee
Ms. Myrna Contreras reported the Bar Liaison Sub-committee met this morning. The sub-committee will be assisting Ms. Vicki J. Toyohara with the publication of the Commission's newsletter, Equal Justice, for printing in a few months. This will be a special issue involving the relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II. Following the special edition the sub-committee will be preparing the newsletter for publication every three months. The next issue will cover the Commission and sub-committee current activities and future projects. The members were invited to share any articles of interest with the sub-committee for inclusion in the newsletter.
Another project the sub-committee will be working on is preparing a column for inclusion in the Washington Sate Bar Association's Bar News. Ms. Contreras also indicated that the sub-committee is reviewing the name of the sub-committee to determine the appropriateness of the current name. They will be making a recommendation to the Commission at the next meeting.
The sub-committee plans to contact a patent attorney regarding the necessity of obtaining permission to reprint articles for inclusion in the Equal Justice newsletter and for distribution of copies of articles to Commission members at its meetings.
Education Sub-committee
Judge Ronald E. Cox stated that the Education Sub-committee presented a diversity training seminar at the Judicial College in Tacoma this past January. Forty-three judges attended. On March 7, 1997 there will be a four-hour Cultural Diversity Education Workshop as part of the Court Support Orientation Program in Olympia. On April 30, 1997 at the Superior Court Judges' Spring Conference in Spokane, the Education Sub-committee will be debuting a new one-day education program on cultural diversity. Judge James M. Murphy, who chairs the Education Committee for the spring conference, was acknowledged for his efforts in getting our program on the spring conference agenda. Another program is scheduled to take place on May 7, 1997 at the District and Municipal Court Spring Conference in Pasco.
Judge Cox indicated that a videographer has been selected to assist in the production of video vignettes which will become a module in a new curriculum on cultural diversity. The request for quotations and qualifications for the development of an educational video was issued. Several proposals has been received. The successful consultant is Bristol Productions, Limited, which is located in Olympia. Judge Cox invited the members to submit any ideas about situations that could occur in the courtroom itself, the clerk's office or around the courthouse for this project.
Ms. Vicki J. Toyohara presented the Budget Status Report dated December 31, 1996 prepared by the Commission and the Budget Status Report dated December 31, 1996 prepared by the Office of the Administrator for the Courts. Ms. Toyohara reported that the difference in the balances between the two reports has been reduced to $1.01.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
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