Minority and Justice Commission
Meeting Minutes
Evaluation and Implementation Sub-Committee
Meeting Minutes
January 8, 1999
The Evaluation and Implementation Subcommittee meeting of the Minority and Justice Commission began at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, January 8, 1999 at the King County Courthouse, Judges Conference Room, 9th Floor, Seattle. Those who participated were: Judge James M. Murphy, Judge Ronald E. Cox, Judge Deborah D. Fleck, Dr. George S. Bridges, Brian A. Tsuchida for Robert C. Boruchowitz, Ms. Christine Bond, Dr. Shiquan Liao, and Ms. Donna V. McConnell-Adams. Judge Kenneth H. Kato participated in the meeting by telephone.
The primary purpose of the Evaluation and Implementation subcommittee meeting was to hear a presentation from Dr. George S. Bridges on the report titled, A Study on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Superior Court Bail and Pre-trial Detention Practices in Washington, October, 1997. Dr. Bridges distributed two packets of information to the group, which included a meeting agenda. The agenda listed the following items: recommended guidelines for funded research, findings from ongoing analysis of bail study data, and bail guidelines in use by other states.
Dr. Bridges offered the following guidelines the Commission might consider for future research projects:
- To form a Project Advisory Board, which would include the audience that will be affected by the findings.
- To develop guidelines for research projects based on the potential reading audience.
- To perform a pre-publication review with the Project Advisory Board and Commission.
- To allow for adequate funding.
The group discussed the following suggested recommendations for research projects.
- Research teams should regularly interact with the Project Advisory Board to discuss questions or issues that arise.
- A template could be established to outline what might be included in any report/appendices and who would review content and text.
- The research process should allow for interaction and discussion with the Project Advisory Board prior to release or publication of the final report.
- The contract should allow for adequate time and resources for any necessary pre-research activity.
After developing the list of recommendations, the group returned to a discussion of the report, A Study on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Superior Court Bail and Pre-trial Detention Practices in Washington, October, 1997 by Dr. George S. Bridges.
Dr. Bridges discussed his independent ongoing scholarly research process using the bail study data collected during this project. One of Dr. Bridges' main points described the part Pretrial Screeners play in the bail process. Dr. Bridges explained his findings and offered some recommendations to enhance the research report.
There was some interest in developing a companion publication and additional educational programs based on questions and other comments that have been raised from the October 1997 research project. The Commission could ask Dr. Bridges to develop some recommendations based on his experience with the Commission and the October 1997, research study
Dr. Bridges expressed interest in meeting with the Commission or Executive Committee to discuss the issues with the report titled, A Study on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Superior Court Bail and Pre-trial Detention Practice in Washington, if necessary.
The subcommittee is considering the development of an Executive Summary and recommendations that might also include a narrative, charts, graphs, appendices, and addendum.
The subcommittee will present these ideas to the Executive Committee for further consideration.
The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
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