Gender and Justice Commission

May 5, 2000

PRESENT

Commission Members: Justice Barbara A. Madsen, Judge Marlin Appelwick, Judge Pat Clark, Eileen Concannon, Thomas Fallquist, Kathy Cooper Franklin, Judge C. Kimi Kondo, Mary Pontarolo, Judge Ann Schindler

Guests: Al Poindexter, Anthony Trevino, Lisa Scott, Bill Harrington, Peter Maule, Stanley Green, Lawrence Hutt, Paul Turnpaugh, Joe Kearney, Greg Schmidt, Jim Isely, Bob Newmon, Patty Perry, R. D. Robinson

Staff: Gloria Hemmen, Administrative Office Of The Courts

CALL TO ORDER

Justice Madsen called the meeting to order at 9:50 a.m. and announced that future meetings will start at 9:00 a.m.

COMMISSION BUSINESS

Approval of Minutes

It was moved and seconded to approve the minutes of the March 3, 2000, meeting. Motion carried.

Budget Report

The balance on the attached budget for this year is $33,410.68. That amount does not include the $500 encumbered for co-sponsorship of the Glass Ceiling CLE on May 11, 2000 and $300 toward the Dr. Lye consultant's fee for the presentation at the Superior Court Judges' Association education program in April.

Renewal of Supreme Court Order

The Supreme Court has renewed the Court Order establishing the Gender and Justice Commission for an additional five years.

By-Laws Review

By-Laws review was deferred until Judge Clark can report her recommendations.

Schedule of Future Meetings

The Commission approved the attached meeting schedule. A new meeting has been added in July. Future meetings will start at 9:00 a.m.

Commission Membership/Nominating Committee

Justice Madsen welcomed Judge Ruth Reukauf, Yakima County District Court, the Commission's newest member.

Tom Fallquist reported for the Nominating Committee. He requested the Commission approve the reappointment of four Commission members. It was moved and seconded to recommend to the Chief Justice the reappointment of Judge Ann Schindler, Kathy Cooper Franklin, and Tom Fallquist for a full term of three years and Judge Kimi Kondo for a one-year term. Motion carried.

Liaisons with Other Organizations

Justice Madsen welcomed Al Poindexter, Lisa Scott, and Bill Harrington, representatives of father's rights/family rights organizations and the other visitors. As part of the Commission's efforts to liaison with other organizations with a similar mission, various groups have been invited to meet with the Commission and talk about their organization's goals and objectives. The Commission's intent is to learn about work that is being done, share information, and capitalize on projects of common interests.

It was noted that several visitors were tape recording the meeting. Mary Pontarolo requested, on the record, that before any taped material is used that represents her as an individual or as a member of the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence permission be requested from her.

Fathers' Advocate and Northwest Law Center

Al Poindexter, Administrator/Counselor, reported Fathers' Advocate is a parenting organization for minority and low income clients who need services. They are located in the Smith Tower and serve clients statewide. Thirty percent of their clients are female but they focus on providing education to men about child support and visitation and the system in general. They work with attorneys and mental health representatives and try to lower rates for services to their clients.

Anthony Trevino, a volunteer board member of Fathers' Advocate, is an administrator with the Northwest Law Center. The Center, in operation since January, is located in the Pioneer Building. It is a for profit organization with three attorneys and three staff members.

Justice Madsen asked if they had any comments about the Parenting Act Report. Mr. Trevino said he had reviewed the report and was struck by its perspective. It looked at all the issues.

Taking Action Against Bias in the System (TABS)

Lisa Scott reported Taking Action Against Bias in the System (TABS) is a volunteer organization of citizens interested in changing the system. TABS doesn't represent one constituency in particular but deals with family law issues, the courts, the Legislature, and the media. TABS is promoting presumptive equality for parents (no bias factor for or against either parent). See attached TABS 2000-2001 Priorities and Agenda and other materials.

Membership is statewide and includes an e-mail list across the country representing about 100 people.

TABS hopes to coordinate with the Commission, for example, on domestic violence posters showing victims of both genders. In regards to the Parenting Act Report, they support better parenting classes, education for mediators, judges, and GALs, following up on the cost of family law cases, and getting judges involved in reducing male/female conflict.

Ms. Scott stated another issue is the number of male victims of domestic violence. Statistics are not available in Washington State. Mary Pontarolo offered to share information on numbers and suggested Ms. Scott contact the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence for the Fatality Review Study.

American Fathers' Alliance

Bill Harrington thanked the Commission for the opportunity to be heard. He reported a new group, Devoted Dads of Tacoma, received a three-year grant to negotiate support orders. He is concerned with family law issues including problems with custody, unsatisfactory visitation, child support problems, unfairness of divorce proceedings, and uniform enforcement in all parenting actions. He suggested the role of the court commissioner should be reviewed. He noted it took ten years to find out that Lenore Weitzman's statistics on post-divorce financial issues were wrong. That bias has driven family law. He suggested it was time to have a conference on these issues. Mr. Harrington commented this past session a number of groups worked together on the family relocation issue and the Legislature passed a good bill.

United Fathers of America

The Commission received no response from this group.

CURRENT PROGRAMS/PROJECTS/ACTION ITEMS

Board for Judicial Administration (BJA) Long-Range Planning Request

The BJA has requested the Gender and Justice Commission provide an overview of our work and plans for the next two years using the five court business goals as a framework. Justice Madsen will be making the presentation the June 2 meeting. Interested Commission members were invited to attend.

Requests for Funding

Local Domestic Violence Summits

The Commission reviewed a revised budget for the domestic violence summit in San Juan County. It was moved and seconded to accept the revised budget of $7,700 for the San Juan County Domestic Violence Summit on October 24, 2000. Motion carried.

Lewis County has requested funding for their 2^nd Annual Domestic Violence Summit on October 7, 2000 at Centralia College. The Commission considered the total amount requested by Lewis County for the two summits and agreed to provide support for this effort. It was moved and seconded to support Lewis County's 2^nd Domestic Violence Summit for a total not to exceed $2,850.

Access to Justice

Judge Appelwick presented a request from the Access to Justice (ATJ) Board for a $10,000 grant to help fund the first extensive study ever conducted in this state of the civil legal needs of low-income people. Copy attached. The unmet legal needs of low-income women and their children constitute a large segment of the problem. The study would be modeled after the recent civil legal needs assessment completed in Oregon. The ATJ wants to complete the study before the next Legislative session.

The Commission discussed whether money should be spent on providing legal services or studying the need for services. Action on the request was deferred until the July meeting.

Parenting Act Follow-up

As part of Project 2001, the Domestic Relations Committee (DRC) of the Board for Judicial Administration has been assigned to look at implementation of the Parenting Act Report recommendations. The DRC's next meeting is June 9.

Dr. Diane Lye's presentation at the Superior Court Judges' Association (SCJA) Spring Conference in April was well received. She will be participating in a family law CLE in June.

Rural Domestic Violence and Children Victimization Grant Program

Twenty-two judges attended the half-day workshop at the Superior Court Judges' Association Conference in April; thirty-three are registered for the program on May 7 before the District and Municipal Court Judges' Association Conference. The last program will be held in conjunction with the Northwest Tribal Court Judges' meeting in Oregon.

With funding from the Violence Against Women Grants' Office, the Domestic Violence Manual for Judges was put onto audiocassettes half-day judicial workshops.

King County Bar Association Gender Equality Committee - CLE

Eileen Concannon reported the program, Through the Glass Ceiling: Can Alice Get There From Here, is scheduled for May 11, 2000, from 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. in Seattle.

When Bias Compounds Program Revisions

The next meeting of the planning committee for When Bias Compounds: Insuring Equal Justice for Women of Color in the Courts is May 15. The revised program will include a panel of women of color and revised scenarios. It was suggested we check and see if the facility for the September plenary session can provide multiple screens and cameras so the entire audience has a clear view of the program. Kathy Franklin offered to share techniques learned at a "distance learning" program. Justice Madsen indicated Judge Brenda Loftin, St. Louis County Circuit Court, has conducted similar When Bias Compounds programs. She may be available to attend our program.

Anti-Harassment Policies

Justice Madsen indicated if the Commission wants to pursue this project, we will need volunteers for a subcommittee. It was suggested we invite court administrators and human resource specialists to a meeting and offer a mini training. Kathy Franklin offered to conduct the training.

Web Page Revisions

The AOC webmaster is revising the Court's website, including the Gender and Justice web page. Commission members reviewed the changes. Work still needs to be done to make the page user friendly.

Newsletter

After reviewing sample newsletters, it was agreed the Commission should produce a quarterly newsletter. The newsletter's purpose would be to serve as a coordination and collaboration vehicle. The long-range goal is to maximize liaisons with other groups. The format would be similar to the Board for Court Education's (BCE) newsletter. Distribution via e-mail was recommended.

Service Awards to Former Commission Members

Justice Madsen presented service awards to Judge Craig Matheson and Mike Hogan. Awards will be mailed to Judge Faye Kennedy and Cleo Molina.

NEXT MEETING AND ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 12:45 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for July 14, 2000.