Gender and Justice Commission

March 10, 2006

Members:     Justice Barbara A. Madsen, Eileen Concannon, Jeri Costa, Judge Sara Derr, Tom Fallquist, Judie Fortier, Jennefer Henson, Grace Huang, Michael Killian, Yvonne Pettus, Judge Jim Riehl, Judge Ann Schindler, Dan Thieme, Lindsay Thompson, Judge Linda Tompkins

Guests:         Justice Susan Owens, Regina McDougall

Staff:              Gloria Hemmen

CALL TO ORDER

Justice Madsen called the meeting to order at 9:20 a.m.

COMMISSION BUSINESS

Approval of Minutes

It was moved and seconded to approve the January 13, 2006 meeting minutes.  Motion carried.

Budget Report

The Commission reviewed and approved the budget status report. 

Long Range Planning

A one-day Long Range Planning meeting will be held on May 12 at the Law Offices of Riddell Williams in Seattle.  Dr. Jodie O’Brien, Seattle University Department of Society, Justice and Culture, will present a national overview of gender issues and public policy trends.  Other speakers will address VAWA and the Women’s History Consortium of the Washington State Historical Society.

In considering projects for the future, the Commission will identify what contacts/ associations would benefit future work.

A follow-up meeting in June or July will be scheduled to continue the work started on May 12.  July 14 is already reserved for a Commission meeting.  It was suggested the National Center for State Courts, the Washington State Bar Association, and a group in Portland that specializes in social justice issues be contacted for names of facilitators to work with the Commission during phase 2 of the planning process.

Membership

It was moved and seconded to defer appointment of new members until after the Long Range Planning meeting.  Motion carried.  The Commission will identify what talents and expertise are needed to further future work.  It was recommended that we plan an orientation meeting for new members in September.

PROJECTS AND PROGRAM STATUS REPORTS

FY04 STOP Grant to the Courts

FY04 Grant contracts with the courts end March 31, 2006.  Rather than rolling over unexpended funds into the new grant, the Office of Crime Victims Advocacy has extended the grant to March 31, 2007.  Project activity includes:

1.         The DV/CPS Protocol Project sponsored a meeting in Vancouver.  The end date of the contract has been extended to cover costs for the Spokane meeting in May.

2.         The King County Judicial Administration and the Superior Court Domestic Violence Workshop for Judges is March 24-25.  We are making travel scholarships available for out-of-King County area judges to attend.  Judicial officers from Asotin, Benton-Franklin, Okanogan, Spokane, and Whitman Counties plan to attend.

3.         Twelve judicial officers completed the advanced training Continuing Skills in Domestic Violence Cases, February 27-March 3, 2006 in San Francisco.  Comments from the attendees were positive about the faculty, materials, and opportunity for dialogue with other judges.  Grace Huang noted the national program faculty commented that the Washington delegation was great.

4.         Judge Riehl reported six counties have expressed interest in the Kitsap County project on conflicting orders of protection.  He noted Kitsap has developed one order form for both civil and criminal protection orders.  

            Team presentations have been made in Clark and Yakima Counties.  King has requested training.  Skagit and Pierce are requesting Trial Court Coordination grants to replicate the project.  A preliminary audit of 9,700 orders issued by Tacoma Municipal, Pierce District, and Pierce Superior Courts indicate multiple and conflicting orders.

            Grace noted the Fatality Review Report has data on homicides where there were multiple court orders.

            Gloria indicated STOP Grant funds could be used to pay travel costs for doing these training.

FY05 STOP Grants to the Courts FY05 Grant

Eight new contracts have been awarded for projects with Chelan County Superior Court, the Kitsap County Clerk, the Lewis County Clerk, Pierce County Superior Court, the Whatcom County Clerk, Whatcom County District Court, Walla Walla County Superior Court, and the Yakima County Clerk.  The FY04 contract with Asotin County District Court has been amended to add $5,000 and extend the end date to March 31, 2007.  We have the option to increase some contract amounts or fund new projects such as interpreters training with remaining FY04 grant funds.

Domestic Violence Manual For Judges

The revised chapters should be completed by the end of March.  Formatting will follow.  Members Fortier, Pettus, Schindler, and Thompson volunteered to proofread a chapter.

Education Programs

Future Commission sponsored education programs include:

1.                  Domestic Violence in the Workplace, Court Leadership Conference, May 18, Spokane

Jim Zissler, Littler Mendelson is scheduled to present a 3-hour plenary session.  Tom Fallquist or Mike Killian will introduce the speaker.

2.                  Avoiding Conflicting Orders of Protection, WSBA Family Law Mid-Year Meeting, June 23, Walla Walla

Judge Riehl will present a 60 minutes session at the meeting.

3.                  Ethics and Safety:  Domestic Violence and Family Law, Continuing Legal Education (CLE), October 13, SeaTac Radisson

A 1-day CLE program is the combined effort of the Commission, the Family Law Executive Committee, and the WSBA CLE Committee.  Justice Madsen, Jeri Costa, Judie Fortier, Grace Huang, Mike Killian, Judge Riehl, Judge Tompkins, and Gloria Hemmen are working with Sara Ainsworth, Jean Cotton, Tracy Flood, and Janet Helson to plan the program.

The Commission agreed to provide program support, primarily for tuition assistance for legal aid attorneys and volunteer lawyer program attorneys.

4.                  Interstate and International Custody:  Domestic Violence and the Hague Convention, September 26, Spokane

A three hour choice session will be held at the 49^th Washington Judicial Conference.  The planning committee is being formed.  Commission volunteers include Justice Madsen, Grace Huang, Judge Schindler, and Gloria Hemmen.

Lindsay Thompson offered to include a training notice in the Bar News when the Hague Convention article is published this summer.

Other programs of interest include

5.                  14^th Annual Children’s Justice Conference, May 1-2, Seattle

There are sessions on battered women and children and trafficking.

6.                  National Association of Administrative Law Judges Conference, September 7-8, Seattle.

Justice Madsen will award the National Association of Women Judges scholarship to a Seattle Law School student at a reception on September 7.

A Genome Justice session will focus on the Bloodlines video on September 8.

7.                  Remaining Relevant, National Association of Women Judges’ 28th Annual Conference, October 4 – 8, Las Vegas, NV.

8.                  The Glass Ceiling:  Then and Now, November 14, Seattle.

Justice Madsen, Eileen Concannon, and Judge Schindler are working on the Washington Women Lawyers Annual CLE.

Eileen noted the King County Bar Foundation is ready to move forward on diversity issues.

OTHER BUSINESS

§                  Office of Civil Legal Assistance (OCLA).
Gloria reported meeting with Jim Bamberger.  He is very interested in establishing a member liaison with the Commission, sharing information on the legal services delivery plan for survivors of domestic violence, and coordinating on training.

§                  Court Manager of the Year, 2006
Judie Fortier nominated Tom Fallquist for Court Manager of the Year for his work on the Full Faith and Credit projects.  Judge Tompkins and Gloria will work on the nomination application.

§                  Former Commission member Helen Donigan will be presenting a paper at the August 2006 women’s leadership roundtable at St. Anne’s College, University of Oxford, England.  The paper will focus on the impact of the Gender and Justice Commission on the Washington State judicial system.

§                  Eileen Concannon reported the University of Washington Women Center’s International Women’s Leadership dinner on February 2 was a great success.  Among the 400-500 attendees were Justice Madsen and Judge Schindler.  The guest speaker was from Afghanistan.  Eileen noted a goal of the Leadership dinner is to emphasize the importance of understanding the inequality of treatment of women in other countries. 

Judge Derr recommended the Commission revisit the Immigrants in the Courts training and focus on educating those who come to court to prevent them from being revictimized.

§                  Justice Madsen reported the annual Women of the Year reception, sponsored by the Women’s Law Caucus at Seattle University School of Law, was Thursday, March 9.  Gloria Steinem was the keynote speaker.

§                  The National Association of Court Managers (NACM) is requesting nominations for the 2006 Justice Achievement Award.  It was suggested we nominate the Gender and Justice Commission.  Yvonne offered to work with Gloria on the application.  Justice Madsen will ask the Chief Justice to write the nomination letter.

SPECIAL DISCUSSION:  Planning Domestic Violence Training For Court Interpreters

Justice Susan Owens and Regina McDougall from the Interpreter Advisory Committee met with the Commission to discuss working together to provide domestic violence education to court interpreters.  They explained interpreters are bound by a code of conduct and have restrictions on what they can and can not do in court actions.

Although there is not an annual interpreters’ education conference, programs are offered by private vendors.  New state funds are available for enhanced education.  The Interpreter Advisory Committee’s Education Committee will look at ways to partner with the Commission and develop a plan. 

Another opportunity would be to work with the interpreters to translate and update court forms.

The Commission can use STOP Grant funding for these projects.

ADJOURNMENT:

The meeting adjourned at 12:00 noon.