Washington Courts: Press Release Detail

Washington Minority and Justice Commission receives award for educating youth and others

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington State Minority and Justice Commission has received the 2017 William Nevins Award for its years of work educating youth and adults across the state on the role of the judicial branch, the need for diversity in the legal profession, details on legal careers, and for the Commission’s educational outreach to under-represented populations.

The award was announced by the Washington Judges Foundation, which presents the honor annually to a person or organization that contributes significantly to youth education or public understanding of the law and the role of the judiciary in American society. The Washington Judges Foundation was created in 1999 with the help of a $50,000 bequest from the estate of Lincoln County Superior Court Judge William Nevins. The Foundation provides financial support of statewide youth-and-justice programs such as Mock Trial, Youth Court, We The People and more.

The Washington State Minority and Justice Commission was nominated for the award by King County Superior Court Judge LeRoy McCullough for its years of hosting Youth and Justice Forums for middle and high school students in the Tri-Cities, and now in Yakima and Spokane. The forums bring together students and justice professionals — judges, attorneys, police officers, probation officers and more — for day-long discussions and demonstrations aimed at demystifying the justice system, explaining rights and responsibilities, and encouraging young people to think about legal professions.

“The Forum gives us an important opportunity to let young people know how important they are,” said Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu, co-chair of the Minority and Justice Commission, prior to the 2016 forum in Yakima. “In answering their questions about the criminal justice system and providing insight into our work, we hopefully restore confidence in what we do and inspire them to join our profession someday. We want them to dream big.”

McCullough also nominated the Commission for its efforts in reaching hard-to-reach youth populations.

“The Commission leadership has been very intentional in outreach to the alternative school population,” McCullough said in his nominating letter. “In Pasco, members collaborated with a local school officials and offered an evening session for students who were teenage parents, and/or who were excluded from the more traditional school opportunities.”

McCullough also pointed to work the Commission had done with schools in reducing what is known as the “school-to-prison pipeline,” the national trend in which students are funneled out of school through harsh discipline policies and practices and into the juvenile justice system.

The Washington State Minority and Justice Commission was established by the state Supreme Court in 1990 to determine whether racial and ethnic bias exists in the courts of Washington and to take creative steps to overcome and prevent them. The Commission grew out of a task force established in 1988 at the urging of state legislators.

 CONTACT: Cynthia Delostrinos, Administrative Manager for the Supreme Court Commissions, (360) 705-5327, Cynthia.Delostrinos@courts.wa.gov