This measure determines the dignity with which litigants are treated in court proceedings. Data are collected through observations of court proceedings.

Planning/Preparation. A list of judges who will be hearing matters during the next week is obtained. (The list should include court referees, commissioners, and court ministerial personnel who perform quasi-judicial activities involving face-to-face interaction with litigants such as child support screenings or divorce mediation.) From this list, a sample of 20 judges is selected. If a court has fewer than 20 judges, all of its judges are included in the sample.

Courts may choose to inform judicial officers that this observation will be conducted within a given timeframe. During the observation itself, however, the observer should avoid drawing attention to the fact that an observation is being performed. Furthermore, observers should be recruited who will not be readily identifiable by the judicial officers (e.g., an employee of another court or of the State administrative office of the courts).

Each judge is observed while hearing three brief matters likely to be attended by litigants. Examples are arraignments, pleas, sentencings (criminal and juvenile), juvenile dependency (abuse/neglect, status offenses), child custody and support matters, and dissolution of marriage hearings. Consideration also should be given to "quasi-judicial" proceedings such as child support screening or divorce mediation. If such proceedings are conducted privately (that is, not in open court), special arrangements should be made for interviewing the litigants or arranging for observers to attend as a "relative" of the party. Closed proceedings should not be eliminated simply because observation and measurement pose special problems.

Data Collection. Using Form 1.4.3, Recording Form for the Treatment of Litigants in Court, information is recorded regarding the degree of courtesy and individual respect shown to the litigants. The information includes whether the judge looks at and establishes eye contact with the litigants, whether the litigants are referred to by name, and whether the judge is attentive to litigants’ and their attorneys’ questions.

The observer also records general occurrences in the courtroom that undermine the dignity and respect afforded litigants during proceedings. These occurrences include the frequency with which the judge is interrupted or distracted by other activities during the hearing, the frequency with which the judge and court employees appear confused regarding the nature of the case they are considering, and the frequency with which the judge, attorneys, or other courtroom officials exhibit bias against the litigants.

Each proceeding should be observed for at least 5 minutes and not more than 30 minutes. (During a busy calendar, it may be possible to observe three litigant-attended hearings within 30 minutes.) Observers should note how much time they spend observing each proceeding.

Data Analysis and Report Preparation. Percentages for each response are calculated for all cases. For example, in what percentage of cases did judges establish eye contact with the litigants and refer to the litigants by name? In what percentage of cases did courtroom activities and conversations often interrupt hearings? The greater the percentage of cases in which the judge treated the litigant with respect (questions 7 through 10) and the fewer instances of disruptions and insensitive activities by individuals in the courtroom (questions 11 through 13), the better the court is performing on this measure.