Race and Ethnic Fairness

 

State: Nebraska            Report 1

 

Committee/Report Name:  The Nebraska Minority and Justice Implementation Committee was established in 2003 because of a recommendation in The Nebraska Minority and Justice Task Force Final Report.

 

Number of Members:  41 Implementation Task Force Members

 

Number of Subcommittees:  No Subcommittees

 

Chair/Co-Chair:  Two Chairs- Linda R. Crumb, J.D., Assistant to the Chancellor for Equity, Access, and Diversity Programs of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and John M. Gerard, J.D., judge, Nebraska Supreme Court.

 

Methods Used:  In addition to summarizing the major findings made in the Final Report, this Report discusses the progress made by the Implementation Committee and other justice agencies and organizations since the release of the Final Report. The Implementation Committee also revised some of the recommendations of the Task Force. The changes are shown in red in the findings and recommendations below. 

 

Revised Recommendations

 

Perception

 

Public

 

Findings

 

1.   Minority group members tend to believe relatively uniformly that members of other minority groups receive unfair treatment. This is especially the case among black respondents, who are more negative about court fairness toward any minority group. Generally speaking, Native American and Hispanic perceptions closely parallel one another, with Hispanic respondents being somewhat more positive.

2.   Nebraska respondents tend to have different views than the national sample. Specifically, white respondents in the Nebraska sample are less likely to believe that minorities receive unfair treatment than are whites in the national pool. Conversely, a substantially higher percentage of blacks in the Nebraska pool believe they and members of other racial and ethnic groups are treated unfairly.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   Court employees, including administrators, judges, lawyers, and court personnel, should be made aware of the perceptions outlined in this study and the effects these perceptions have on the courts.

2.   Significant efforts should be taken by the Nebraska State Bar Association, Nebraska Supreme Court, and Nebraska policymakers to promote legal services for Nebraska’s indigent. Specifically, the Nebraska State Bar Association should continue to actively encourage private lawyers to provide pro bono or reduced-fee services to those in need.

3.   Sources should be found to fund a public service announcement (PSA) campaign designed at increasing awareness of and confidence in the courts, especially among minority groups.

 

Attorneys, Judges, and Court Staff

 

Findings

 

1.   Minority and white Nebraska State Bar Association members and court personnel have markedly different perceptions regarding the treatment of racial and ethnic minorities by prosecutors and judges and in the overall court environment.

2.   A substantial number of Nebraska State Bar Association members are more likely to believe that whites receive better treatment from the courts than do minorities.

3.   Minority Nebraska State Bar Association members and court personnel are more likely than their white counterparts to believe that bias in the Nebraska justice system has remained the same or gotten worse over the past five years.

4.   A substantial number of both white and minority court personnel and Nebraska State Bar Association members agreed that minorities receive different, potentially discriminatory, treatment in Nebraska’s courts; however, most Bar members and court personnel believe that Nebraska’s justice system treats minorities fairly.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   The Nebraska Supreme Court should periodically direct an analysis of the decisions, disposition, and delivery of services provided by the criminal and juvenile courts of this state and by probation (such as setting of bond, sentencing, probation revocations, etc.) to determine if there are any effects on the decisions, disposition, or delivery of those services associated with treatment of race, ethnicity, gender, age or other demographic characteristics.

2.   A formal education process should be designed, developed and repeated periodically by the Nebraska Supreme Court to address differences in perception between white and minority employees, and additional educational opportunities to promote diversity training and other educational opportunities as developed by the Judicial Education Committee. (See also Education: Judges, Recommendation #2; Education: Court Staff, Recommendation #2).

 

Access

 

Language

 

Findings

 

1.   Data indicate that Nebraska’s demographics are quickly changing, causing an increase in the demand for interpreter services in the courts.

2.   There is a shortage of qualified interpreters in the state. Since Nebraska joined the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification in 1999, six individuals have passed the certification test. There is also a need to increase and improve interpreter training courses in preparation for the certification tests.

3.   Nebraska courts do not always make an attempt to first appoint a court-certified interpreter as is required by rule of the Nebraska Supreme Court.

4.   Some confusion exists as to when interpreter services should be paid for by the state or county.

5.   Nebraska does not pay for interpreter services for diversion. Some individuals may not have the means to pay for such services.

6.   Translation of documents are not consistent across the state.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   The Nebraska Administrative Office of the Courts should collaborate with schools of higher education to design a curriculum appropriate for pre- and post-certification education for interpreters.

2.   The Administrative Office of the Courts should create a “screening phase” for certification applicants, so as to increase the likelihood of passage before extensive funds are spent on testing.

3.   The Administrative Office of the Courts should seek additional funds for training through federal and nonprofit granting institutions.

4.   The Administrative Office of the Courts should actively encourage those desiring to take certification tests in languages not currently offered in Nebraska to take those tests in other National Consortium for Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts states that offer those particular tests so as to reduce costs in Nebraska.

5.   The Administrative Office of the Courts should require records to be kept and summarized as to the number of requests made for interpreter services in each Nebraska county along with a breakdown of the number of times each language is requested.

6.   Judges should be required to ask non-certified interpreters if they have read and agree to adhere to the Code of Professional Responsibility for Interpreters.

7.   A policy should be adopted requiring that all judicial forms, documents, and videos used in court proceedings be drafted in English and translated into such additional languages as the Administrative Office of the Courts approves. All such translations should be made by qualified translators and approved by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

8.   Interpreters should be encouraged to acquire an understanding of cultural variations that accompany language differences, so as to better assist non-English-speaking clients.

9.   The Nebraska Supreme Court and Administrative Office of the Courts should consider hiring interpreters on a full time basis, where appropriate, in order to attract more and better interpreters.

10.  The Administrative Office of the Courts should actively seek to partner with other governmental agencies to hire full time or to "share" language interpreters, where a need justifies such a partnership.

11.  The Administrative Office of the Courts should continue to actively recruit bilingual staff and compensate them accordingly.

12.  The Nebraska Supreme Court should require that county and district courts provide court-paid interpreter services to indigents outside of court in order to communicate with their court-appointed lawyers.

13.  The Administrative Office of the Courts should create a review system to rate frequently used uncertified interpreters and periodically make unannounced reviews of uncertified interpreters in the courtroom setting.

14.  A simple explanation of both civil and criminal court processes should be prepared in Spanish and other appropriate languages. This could be in written or video form.

15.  The Administrative Office of the Courts should develop a Nebraska court-approved voir dire, such as the one developed by the NCSC, for use by judges to determine the qualifications of an uncertified interpreter.

 

Juries

 

Selection

 

Findings

 

1.   The majority of Nebraskans believe that it is important that juries reflect the racial and ethnic makeup of the community. However, many respondents, especially minority respondents, believe that juries in general are not representative of their communities.

2.   The majority of Nebraska court personnel believe that jury pools represent the community at large. Minority court personnel were less likely to agree that jury pools represent the community at large and much less likely to believe that racial and ethnic minorities are adequately represented on jury panels.

3.   Minority lawyers and lawyers from diverse counties (Lancaster County, Douglas County, Sarpy County, etc.) of the state are substantially more likely to believe Nebraska’s jury pools underrepresent racial and ethnic minorities.

4.   Although minorities in Nebraska are slightly more likely than whites to have been in a Nebraska court of law as a defendant or witness, whites are substantially more likely to have been called for and served on Nebraska juries.

5.   Nebraska’s current method for compiling jury lists may have an adverse effect on minority participation.

6.   Nebraska state statutes do not require periodic refreshing of jury lists.

7.   Minorities in Lancaster County were underrepresented in the venires and on impaneled juries for both civil and criminal trials in the summer of 2002.

8.   A majority of jurors from Douglas, Lancaster, and Hall Counties feel that juries should be reflective of the community.

 

Recommendations

 

1. Juries should be more reflective of the diversity of the community, and source lists for juries should be expanded to ensure such diversity.
2. The Nebraska Secretary of State should require that all persons registering to vote identify their race and ethnicity so that proper records can be kept of jury pool composition.
3. Jury commissioners should be required to collect and preserve racial and ethnic information on all persons selected for jury duty. This data should be reported yearly to the Administrative Office of the Courts.
4. Jury commissioners should be required to collect and preserve racial and ethnic information on all persons granted excuses and deferrals, reporting for jury duty, selected for voir dire panels, and seated on juries at both the county and district level. This data should be reported yearly to the Administrative Office of the Courts.
5. County and district court clerks should be required to collect and preserve racial and ethnic information on all impaneled jurors. This data should be reported yearly to the Administrative Office of the Courts.
6. Nebraska statute should require that jury pool lists be refreshed annually on a set date determined by the Administrative Office of the Courts.
7. A study should be commissioned to investigate the feasibility of using audio recordings to determine if errors or omissions are occurring in interpretation within the court system.
8. Establish a tier system to ensure that the most qualified interpreters are being utilized and that less qualified interpreters can receive training experience (also provides incentives to become certified).
9. The AOC should provide training and educational materials to Judges, court staff, attorneys and other entities on how, when and how many qualified interpreters should be used.
10. The AOC should develop a process for use by the courts to determine the qualifications of an uncertified interpreter prior that person’s entrance into the court system, and an oath that should be administered at trial.
11. Establish a mechanism that discourages individuals under the age of 19 from serving as court interpreters.
12. Update the list of court interpreters.
13. Adopt a rule of reciprocity with other consortium states.

 

Treatment and Verdicts

 

Findings

 

1.   Although Nebraska state statutes ensure that employees’ wages are protected, there are currently no efforts to reimburse low-income jurors for child care or elderly care expenses incurred because of jury service.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   Reimbursements should be made to low-income jurors for child care or elder care expenses incurred because of jury service.

 

Courtroom Experience

 

Judges

 

Findings

 

1.   Minority Nebraska State Bar Association members are more likely than their white counterparts to believe that judges are more abrupt with minority counsel than with white counsel.

 

Court Staff

 

Findings

 

1.   Court personnel and Bar members report having witnessed or that they were aware of inappropriate comments or jokes of a racial or ethnic nature, racial or ethnic slurs, and disrespectful and discourteous treatment of minorities. (See also Courtroom Environment: Lawyers/Others, Finding #1)

 

Lawyers/Others

 

      Findings

 

1.   Court personnel and Bar members report having witnessed or that they were aware of inappropriate comments or jokes of a racial or ethnic nature, racial or ethnic slurs, and disrespectful and discourteous treatment of minorities. (See also Courtroom Environment: Court Staff, Finding #1)

 

Quality of Legal Representation

 

Findings

 

1.   Over half of Nebraska’s counties have no public defender.

2.   Nebraska’s minorities are substantially more likely than whites to use a public defender or assigned counsel.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   Nebraska should adopt and enforce mandatory standards for the operation of county indigent defense systems that comply with the American Bar Association’s “Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System.”

 

Legal Profession

 

Recruitment/Acceptance to Law School

 

Findings

 

1.   Too few Nebraskans who are members of minority groups take the LSAT.

2.   Too few members of minority groups apply to Nebraska’s law schools.

3.   Too few Nebraskans who are members of minority groups matriculate at law schools in Nebraska.

4.   Too few members of minority groups matriculate at Nebraska’s law schools.

5.   Any effort to diversify Nebraska’s legal community must be a long-term effort that begins with enlarging the minority applicant and matriculate pools at Nebraska’s law schools.

6.   Minority and white members of the Nebraska State Bar Association have noticeably different perceptions of the law schools’ efforts to diversify their student bodies.

7.   There is a perceived and actual need for more diversity in the profession and the law schools. The law schools are a prerequisite for that diversification.

8.   It would be beneficial to recruitment and education if the law schools hired more minorities as faculty and administration.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   While the pool of potential minority law school students for Nebraska’s law schools is relatively small, the law schools should continue and increase efforts to attract minority applicants.

2.   The Nebraska State Bar Association and the two law schools in Nebraska should make every effort to identify high school and college students from Nebraska’s minority population or those graduating from a Nebraska higher education institution, to inform them about the opportunities available with legal training, and to encourage them to apply to one of the state’s law schools.

3.   The Nebraska State Bar Association, the Nebraska State Bar Foundation, and the law schools in Nebraska should make an effort to identify minorities who have been out of college for a period of time and may be interested in a legal career, to inform them about legal education and the legal profession, and to encourage them to apply to one of the state’s law schools.

4.   The Nebraska State Bar Association should work with the law schools, Creighton and UNL alumni, minority practitioners, and other appropriate groups to attract more minority students.

5.   The Nebraska State Bar Foundation should consider assisting in efforts to supplement scholarships and assistance already provided by the law schools to minority students.

6.   The Nebraska State Bar Association, the Bar Foundation, Nebraska’s two law schools, and the region’s ethnic bar associations should work together to provide a coordinated and targeted campaign to minority students of various ages to encourage pursuit of a career in the legal profession.

7.   Among other factors, each Nebraska law school should consider applicants with diverse backgrounds and life experiences that could contribute to a multicultural student body.

8.   The Nebraska State Bar Association and Nebraska Supreme Court should continue to work with the law schools to provide effective orientation, mentoring, and academic support programs.

9.   The Nebraska State Bar Association and Nebraska Supreme Court should work more closely with the law schools to promote adequate clerking opportunities for minority law students.

10.  Law school classes should cover racial and ethnic bias and discrimination as they affect law practice, treatment of fellow professionals and treatment of court participants.

11.  The law schools, the Nebraska State Bar Association, the Bar Foundation, and the Nebraska Supreme Court should include a fair representation of minority participants in law school, Bar and court activities, events and programs.

12.  Law schools in Nebraska should annually evaluate the graduation rates following matriculation among minority law students in determining the scope and effectiveness of the school’s academic support programs.

13.  Entities that affect access to the profession, such as the law schools, Nebraska State Bar Association, and Nebraska State Bar Commission, should collect and maintain appropriate statistics delineated by race and ethnicity (i.e. placement and employment data).

14.  Nebraska’s law schools should continue efforts to increase the diversity of their teaching faculty and administration.

 

Hiring and Promotion

 

Findings

 

1.   Minority and white members of the Nebraska State Bar Association have noticeably different perceptions of career opportunities in the state, including those related to mentoring, retention, and promotion.

2.   Nebraska’s legal profession is not reflective of the state’s racial and ethnic diversity.

3.   White and minority members of the Nebraska State Bar Association have differing experiences in finding and retaining employment, which could be reflective of racial and ethnic hiring bias.

4.   Minority Bar members believe that there are fewer opportunities in private firms for minority law school graduates and that little effort is made to recruit and retain those minority Bar members who are hired.

5.   Minority Bar members believe they have fewer opportunities for mentoring than their white counterparts.

6.   Minority Bar members are less satisfied with networking opportunities than their white counterparts.

7.   Minority Bar members are less likely to be satisfied with their professional advancement opportunities. Minority lawyers are also far less likely to believe that equal opportunities exist for advancement within the Nebraska legal profession.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   Law firms and other employers of lawyers should broaden their recruiting and hiring criteria to weigh measures of a candidate’s ability in an attempt to increase the likelihood of hiring minority candidates.

2.   Law firms and other employers of lawyers should strive to eliminate behaviors that might be perceived as discriminatory or otherwise offensive to minority persons.

3.   When possible, law firms and other employers of lawyers should include minority lawyers on interview, selection, and hiring teams.

4.   Law firms should participate in clerkship programs that seek to place minority law students as summer associates, with the goal of expanding the range of criteria upon which the law firm may judge the likelihood of the student’s ultimate success with the firm.

5.   The Nebraska State Bar Association should create a section to address race and ethnicity in the law. Among other activities, this section should develop, maintain, and disseminate a voluntary directory of practicing minority lawyers.

6.   The Nebraska State Bar Association should encourage the further development of mentoring programs for lawyers.

7.   The Nebraska State Bar Association should consider recommending equal employment opportunity policies for all lawyers in Nebraska.

8.   Nebraska court clerks or court administrators should collect and maintain court appointment records delineated by the type of appointment, race and ethnicity of the lawyer or appointed party, and the judge who made the appointment. This data should be reported to the Supreme Court on a periodic basis.

 

Education

 

Judges

 

Recommendations

 

1.   The Nebraska Supreme Court and the Nebraska State Bar Association should develop and administer training to improve multicultural competence and recognition of differences for judges and all other court personnel. In addition, other agencies not under the management or control of the Nebraska Supreme Court should develop and conduct similar training. These agencies would include, but not be limited to, public defenders, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies. (See also Education: Court Staff, Recommendation #1; Education: Lawyers, Recommendation #1)

2.   A formal education process should be designed, developed and repeated periodically by the Nebraska Supreme Court to address differences in perception between white and minority employees and additional educational opportunities to promote diversity training and other educational opportunities as developed by the Judicial Education Committee. (See also Perception: Attorneys, Judges, and Court Staff, Recommendation #2; Education: Court Staff, Recommendation #2)

3.   The Administrative Office of the Courts should provide diversity and cultural training for all judges and court employees, both at the time of their hiring and at interval periods. (See also Education: Court Staff, Recommendation #3)

 

Court Staff

 

Recommendations

 

1.   The Nebraska Supreme Court and the Nebraska State Bar Association should develop and administer training to improve multicultural competence and recognition of differences for judges and all other court personnel. In addition, other agencies not under the management or control of the Nebraska Supreme Court should develop and conduct similar training. These agencies would include, but not be limited to, public defenders, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies. (See also Education: Judges, Recommendation #1; Education: Lawyers, Recommendation #1)

2.   A formal education process should be designed, developed and repeated periodically by the Nebraska Supreme Court to address differences in perception between white and minority employees and additional educational opportunities to promote diversity training and other educational opportunities as developed by the Judicial Education Committee. (See also Perception: Attorneys, Judges, and Court Staff, Recommendation #2; Education: Judges, Recommendation #2)

3.   The Administrative Office of the Courts should provide diversity and cultural training for all judges and court employees, both at the time of their hiring and at interval periods. (See also Education: Judges, Recommendation #3)

 

Lawyers

 

Recommendations

 

1.   The Nebraska Supreme Court and the Nebraska State Bar Association should develop and administer training to improve multicultural competence and recognition of differences for judges and all other court personnel. In addition, other agencies not under the management or control of the Nebraska Supreme Court should develop and conduct similar training. These agencies would include, but not be limited to, public defenders, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies. (See also Education: Judges, Recommendation #1; Education: Court Staff, Recommendation #1)

 

Public

 

Recommendations

 

1.   Local bar associations and courts should engage in outreach programs with leaders of local immigrant and culturally diverse communities to help educate their members as to the role and processes of the Nebraska court system.

 

Criminal Justice

 

Arrests

 

Findings

 

1.   In Nebraska and elsewhere, minorities are disproportionately arrested in relationship to their percentage in the general population and compared to their white counterparts.

2.   Nebraska law enforcement agencies arrest blacks at a disproportionately higher rate than is found nationally or in any of the states in Nebraska’s region.

3.   Nebraska’s law enforcement agencies have no established policy for recording race and ethnicity.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   An appropriate commission or task force should be created to investigate the disproportionately high minority arrest figures among Nebraska’s law enforcement agencies. In addition, Nebraska law enforcement agencies (police, sheriff, state patrol) under the leadership of the Nebraska Crime Commission or some other suitable state agency should make a concerted and sustained effort to determine whether race or ethnicity plays an improper role in arrests, and, if so, take specific and concrete action to address the matter.

 

Pretrial

 

Findings

 

1.   Not all Nebraska counties offer diversion and, among those that do provide diversion, these services vary.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   Nebraska courts should investigate the advisability of fully implementing a system based not on monetary bond but on conditions of pretrial release that would reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant and safety of the community.

2.   The Nebraska Legislature should establish guidelines to ensure equal access to adult diversion programs and to assure the confidentiality of information concerning participants in diversion programs.

 

Outcomes

 

Findings

 

1.   A substantial number of Nebraska State Bar Association members and court personnel believe that minority defendants are more likely to be charged, convicted, and sentenced to longer terms than white defendants.

 

Incarceration

 

Findings

 

1.   In Nebraska and elsewhere, minorities are disproportionately incarcerated in relationship to their percentage in the general population and compared to their white counterparts.

2.   In Nebraska, the disparity between minority and white narrows from arrests to incarceration so that Nebraska incarcerates adult minorities at about the same rate as surrounding states.

 

Court as Employer/Appointer

 

Hiring/Promotion

 

Findings

 

1.   In obtaining data, the decentralized nature of the Nebraska district courts made it difficult to collect data regarding the number of minority employees employed by the district courts, the grievance procedures, the number of complaints filed in the past year, and the hiring policies and procedures for each district court.

2.   In obtaining data, the centralized nature of the Nebraska county courts allowed for the thorough and timely collection of data regarding the number of minority employees employed by the county courts across the state, the grievance procedures in place, the number of complaints filed in the past year, and the hiring policies and procedures for each county court.

3.   Nebraska’s racial and ethnic minorities are either absent or substantially underrepresented as employees at every level of the state’s court system.

4.   Minority candidates are more likely to seek and learn of job opportunities through friends, networking and multiple means than through advertising or other traditional means.

5.   There is no regular review to evaluate the diversity of the state’s court employees.

6.   Significant differences in perception exist between white and minority court personnel concerning the nature of the hiring process and the likelihood of minorities receiving preferential or discriminatory treatment, both in hiring and while on the job.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   The court systems and all individuals hiring court personnel should adopt aspirational goals to have a workforce that is reflective of a diverse community. Responsibility for attaining such objectives should be delegated to appropriate administrators and job performance evaluations should include a review of individual performance in attaining such goals.

2.   The court systems should adopt, publish and enforce comprehensive policies for assuring equal opportunity and recruitment of minority employees. Monitoring systems should be established at all levels and administered to assure adherence to such policies to ensure that diversity commensurate with that of the community is being achieved.

3.   All Nebraska court employment specifications and policies should be reviewed and updated to encourage bilingual skills and multicultural knowledge where such capabilities would better serve the public, and such skills should be appropriately compensated.

4.   The Nebraska court systems should have, as a performance goal, an ongoing effort to recruit qualified minority applicants for managerial and supervisory positions.

5.   A variety of means should be used to inform minority candidates of employment opportunities. These means should include, but not be limited to, multilingual advertisements placed in ethnic centers, churches, and other locations where minorities will be reached. All advertisements should emphasize that the court systems are equal opportunity employers.

 

Judicial Selection

 

Findings

 

1.   Racial and ethnic minorities are underrepresented in Nebraska’s judicial system.

2.   There is no regular review to evaluate the diversity of the state’s judicial nominating commissions.

3.   Nebraska’s judicial nominating commissions are not reflective of the diversity of the legal community.

4.   There exists no data to assess the diversity of the governor’s judicial nominating commission appointments.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   Judicial nominating commissions and the governor should take proactive steps to ensure a state judiciary that is reflective of the communities it serves.

2.   The Nebraska Supreme Court and the Nebraska State Bar Association should encourage diversity on the judicial nominating commissions and require that records be kept of the race and ethnicity of commission members.

3.   The Supreme Court and the Nebraska State Bar Association should develop and administer training to improve multicultural competence and recognition of differences for those lawyers and laypersons who serve on judicial nominating commissions.

4.   The governor should consider factors such as race and ethnicity when making appointments to the judicial nominating commissions.

5.   The Nebraska State Bar Association, the judicial nominating commissioners, and community legal organizations and leaders should strive to identify, encourage and support qualified minority judicial applicants.

 

Juvenile Justice

 

Findings

 

1.   Minority youth are disproportionately detained in the state of Nebraska, regionally, and nationally in relationship to their percentage in the general population and compared to their white counterparts.

2.   Minority youth are disproportionately placed in out-of-home placement in the state of Nebraska in relationship to their percentage in the general population and compared to the white counterparts.

3.   Due to a number of factors, including those related to language and resource barriers, minority youth are less likely to participate in juvenile diversion services.

4.   Not all Nebraska counties offer diversion and, among those that do provide juvenile diversion, these services vary.

5.   Few juvenile diversion programs keep records of race and ethnicity.

6.   There exists a perception that juvenile diversion programs are not as available for minority youth as they are for white youth.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   Nebraska should continue efforts to identify and eliminate the barriers that lead to disproportionately high minority youth arrests and incarceration relative to their percentage in the population and compared to their white counterparts.

2.   The Nebraska Legislature should establish guidelines to ensure equal access to juvenile diversion programs and to assure the confidentiality of information concerning participants in diversion programs.

3. Nebraska should continue efforts to identify and reduce the barriers to full and equal access to juvenile diversion.

 

Other Topics

 

Complaints and Discipline

 

Findings

 

1.   There is no uniform method in the Nebraska district courts for the processing of discrimination complaints and there exists no uniform affirmative action or equal employment opportunity policies.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   A formal discrimination complaint procedure should be developed by all court systems and communicated to all employees of the court systems in personnel manuals given to all employees and on announcements posted in court offices.

 

Measurement and Evaluation

 

Findings

 

1.   Nebraska’s county and district courts do not collect and maintain sufficient computerized demographic data to allow for statistical analysis of racial and ethnic minorities in the court system.

2.   Nebraska does not maintain a database to study the discretion of Nebraska’s prosecutors as it relates to race and ethnicity.

3.   Few diversion programs keep records of race and ethnicity.

4.   There exists inconsistent and inadequate record keeping of diversion programs and no centralized database to collect information on those offered diversion.

 

Recommendations

 

1.   The Nebraska Supreme Court and other applicable courts should adopt policies that maximize the use of age, race, ethnicity, gender, and other demographic data in criminal and juvenile court and probation records systems so that the decisions, disposition, and the delivery of services provided by the courts and probation can be analyzed to determine whether there are any effects on the delivery of those services associated with treatment of race, ethnicity, gender, age, or other demographic characteristic.

2.   To the maximum extent possible, automated systems operating in law enforcement, prosecution, courts, probation, and corrections should be designed so that data can be shared with other systems. In places where that integration of automated systems is not yet possible, the prosecutor should be required to prepare a “criminal cover sheet” for all county and district court criminal cases. A similar cover sheet should be used for juvenile cases. These cover sheets should be standardized to include such information as the race, ethnicity, gender, age, or other demographic data of the defendant, and the original charge or charges.

3.   The Administrative Office of the Courts should coordinate the collection of data, educate court participants, and continue to research areas of potential bias in the court, in order to create continuous oversight of the Nebraska criminal and juvenile court system.

 

Implementation Measures