Race
and Ethnic Fairness
State:
Committee/Report
Name: Report of Committee
on Minority Concerns. This committee was formed in June 1984 by Chief Justice
Robert N. Wilentz. The Committee was appointed to
identify areas of the judicial process having the greatest impact on
minorities, with the view toward making the judicial system more aware of and
more responsive to the interests and
concerns of the minority public.
Number of
Members: 30 committee
members
Chair/Co-Chair: Chair of the Committee: James H. Coleman, Jr.
Methods
Used: The June 27, 1984,
meeting was a working session at which areas of concern to the minority community
were identified and discussed. The discussions of that meeting were subsequently condensed into a
“List of Impact Areas.” A subsequent meeting lead to the appointment of a
subcommittee for each designated impact area and requested written reports from
each. The purpose of this report was to identify the impact areas, not to make
corrective recommendations, although the committee did make suggestions in
certain topic areas.
Topics
and Recommendations
Access
Findings
1.
Interpreters
provided are often not professional and are not affiliated with the court for
the purpose of interpreting.
2.
Non-English
speaking persons are being processed by the courts but are not participating in
the judicial process.
3.
Lack of
bilingual and bicultural staff at Municipal Courts.
Recommendations
- The courts should provide interpreters
who are not only bilingual, but bicultural and possess the ability to
explain the court system when necessary.
Juries
Findings
1.
There
is a lack of minority representation on juries.
Recommendations
1.
Expand
the sources used for selection of grand and petite juries in order that a racially, culturally,
and economically neutral system of selection can be established.
2.
Examination
of peremptory challenges should be examined.
3.
Initiate
studies on whether minorities are being contacted for duty.
4.
Establish
a public education program to educate the public, especially minorities
regarding the jury selection system and how it works.
5.
Establish
overall goal that minority representation on juries should reflect the minority
presence in the vicinity and insist on strict compliance in every county.
Courtroom
Experience
Findings
1.
A lack
of sensitivity on the part of key judicial Personnel.
2.
Ineffective
treatment programs which give no consideration to the various cultures,
histories, and mindsets of people.
3.
There
was racial bias in the scheduling and calling of cases.
4.
Scheduling
of court cases adversely affect many minorities because they are not in
supervisory positions and run the risk of losing their job for requests of time
off.
5.
A lack
of knowledge among minorities with respect to the functioning of the judicial
system.
Recommendations
1.
The
courts should consider expanding the use of night courts.
2.
Efforts
to expand information and availability of night courts should be dispersed to
the public.
3.
Public
information services should be created to acquaint the unfamiliar,
unsophisticated, and educationally deprived with the operation of the judicial
system and its facilities.
Quality of Legal Representation
Findings
1.
Less
than adequate quality of service is provided to minority defendants through the
Public Defender’s Office.
2.
Poor
court preparation by Public Defender attorneys.
3.
Lack of
the Public Defender’s Office to recruit and hire minority attorneys.
4.
Absence
of minorities in the higher ranks of the recruitment process of attorneys.
5.
Unavailability
of
Recommendations
1.
Court
appointed counsel be utilized where the Public Defender’s staff is unable to
provide quality representation to indigent clients.
2.
Consider
redistribution of Public Defender staff so that attorneys in less active areas
are redistributed to the busier offices.
Findings
1.
Abusive
use of judicial discretion to arbitrarily hold that disabled people are able to
work and thus not entitled to disability payments.
2.
The
requirement by welfare agencies that homeless people furnish an address as a
prerequisite to receiving welfare despite the existence of a ruling that such
requirements are invalid.
3.
Schools
not allowing undocumented children to attend class despite laws guaranteeing
them this right as long as they can produce proof of residency.
4.
Minorities
litigants lacked the knowledge of their rights and how to pursue them, the
monetary value of their claims and how to hold an attorney accountable.
5.
Minority
defendants often appear as pro se defendants in eviction cases and are not
aware or advised of their rights.
Criminal Justice
Findings
1.
Minorities
are more likely to be suspected of crimes over non-minorities.
2.
Minorities
are more likely to be arrested and less likely to secure bail than
non-minorities.
3.
When
tried, minorities are more likely to be imprisoned and serve full term without
parole than non-minorities.
4.
Scarcity
of diversion programs in the poorer urban communities where minorities reside.
5.
One
committee member stated that a Caucasian committing the same crime as a
minority, as evidenced by pre-sentence reports, will receive from the
prosecutor a recommendation for a more lenient sentence than the minority
defendant.
6.
Assembly-line
aspects of the plea-bargaining process, especially as it related to Hispanics
who often have linguistic problems.
7.
Severe
sentences given to minorities over non-minorities.
8.
Severe
first time offense sentencing for minorities.
9.
Plight
of minorities with drug and alcohol abuse problems.
10.
Lack of
minority insurance coverage for funding shorter drug and rehabilitation
programs permitted as an alternative for certain offenses.
11.
Lack of
training programs at correctional institutions and pre-parole programs to help
ease the re-entry into society.
12.
Insufficient
number of halfway houses.
13.
Disparity
in referring minorities to halfway houses.
14.
Small
number of minority probation officers.
15.
Lack of
bilingual and bicultural probation officers.
16.
Overcrowding
and lack of sufficient funds in poor urban areas.
Recommendations
1.
Supreme
Court establish a uniform bail setting policy for the
entire state.
2.
Establish
programs like Joint Connection, an organization that re-establishes the
community ties of the offender and makes efforts to keep family ties while the
defendant is incarcerated.
3.
Increase
size of probation offices and hire more bicultural and bilingual officers.
Court as
employer/appointer
Findings
1.
A
dearth of minorities throughout the judicial branch of the government, in Civil service and non-Civil Service positions.
Recommendations
1.
That
EEO Advisory Committee be established within the
judiciary at the State and Vicinage levels.
Findings
1.
Minority
juveniles are more abundant in the juvenile system.
2.
Minority
juveniles receive harsher treatment than non-minorities.
3.
Minority
juveniles have a higher rate of recidivism after release than non-minorities.
4.
Absence
of in-place community groups in poorer urban areas means that law enforcement
authorities in these areas do not have the choice of referring delinquent
youngsters to such groups.
5.
The
Committee believes that juveniles can not be rehabilitated in institutions such
as Jamesburg.
Recommendations
- The
Committee felt that there should be a statewide uniformity of pre-judicial
reviews for juveniles.
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