July 13, 2010
Municipal, County Judges Meet at Summer Conference
The annual summer conference of Ohio municipal and county court judges featured a racial fairness presentation by a Kansas municipal court judge and a speech by Supreme Court of Ohio Chief Justice Eric Brown today.
Judges attending this week’s three-day meeting learned about racial profiling, disproportionate minority confinement and the role of the judge during a presentation from Overland Park Judge Karen Arnold-Burger.
Chief Justice Brown delivered an update about the latest Supreme Court programs and initiatives. Specifically, he covered the coming changes for out-of-state attorneys who temporarily appear before a tribunal in Ohio that will require them to register with the Supreme Court; the type of assistance provided by the Supreme Court to help local courts handle the ever-increasing foreclosure filings; and how courts will survive the next round of tough budgets but many partners likely will suffer.
“About 250 judges serve on municipal and county courts across Ohio,” Chief Justice Brown said. “I tried to convey my appreciation for the hard work they do on a daily basis in furthering the fair administration of justice through their handling of traffic cases, misdemeanor offenses and civil actions up to a $15,000 limit.”
Arnold-Burger, a frequent lecturer at the National Judicial College, said the idea for her presentation came about when the American Bar Association released the results of a survey that found:
- Over 50 percent of white respondents, 59 percent of Hispanic respondents and 66 percent of African-American respondents believe that non-English speaking people receive worse or somewhat worse treatment from the courts.
- Almost 70 percent of African-American respondents think that African-Americans as a group, get somewhat worse or far worse treatment from the courts than Hispanics or Anglos, and 40 percent of the respondents from those two groups agree.
- Thirty-three percent of Hispanic respondents think that Hispanics as a group, get somewhat worse or far worse treatment from the Courts than African Americans or Anglos, and 47 percent of the Anglos and 66 percent of the African-American respondents agreed.
“This prompted me to look further to see if the perception was reality,” Judge Arnold-Burger said. “I found study after study that showed that minorities enter the criminal justice system in disproportionate numbers, even though they do not commit crime disproportionately. Studies found that once in the system they were given higher bonds, longer jail sentences and were subject to more disciplinary complaints/probation revocations. So in other words, they were coming into the system disproportionately and the court system was actually making the problem worse. So, there seemed to be some reality behind the perceptions expressed in the ABA study.”
Judge Arnold-Burger said the class will talk about those national studies, how information is gathered and why the perception of a disproportionate system should concern us as judges. The group will also discuss judges’ roles and methods to measure their performance and “achieve that which we all strive for: equal justice under the law, because people only obey laws and respect the Courts to the extent they perceive the system as just. In other words, trust and confidence in the system is directly related to the perception of the participants of equal treatment.”
She identified the goals of the course as:
- Recognizing that racial profiling/bias is a problem throughout the criminal justice system;
- Increasing awareness of how such bias is currently being measured;
- Understanding how this creates a negative perception of the courts by all;
- and discussing the judge’s role in the process.
The Association of Municipal/County Judges of Ohio educational program also featured sessions on the new centralization of pro hac vice admission in Ohio, Criminal Rule 16 “open discovery” changes, a legislative update, a traffic law update, best practices in probation, and housing court and evictions.
Contact: Chris Davey or Bret Crow, 614.387.9250.