What is covered under this topic?

This topic discusses how courts respond to the diversity of their communities. Within this very broad topic area, CCS’ focus is on three related subtopics: (1) developing an institutional capacity for cultural sensitivity, (2) developing strategies to increase the availability of interpretation and other language services, and (3) helping courts become more reflective of their communities' diversity by expanding the diversity of judges and court staff.

Why is this a priority for the courts?

Many Americans believe that their local courts are unfair to members of racial and ethnic minorities. About one-half of the public perceives that African-Americans, Hispanics, and non-English speakers receive worse treatment from the courts than
do Whites. The sense of unfairness among African-Americans is pervasive: two out of three perceive worse treatment and having recent court experience appears to strengthen that perception. Minority
group members also tend to see the courts as being “out of touch” with what is going on in their communities. These general problems are exacerbated in specific kinds of cases, especially those involving domestic relations.

These conclusions from public opinion surveys and various judicial branch task forces and commissions on racial and ethnic fairness highlight the importance of sensitivity to diversity. More than just the perception of fairness is at stake. Due process will suffer if testimony is not reliably translated or if evidence and expert recommendations are presented apart from the cultural context of those involved in
a case. In addition, courts are realizing that they can better serve their customers as well as enhance
the credibility of the justice system if their staff more closely represents the diversity of the customers they serve.

References

• The National Campaign to Ensure the Racial and Ethnic Fairness of America's State Courts has developed a website and interactive database of state efforts and promising practices drawn from the experiences of individual jurisdictions from across the country.
• National Center for State Courts. (1999). How the public views the state courts: A 1999 national survey. Williamsburg, VA: Author.
• The Race and Ethnic Fairness Initiative of the National Center for State Courts compiled an electronic database of the main findings and recommendations of the various commissions and task forces established by state judicial branches to investigate and improve racial and ethnic fairness in their courts.
• Rottman, D. B., Hansen, R., Mott, N., & Grimes, L. (2003). Perceptions of the courts in your community: The influence of experience, race and ethnicity. Williamsburg, VA: National Center
  for State Courts.
• Rottman, D. B., & Tomkins, A. J. (1999). Public trust and confidence in the courts: What public opinion surveys mean to judges. Court Review, 36(3), 24-31.
• Weller, S., Martin, J. A. & Lederach, J. P. (2001). Fostering culturally responsive courts: The
  case of family dispute resolution for Latinos. Family Court Review, 39(2), 185.

**To explore ways to improve your performance in this area, see Implement Solutions .