Courts Committee update 12/15/04
12/15/04 Meeting at SCAO with Mindy Masias and Melinda Gonzalez-Hibner
1. Supreme Court Committee for Fairness and Diversity in the Courts.
I previously sent you the CJ Order establishing this new committee. Here is a list of the members of the committee.
Chief Justice Mullarkey, Chair
Mindy Masias, Director of Human Resources
Jeannette Kornreich, Associate Legal Counsel
Dr. Kishan Khannan, Citizen
Paul Chan, Asian Pacific Bar
Julie Anderson, Colorado Women's Bar Assoc.
Skip Gray, Sam Cary Bar Association
Victor Reyes, District Court Judge
Mary Celeste, County Court Judge
Kristina Hansson, Magistrate
Victoria Villalobos, District Administrator
Jerry Rafferty, District Court Judge
Melinda Gonzalez-Hibner, Court Interpreter Program Coordinator
Larry Davis, Human Resources Officer
Jean Stewart, Chief Judge
Robin Leaf, Chief Probation Officer
They met for the first time on 12/14/04. The primary focus at this time is looking at ways to increase diversity in the courthouse workplace and establishing training on cultural competency in judicial.
2. Melinda Gonzalez-Hibner is the new Court Interpreter Program Coordinator at SCAO. She will be developing a plan for judicial to comply with Executive Order 13166. This plan should be in place by June 2005. I have included a copy of EO 13166 at the bottom of the page. I would recommend that the committee consider inviting this 2nd Melinda to join the committee because it was suggested by ATJ that the courthouse committee work on interpreter issues and she will be staffing the new Supreme Court Committee for Fairness and could serve as a liaison between the 2 groups.
3. Update on ADA in judicial. From the main page of the judicial web site--lower right hand corner--there is a link to ADA Information--now posted are both the ADA Resource Guide and the list of local ADA coordinators by district. SCAO provided training for courthouse coordinators in September.
ATJ Meeting 11/19/04
1. All agreed that the courthouse committee role o reporting on judicial projects related to access issues has been helpful and should continue.
2. The Education committee asked the courthouse committee take on the project of "Work on getting costs of interpreters, e-filing, etc. waived for lawyers doing pro bono cases." As to interpreters, I raised the issue with Mindy and Melinda on the 15th. Also may explain why I think it might be helpful to ask Melinda 2 to join the committee. We explored the e-filing issue at one time within SCAO--probably should be raised again with both SCAO and Lexis.
3. Dave Butler suggested that it is a continuing role of the courthouse committee to evaluate proposed rules and determine if ATJ should take a position. At this meeting I briefly reported on Proposed Appellate Rule 3.4 and ATJ decided not to take a position.
4. Judge Taubman suggested that the committee look at how to implement a policy to waive e-filing costs for pro bono cases and look at a possible rule change or other vehicle to expedite/make automatic waiver of filing fees in pro bono cases. He referenced procedures in Greeley.
Ongoing projects
1. Training and education re utilization of CRCP 16.1 and CRCP 16.2(effective 1/1/05).
Melinda (1) Taylor can keep the committee up to speed on judicial training efforts. Committee may want to consider working with CLE on developing programs to train attorneys on the use of both with specific attention to access issues.
2. Unbundling has been suggested in the past as an area of interest.
I believe this covers all projects. Feel free to let me know if any of this seems less than accurate! It's all your Judge Iuppa--hope this helps!
Happy holidays to all!
Pam
|
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Aboard Air Force One)
_________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release August 11, 2000
EXECUTIVE ORDER
13166
IMPROVING ACCESS TO SERVICES FOR
PERSONS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States of America, and to improve access to
federally conducted and federally assisted programs and activities for
persons who, as a result of national origin, are limited in their
English proficiency (LEP), it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Goals.
The Federal Government provides and funds an array of services that
can be made accessible to otherwise eligible persons who are not
proficient in the English language. The Federal Government is
committed to improving the accessibility of these services to eligible
LEP persons, a goal that reinforces its equally important commitment to
promoting programs and activities designed to help individuals learn
English. To this end, each Federal agency shall examine the services
it provides and develop and implement a system by which LEP persons can
meaningfully access those services consistent with, and without unduly
burdening, the fundamental mission of the agency. Each Federal agency
shall also work to ensure that recipients of Federal financial
assistance (recipients) provide meaningful access to their LEP
applicants and beneficiaries. To assist the agencies with this
endeavor, the Department of Justice has today issued a general
guidance document (LEP Guidance), which sets forth the compliance
standards that recipients must follow to ensure that the programs and
activities they normally provide in English are accessible to LEP
persons and thus do not discriminate on the basis of national origin
in violation of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended,
and its implementing regulations. As described in the LEP Guidance,
recipients must take reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to
their programs and activities by LEP persons.
Sec. 2. Federally Conducted Programs and Activities.
Each Federal agency shall prepare a plan to improve access to its
federally conducted programs and activities by eligible LEP persons.
Each plan shall be consistent with the standards set forth in the LEP
Guidance, and shall include the steps the agency will take to ensure
that eligible LEP persons can meaningfully access the agency's programs
and activities. Agencies shall develop and begin to implement these
plans within 120 days of the date of this order, and shall send copies
of their plans to the Department of Justice, which shall serve as the
central repository of the agencies' plans.
Sec. 3. Federally Assisted Programs and Activities.
Each agency providing Federal financial assistance shall draft
title VI guidance specifically tailored to its recipients that is
consistent with the LEP Guidance issued by the Department of Justice.
This agency-specific guidance shall detail how the general standards
established in the LEP Guidance will be applied to the agency's
recipients. The agency-specific guidance shall take into account the
types of services provided by the recipients, the individuals
served by the recipients, and other factors set out in the LEP Guidance.
Agencies that already have developed title VI guidance that the
Department of Justice determines is consistent with the LEP Guidance
shall examine their existing guidance, as well as their programs and
activities, to determine if additional guidance is necessary to comply
with this order. The Department of Justice shall consult with the
agencies in creating their guidance and, within 120 days of the date
of this order, each agency shall submit its specific guidance to the
Department of Justice for review and approval. Following approval by
the Department of Justice, each agency shall publish its guidance
document in the Federal Register for public comment.
Sec. 4. Consultations.
In carrying out this order, agencies shall ensure that
stakeholders, such as LEP persons and their representative
organizations, recipients, and other appropriate individuals or
entities, have an adequate opportunity to provide input. Agencies will
evaluate the particular needs of the LEP persons they and their
recipients serve and the burdens of compliance on the agency and its
recipients. This input from stakeholders will assist the agencies in
developing an approach to ensuring meaningful access by LEP persons
that is practical and effective, fiscally responsible, responsive to
the particular circumstances of each agency, and can be readily
implemented.
Sec. 5. Judicial Review.
This order is intended only to improve the internal management of
the executive branch and does not create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party
against the United States, its agencies, its officers or employees, or
any person.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
August 11, 2000.
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