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WOMEN’S RIGHTS LAW REPORTER A Rutgers Law School Publication Winter 1991 Volume 12, Number 4 LEARNING FROM THE NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT TASK FORCE ON WOMEN IN THE COURTS: EVALUATION, RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR OTHER STATES Norma Juliet Wikler and Lynn Hecht Schafran 313 Learning from the New Jersey Supreme Court Task Force on Women in the Courts: Evaluation, Recommendations and Implications for Other States NORMA JULIET WIKLER, PH.D. and LYNN HECHT SCHAFRAN ESQ.* The National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) has been deeply involved in the national gender bias task force movement. When the 1984 Report of the New Jersey Supreme Court Task Force on Women in the Courts (9 WOMEN’S RTS. L. REP. 129 (1986)) attracted national attention, NAWJ created the National Task Force on Gender Bias in the Courts to encourage formation of new task forces and provide technical assistance to them. Today there are more than thirty states with supreme court task forces work- ing to document the nature and extent of gender bias in their own court systems and to implement reforms. Thirteen of these task forces have issued their reports. Whether these reports are making a difference in the administration of justice is of paramount con- cern. The following evaluation of the impact of the report of the New Jersey Supreme Court Task Force on Women in the Courts is the first and, to date, the only such evaluation. It assesses the status of all the task force's recommendations five years after the report’s release. In addition, this report evaluates the task force’s impact on substantive judicial decision-making and the treatment of women in court environments *NORMA JULIET WIKLER received her B.S. from the Promote Equality for Women and Men in the Courts, a project University of Michigan and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund in cooperation University of California, Berkeley. She is currently an with the National Association of Women Judges. She is a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Task Force on Santa Cruz and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for the Women in the Courts and the National Task Force on Gender Study of Social Change at the University of California, Bias in the Courts. She is an official advisor to the task forces Berkeley. Professor Wikler was the first Director of the on gender bias in the courts in Arizona, Florida, Maryland, National Judicial Education Program to Promote Equality for Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Utah and Women and Men in the Courts. She serves as advisor to the Washington and assists the other task forces throughout the New Jersey and New York Task Forces on Women in the country in various phases of their work. She is also Special Courts, the Minnesota Task Force for Gender Fairness in the Counsel to the New York City Commission on the Status of Courts and the California Judicial Council Advisory Women, immediate past Chair of the Committee on Sex and Committee on Gender Bias in the Courts. She is also a member Law of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and of the National Task Force on Gender Bias in the Courts and a member of the American Bar Association Commission on Senior Advisor to the Foundation for Women Judges. Women in the Profession. Dr. Wikler can be reached at Kresge College, University of The National Judicial Education Program is located at 99 California, Santa Cruz, (408) 429-2781 or at 1433-A Walnut Hudson Street, Suite 1201, New York, N.Y. 10013, (212) 925 Street, Berkeley, CA 94709, (415) 848-1712. 6635. LYNN HECHT SCHAFRAN received her B.A. from Smith College, her M.A. from Columbia University, and her J.D. Prof. Wikler and Ms. Schafran are co-authors of Operating a from the Columbia University School of Law. Ms. Schafran is Task Force on Gender Bias in the Courts: A Manual for Action. an attorney specializing in gender discrimination law and published by the Women Judges’ Fund for Justice, 1225 15th Director of the National Judicial Education Program to Street N.W., Washington D.C. 20005, (202) 462-4243. 314 WOMEN’S RIGHTS LAW REPORTER [Vol. 12:313 (1991)] and in bar associations. In response to the recommendations for the future of the New Jersey task force made in this evaluation, New Jersey Chief Justice Robert N. Wilentz established the Committee on Women in the Courts as a standing committee of the New Jersey Supreme Court, to carry forward the work of the task force. For a list of these reports and how to obtain them contact Lynn Hecht Schafran, Esq., Director, National Judicial Education Program to Promote Equality for Women and Men in the Courts, 99 Hudson Street, 12th floor, New York, N.Y. 10013, (212) 925-6635. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . 315 SUMMARY OF REPORT . 316 I. PREFACE . 319 II. INTRODUCTION . 320 III. ORIGIN, HISTORY AND ACTIVITIES OF THE NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT TASK FORCE ON WOMEN IN THE COURTS . 321 IV. EVALUATING THE NEW JERSEY TASK FORCE: FRAMEWORK AND PROCEDURES . 324 Establishing the Framework . 324 Methodological Constraints . 324 Sources of Data . 324 V. EVALUATION FINDINGS . 326 Did the Task Force Fulfill Its Mandate? . 327 Investigation Phase . 327 Educational Programs . .. .. .. .. .. 327 New Jersey Judges’ Responses to Judicial Education About Gender Bias . 328 Current Status of the Task Force’s Recommendations and Assessment of Change in Designated Areas of Concern . 330 Interaction in the Courtroom and Professional Environment . 331 Bar Associations . .333 Court Administration and Women Court Personnel . 338 Substantive Law: Damages . 340 Domestic Violence . 341 Juvenile Justice . 347 Matrimonial Law . 348 Sentencing . 351 VI. ANALYSIS OF THE EVALUATION FINDINGS AND TASK FORCE PROCESSES 351 In What Ways, If Any, Did the Task Force’s Work Reduce Gender Bias in the Courts in Designated Areas of Concern? . 351 Courtroom Interaction and Professional Environments . 351 Court Administration . 352 Substantive Areas of the Law. 352 What Were the Unanticipated Consequences of the Task Force’s Work? . 353 Altering the Normative Environment . 353 Stimulating Change in Bar Associations . 353 Facilitating Inquiries About Bias Against Minority Groups in the Courts . 354 Creating State and National Public Awareness . 354 Inspiring Task Forces on Gender Bias in the Courts and Judicial and Legal Education About Gender Bias in Other States . 354 What Factors Facilitated the Work of the Task Force? . 355 Support of the Chief Justice . 355 Wikler and Schafran/LEARNING FROM THE NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT TASK FORCE 315 Support from the Administrative Office of the Courts ................................. 355 Public Appearances by Task Force Members .......................................... 356 Distribution of Task Force Materials ................................................. 356 Experts on Gender Bias in the Courts ................................................ 356 What Factors Slowed the Work of the Task Force and the Implementation of Its Recommendations? ..................................................................... 356 Limited Authority to Effect Implementation .......................................... 356 Lack of an Appropriate Data Base and Social Science Expertise ....................... 356 Lack of Full Time Executive Director and Staff ....................................... 357 Instances of Complacency and Backlash .............................................. 357 VII. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEW JERSEY TASK FORCE ................... 357 Creation of a Standing Committee of the Task Force .................................. 357 Introduction of an Integrated Judicial Education Curriculum on Gender Bias .......... 358 Development of Legal Education About Gender Bias ................................. 359 Appointment of an Ombudsperson to the Court ....................................... 359 Establishment of an Informal Grievance Mechanism for Gender Bias Complaints ...... 359 Development of Social Science Expertise .............................................. 360 VIII. IMPLICATIONS OF THE NEW JERSEY EXPERIENCE FOR OTHER STATES .... 360 A Task Force Can Make a Difference ................................................. 360 The Importance of Focusing on the Judiciary ......................................... 360 The Press Is Not the Enemy. ......................................................... 361 The Need to Focus on Gender Bias in Decision Making .............................. 361 Judicial Education Must Be Addressed from the Task Force’s Beginning .............. 361 The Need for Funding for Staff and Research ......................................... 361 The Need for a Data Base That Facilitates Investigation and Evaluation ............... 362 Planning for the Difficulties of Implementation ........................................ 362 Appreciation of the Long-Term Nature of the Enterprise .............................. 362 IX. CONCLUSION ........................................................................ 362 APPENDICES A. Task Forces on Gender Bias in the Courts According to Current Phase of Activity .... 364 B. Members of the New Jersey Supreme Court Task Force on Women in the Courts . 365 C. Subcommittees of the New Jersey Supreme Court Task Force on Women in the Courts 366 D. Task Force Members’ Public Appearances . 367 E. Task Force Judicial Education Programs at the New Jersey Judicial College, 1983-1987 367 F. Recommendations of the Task Force with Regard to Hiring and Appointments and