Fordham Urban Law Journal Volume 19 | Number 2 Article 3 1992 Report Of The ewN York State Judicial Commission on Minorities Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj Part of the Courts Commons Recommended Citation Report Of The New York State Judicial Commission on Minorities , 19 Fordham Urb. L.J. 181 (1992). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol19/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The orF dham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Urban Law Journal by an authorized editor of FLASH: The orF dham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Report Of The ewN York State Judicial Commission on Minorities Cover Page Footnote Commission Members: James C. Goodale, Esq., Chairman, Hon. Nicholas Figueroa, Vice-Chairman, Bradley Backus, Esq., Sheila Birnbaum, Esq., Hon. Dorothy Chin Brandt, Prof. Peggy C. Davis, Constantine Sidamon- Eristoff, Esq., Hon. Samuel L. Green, Serene Nakano, Esq., Hon. Juanita Bing Newton, Prof. Cynthia Straker Pierce, Maria Ramirez, Robert M. Reaves, Anthony Suarez, Esq., Hon. Cyrus Vance, Hon. Ivan Warner, Steven Wolfe, Esq. Commission Staff: Edna Wells Handy, Esq., Executive Director Linda Chin, Esq., Counsel, 1988-1989 Monica Holmes, Ph.D, Research Director David Klein, Esq., Counsel, 1989-1991 George H. DeCou, Jr., Development Officer Richard K. Farrell, Research Assistant Donna Cupid Weeks, Executive Secretary Iris Torres-Nieves, Administrative Assistant Sue P. Fields, Administrative Clerk Lynette Brown, Administrative Clerk This article is available in Fordham Urban Law Journal: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol19/iss2/3 REPORT OF THE NEW YORK STATE JUDICIAL COMMISSION ON MINORITIES Table of Contents The New York State Judicial Commission On Minorities ............ 182 Acknowledgem ents ................................................ 183 Introduction to Volume I: Executive Summary ..................... 185 Volume II: The Public And The Courts ....................... 197 Chapter One: Perceptions, Court Facilities, Treatment And Utilization ........................ 197 Chapter Two: Legal Representation .............................. 211 Chapter Three: Pretrial Processing And Criminal Penalties .......................................... 219 Chapter Four: Civil Case Outcomes .............................. 226 Chapter Five: The Availability And Quality of Language Interpretation In The Courts ............. 232 Chapter Six: Minority Representation On Juries ................. 236 Chapter Seven: Native Americans And The Court System ........................................... 244 Volume III: Legal Education .................................. 251 Volume IV: Legal Profession, Nonjudicial Officers, Employees And Minority Contractors ............. 262 Chapter One: Admission To Practice: The Bar Exam ination ...................................... 263 Chapter Two: The Legal Profession .............................. 269 Chapter Three: The Judiciary ..................................... 284 Chapter Four: The Nonjudicial Work Force ...................... 294 Chapter Five: Testing Alternatives ............................... 300 Chapter Six: The Court Officer Problem ........................ 303 Chapter Seven: The Nonjudicial Work Environment ............... 306 Chapter Eight: Minority Contractors .............................. 307 FORDHAM URBAN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. XIX THE NEW YORK STATE JUDICIAL COMMISSION ON MINORITIES Commission Members James C. Goodale, Esq., Chairman Hon. Nicholas Figueroa, Vice-Chairman Bradley Backus, Esq. Sheila Birnbaum, Esq. Hon. Dorothy Chin Brandt Prof. Peggy C. Davis Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff, Esq. Hon. Samuel L. Green Serene Nakano, Esq. Hon. Juanita Bing Newton Prof. Cynthia Straker Pierce Maria Ramirez Robert M. Reaves Anthony Suarez, Esq. Hon. Cyrus Vance Hon. Ivan Warner Steven Wolfe, Esq. Commission Staff Edna Wells Handy, Esq., Executive Director Linda Chin, Esq., Counsel, 1988-1989 Monica Holmes, Ph.D, Research Director David Klein, Esq., Counsel, 1989-1991 George H. DeCou, Jr., Development Officer Richard K. Farrell, Research Assistant Donna Cupid Weeks, Executive Secretary Iris Torres-Nieves, Administrative Assistant Sue P. Fields, Administrative Clerk Lynette Brown, Administrative Clerk 1992] MINORITIES REPORT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Commission would like gratefully to acknowledge the work of the following for their writing/editing/consulting efforts: Hon. Doro- thy Chin Brandt, Prof. Peggy C. Davis, Hon. Nicholas Figueroa, Hon. Samuel Green, Serene K. Nakano, Esq., Prof. Cynthia Straker Pierce, Steven Wolfe, Esq., Edna Wells Handy, Esq., Prof. Verna Sanchez, David Klein, Esq., Andrea Wolfe, Esq., Dr. Monica Holmes, Prof. Beverly McQuery Smith, Prof. Homer LaRue, Prof. Leroy Clark, Prof. Douglas Colbert, Prof. Merrick Rossein, Prof. Derrick Bell, and Richard K. Farrell. Writing the report would not have been possible without the effort of the research staff, directed by Dr. Holmes, which included: John Bassler, Ph. D. (Research Consultant); Iona Maria-Drita (Research Associate); Marie Charles, Jessica Downey, Richard K. Farrell, Eric Gordy, Carol Hernandez, and Jennifer K. Ulemann (Research Assist- ants); and Heather Butts, Samantha Butts, Erika Clare, Tamitope Fasoye, Joanne Holder, Nancy Svagick and Leva Wilks. Others who contributed to the research effort include: Gregory Bradley; Abe Fineberg; Tonya Gonnella-Frichner; Debra Harris, Esq.; Brenda Murphy; Prof. R. Joseph Novogrod; Gary Perlman; Barbara Quachenbos; Rafael Rafaelli (Intern); and Gregory Schwartz. We also note the effort of our friend and colleague Preston Lewis who worked voluntarily and tirelessly for the Commission until his passing in June 1990, as well as the volunteer work of Julian Ross. The Commission would also like to acknowledge the work, dedica- tion and the support received from counsels Linda Chin (Jan. 1988- Sept. 1989) and David Klein (Sept. 1989-April 1991). Without a capable, efficient and supportive administrative staff, the report would not have been possible. With this in mind, the Commis- sion extends special appreciation to Donna Cupid-Weeks, Iris Torres Nieves, Sue P. Fields and Lynette Brown, who comprised our full- time staff, and to Thomas Chesson, Donald Mengay, Ph. D. and Cecelia Marks, who served ably on a part-time basis. The Commission would also like to thank the firm of Debevoise & Plimpton (notably Philip Harvey, Esq.), Rubin, Baum, Levin, Con- stant & Friedman, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and the publishing firm of Matthew Bender, for their valuable assistance in organizing and editing this report, and also Howard J. Rubinstein Associates, Inc. for their efforts on behalf of the Commission. In ad- dition, we note our appreciation to IBM, for its "Executive Loan" program and its now retired executive, George DeCou, Jr. for his ex- emplary development strategy and fund raising efforts. 184 FORDHAM URBAN LAW JOURNAL [Vol. XIX We wish to note the generosity of the Office of Court Administra- tion, and the untiring assistance of Chief Administrator Matthew T. Crosson, Deputy Chief Administrator Jonathan Lippman, and Dep- uty Counsel Ann Pfau. Finally, we express our deepest appreciation for the extraordinary work and dedication of our Executive Director, Edna Wells Handy. 1992] MINORITIES REPORT REPORT OF THE NEW YORK STATE JUDICIAL COMMISSION ON MINORITIES* I. Volume One: Executive Summary Some of our courts .. have lost the confidence of the poor.... The belief is pervasive among ghetto residents that lower courts in our urban communities dispense 'assembly line'justice; thatfrom arrest to sentencing the poor and uneducated are denied equaljustice with the affluent, that procedures such as bail and fines have been per- verted to perpetuate class inequities. We have found that the appa- ratus of justice in some areas has itself become a focus for distrust and hostility. Too often the courts have operated to aggravate rather than relieve the tensions that ignite and fire disorders. This statement aptly captures the extent of minority dissatisfac- tion with the courts of New York State. Many minorities perceive that the courts do not treat them fairly. This is not the statement of one of the many public hearing wit- nesses who testified so painfully before the New York State Judicial Commission on Minorities about their negative experiences in New York State courts. Nor are they the words of Chief Justice Sol Wachtler, who echoed the same thought when he created this Com- mission to explore the treatment of minorities in the courts and in the legal profession, stating: "We are concerned with a growingper- ception... that minorities are not treatedfairly in our courts." This statement was made almost a quarterof a century ago by the NationalAdvisory Commission on Civil Disorders(the Kerner Com- mission), established by PresidentJohnson and charged with the re- sponsibility for determining the causes of the urban riots that were deepening racial divisions in the country. That Commission's con- clusion was: "Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white - separate and unequaL" Today, the New York State Judicial Commission on Minorities finds that little has changed for minority users of the courts. Although there has been an increase in the number of minority * The Report of the New York State Judicial Commission on Minorities represents the culmination of a