“Celebrating the Past as We Envision & Embrace the Future”
25th Annual Conference of the
National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts
Program Agenda
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
Opening Plenary Session and Speaker
Law, Justice and The Holocaust and How
the Courts Failed Them
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Optional Private U.S. Supreme Court Tour
for Board of Directors
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Board of Directors Meeting
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Historic Courthouse, Multi-Purpose Room
Dr. William F. Meinecke, Jr.
United States Holocaust Museum
Since 2000, Dr. Meinecke has worked with
judges, prosecutors, attorneys and law
enforcement officers in the Museum’s Law,
Justice, and the Holocaust training program.
Dr. Meinecke is also an historian at the
museum.
12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Optional U.S. Supreme Court Tour for
Conference Attendees
12:00 – 1:15 p.m.
Lunch – and Case Studies
Family and Contract Law Case Studies
4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Opening Session
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Historic Courthouse, Ceremonial Courtroom
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Wrap-up Panel and Discussion
12:00 p.m. – Registration Desk Opens
Washington Marriott at Metro Center
Can it Happen Again? The Holocaust
Experience and Fairness and Access in
Today’s Judicial System
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Welcome Reception
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Historic Courthouse
A discussion to make the connection
between the roles that bystanders,
observers, or unwitting actors played in
the Holocaust and the role and influence
that lawyers and judges have today in
seeking and promoting a more just
society.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
United States Holocaust Museum
Legal Education Program
Law Justice and the Holocaust. How the
Courts Failed Germany
The Honorable Bernice Donald
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
7:30 a.m. – Bus #1 Departs Marriott Hotel
7:45 a.m. – Bus #2 Departs Marriott Hotel
Alan Jenkins, Esquire
Executive Director-Co-Founder
The Opportunity Agenda
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Breakfast (at the Holocaust Museum)
Aura Newlin
Instructor of Sociology
Northwest College
Private Tours of the Holocaust Museum
before the Museum opens to the public
Tour Group #1 – 8:45 a.m.
Tour Group #2 - 9:00 a.m.
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3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Buses depart U.S. Holocaust Museum for
tour of Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial
10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Break
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Concurrent Breakout Sessions
6:30 p.m.
Dinner on Your Own
Dine Around Washington DC
Restaurant suggestions will be provided by
the Host Committee
A-1
Enhancing Language Access
This session will focus on the
recently established ABA
Language Access Standards.
Given the increasing language
diverse communities that our
courts, this panel will explore best
practices utilized by some courts to
insure language access and that
court proceedings are
understandable to litigants.
8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Hospitality Suite Open
Friday, March 22, 2013
Washington Marriott at Metro Center
7:00 – 8:30 a.m.
Breakfast
Jana J. Edmondson, Esquire
Bilingual Staff Attorney
Georgia Legal Services Program
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Plenary Session – Town Hall Style
The Impact of Poverty, Race and Gender
on Access to Justice
Patricia Griffin
Chair, Language Access Advisory
Committee
Delaware State Court Administrator
This interactive town hall discussion will
examine the effect of poverty on the
ability of minorities and marginalized
communities to access and navigate our
courts. The panel will also explore the
over representation of certain
communities in our courts and criminal
justice systems.
The Honorable Vanessa Ruiz
Senior Judge
District of Columbia Court of
Appeals
Christine Stoneman, Esquire
Special Counsel
Federal Coordination and
Compliance Section – Civil Rights
Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Justice Laura D. Blackburne, Retired
Chairman & Publisher, The Crisis Magazine
Paul Butler, Esquire
Professor of Law, Georgetown University
Esther Yazzie-Lewis
Certified Court Interpreter (NavajoEnglish)
United States District Court
For the District of New Mexico
Peter B. Edelman, Esquire
Professor of Law, Georgetown University
Ms. Sonya Gavankar (Moderator)
Host and Moderator
The Future of News
Newseum
A-2
Billy Martin, Esquire
Martin & Gitner
Logistical Decisions and Access to
Justice
Do logistical and operational
decisions that govern court
operations create unintended
barriers to access to justice? This
panel will explore innovative
procedures which some courts
have implemented to make the
Laura W. Murphy, Director,
Washington Legislative Office
ACLU
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courts more accessible to litigants
and members of the community.
Coordinator of the National
Coalition for the Civil Right to
Counsel at the Public Justice Center
The Honorable Russell F. Canan
District of Columbia Superior Court
Chinh Q. Le, Esquire (Moderator)
Legal Aid Society of the District of
Columbia
Adam Mansky
Director of Operations
Center for Court Innovation
John Pollock, Esquire
Public Justice Center
The Honorable Victoria Pratt
Newark Municipal Court
A-3
A-5
Role of Criminal Justice
Stakeholders in Addressing Issues
of Implicit Bias in the Criminal
Justice System (Role of Judges)
Lawyers in private law firms and
corporate legal department have a
vested interest in and play a vital
role in insuring racial and ethnic
fairness in the court. But despite
the progress that has been made in
increasing diversity within law
firms and corporate legal
departments, much more needs to
be done. This panel will examine
the progress that has been made in
expanding diversity within the
private sector and will also discuss
the work remaining in this
important area.
This panel will explore the role
judges can play in working to
insure that implicit bias does not
hinder fair and impartial decision
making in the criminal justice
system.
The Honorable John Irwin
Nebraska Court of Appeals
The Honorable Delissa Ridgway
United States Court of International
Trade
A-4
Celebrating Progress and
Acknowledging Challenges –
Statistical Realities of Diversity in
Today’s Law Firms and Corporate
Legal Departments
Racial and Ethnic Justice and the
Civil Right to Counsel
Manar Morales, President and CEO
Diversity & Flexibility Alliance
(Moderator)
In many civil cases, litigants face
high stakes consequences such as
loss of their home in a foreclosure
or landlord tenant case, loss of
custody in a child custody case or
other grave consequences. Yet in a
staggering number of civil cases,
litigants are unrepresented. This
panel will explore whether the
time has come for a civil right to
counsel.
Verna Myers
Consultant
Raquel Tames, Esquire
Principal – Litigation and eDiscovery
Computer Sciences Corporation
12:30 p.m.
Luncheon
Ernest Green, Keynote Speaker
Member of the Little Rock
Nine/Consultant
Melanca Clark, Esquire
Senior Counsel for the Access to
Justice Initiative at the United States
Department of Justice
1:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
General Business Meting
Martha Davis, Esquire
Professor of Law at Northeastern
University School of Law
John Pollock, Esquire
2:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Concurrent Breakout Sessions
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B-1
Criminal Justice Reform: The
State of Current Efforts to
Mitigate Racial Disparities
Whitney Tymas, Esquire
Director, Prosecution and Racial
Justice Program
Vera Institute of Justice
This panel will explore some
important and innovative
initiatives that are yielding positive
results in mitigating racial
disparities in the criminal justice
system.
B-3
Cynthia Jones, Esquire
Associate Professor of Law
American University
This panel will explore the many
barriers that new immigrants face
in trying to access our court
systems. These barriers are
magnified by language and
cultural differences. What role
can our courts and legal service
providers play in enhancing justice
for new immigrants.
Marc Mauer
Executive Director, Sentencing
Project
Enid Gonzalez Aleman, Esquire
Senior Manager, Legal Program
CASA de Maryland
Hong Tran, Esquire
The Defender Association
Camille Holmes Wood, Esquire
National Legal Aid & Defender
Association
The Role of Criminal Justice Stake
Holders in Addressing Issues of
Implicit Bias in the Criminal
Justice System (Role of
Prosecutors)
Naomi Tsu
Southern Poverty Law Center
Immigrant Justice Center
Vanita Gupta, Esquire
Deputy Legal Director, ACLU
B-2
Enhancing Access to Justice for
New Immigrants
B-4
Prosecutors play a vital role in
insuring that the criminal justice
system is fair and impartial. Are
there implicit bias issues that
impact state and federal
prosecutors, that have unintended
consequences for criminal
defendants or victims of crimes?
This panel will explore these
important questions.
Human Trafficking and Women of
Color: Modern Day Slavery
(Criminals or Crime Victims?)
Human trafficking is happening in
virtually every state in the United
States. It is not just an
international issue. How do we
recognize these cases when they
come through our court systems?
What can we do to insure that the
victims of human trafficking are
not re-victimized. This panel will
explore these important issues.
John Chisholm District Attorney
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
David LaBahn, President CEO
Association of Prosecuting Attorneys
Whitney Tymas, Esquire
Director, Prosecution of Racial
Justice Program
Vera Institute of Justice
Mary Ellison, Esquire
Director of Policy
Polaris Project
Dr. Erika Evans-Weaver
Assistant Clinical Professor and
Field Placement Director
Widener University
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Leslie Thornton, Esquire
Vice President and General Counsel
WGL Holdings, Inc., and
Washington Gas
Ms. Krista Hoffman
Criminal Justice Training Specialist
Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape
Lisette M. McCormick, Esquire
(Moderator)
Executive Director
The Pennsylvania Interbranch
Commission for Gender, Racial and
Ethnic Fairness
Joseph K. West, Esquire
President & CEO
Minority Corporate Counsel
Association
Benjamin F. Wilson, Esquire
(Moderator)
Managing Partner
Beveridge & Diamond
Lorelie S. Masters, Esquire.
Partner
Jenner & Block, LLP
B-5
3:30 3:45
Break
Making Diversity Work: Effective
Strategies for Generating
Diversity, Inclusion and Retention
in Law Firms and Corporate Legal
Departments
3:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Concurrent Breakout Sessions
C-1
Racial and ethnic fairness in the
courts is greatly aided by diversity
in private law firms and corporate
legal departments. Conversely, a
diverse private bar can play an
important role in advocating for
fairness and access in the
administration of justice. This
panel will explore ways in which
law firms and corporate legal
departments are working to
increase diversity and retain a
talented and diverse workforce.
The Arc of Law and Culture in
LGBT Rights
This panel will explore changes in
the law and in the culture to insure
fairness and access for the LGBT
community.
The Honorable Diane M. Brenneman
District of Columbia Superior Court
(Moderator)
Chai Feldblum, Esquire
Commissioner
United States Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Gary J. Gates, PhD
Williams Distinguished Scholar
Williams Institute, UCLA School of
Law
J.R. Clark, Esquire
Partner
Squire Sanders
Shannon Minter, Esquire
Legal Director
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Manar Morales, Esquire
President and CEO of the Diversity
and Flexibility Alliance
Nancy Polikoff, Esquire
American University Washington
College of Law
Grace Speights, Esquire
Managing Partner
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
Maya Rupert, Esquire
Policy Director
National Center for Lesbian Rights
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C-2
The Effectiveness and Future of
the Community Court Movement
Mr. Richard Zorza
C-4
This panel will examine the
effectiveness of the community
court movement. Many
proponents of community courts
or problem solving courts argue
that the model has been very
successful. However, some
opponents contend that the model
can be problematic when judges,
prosecutors and defense attorneys
are required to assume nontraditional roles.
This panel will examine the impact
and unintended consequences of
implicit bias on the work of
probation officers in the criminal
justice system.
Cynthia Jones, Esquire
Associate Professor of Law
American University
Julian Adler, Esquire
Project Director
Red Hook Community Justice Center
Wayne McKenzie, Esquire
General Counsel
New York City Department of
Probation
The Honorable Todd Edelman
(Moderator)
Superior Court of the District of
Columbia
Curtis Watkins
Director, National Homecomers
Academy
Tamar M. Meekins, Esquire
Howard University School of Law
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Report of the States
The Honorable William Ray Price Jr.
Partner
Armstrong Teasdale
6:15 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Reception
Marriott Metro Center
Mae Quinn, Esquire
Washington University School of
Law
C-3
Role of Criminal Justice
Stakeholders in Addressing Issues
of Implicit Bias in the Criminal
Justice System (Role of Probation
Officers)
Saturday, March 23, 2013
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Board of Directors Meeting
Marriott at Metro Center
Bridging the Digital Divide to
Enhance Access to Justice
This panel will explore innovative
programs that have been used to
bridge the digital divide and
provide low cost means to enhance
access to justice for poor and
marginalized communities.
Donna Clay-Conti
Senior Attorney
Center for Families, Children
and the Courts
Mark O’Brien
Pro Bono Net
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