Rochester Press Covers UCLM’s and Seventh Judicial District NYS Courts’ Judicial Observation Project Aimed at Addressing Implicit Bias & Systemic Racism

The March 29th  press conference hosted by UCLM and the Seventh Judicial Administrative District resulted in the following articles:

·      WXXI: New program seeks to address bias and racism in the state's court system

·      WHEC: New project aims to detect and address bias in NY State courts

·      Democrat & Chronicle: New court program will have observers looking for implicit bias from judges

UCLM submitted a proposal in December 2020 to the Seventh Judicial District Administrative judge to engage judges and community members in addressing implicit bias in the courts. A working committee comprised of judges, county officials, and UCLM members was formed to work through implementation details over a twelve-month period. Hon. William K. Taylor, Seventh Judicial District Administrative Judge, prioritized the Judicial Observation Project as high priority. 

Fourteen community member volunteers received implicit bias training from the Monroe County Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Deanna Kimbrel. Volunteers have participated in over 75 individual court session observations of five volunteer judges covering Monroe Supreme Court, Monroe County Court, Monroe Family Court, Rochester City Court, and Rochester Mental Health Court. Observation summaries were developed following each observation and then consolidated to provide a vehicle for feedback to the judges. The feedback session with the observers and participating judges will be held in mid-April. The focus is to provide judges with what was observed in their courtroom, both constructively critical and what was observed as helpful.