Administrative Office of the Courts
Education Room, 3rd Floor
Salt Lake City, Utah
Friday, September 7, 2001
Noon - 1:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT: AOC STAFF:
Michael Zimmerman Keith Hamilton Sandra Kinoshita
Judge Tyrone Medley John Hill Marlaina Belles
Judge William Thorne Kal Farr
Deidre Tyler Sid Groll
MEMBERS EXCUSED:
Brad Slater Susan Burke Lamont Tyler
Anthony Smith Paul Boyden Bob Flowers
Joan Smith Carolina Webber Dan Maldonado
Ed McConkie Christina Barrera John T. Nielsen
Haruko Moriyasu Dan Becker Brent Johnson
John Adams Mike Chabries
Joe Tafua
1. WELCOME & FORESIGHT OF COMMISSION: (Michael Zimmerman)
Michael Zimmerman called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone in attendance.
He then briefly discussed the background of the task force and addressed goals of the commission. Mr. Zimmerman reported the Plan of Action was obtained from the Final Report written by the Judicial Council's Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Legal System. The implementation recommendation submitted by the Task Force was to create a Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness to include the following:
1) The Commission would be a stand-alone entity, sponsored by the Judicial Council for the purpose of administrative support by the Administrative Office of the Court, but would report to the Council just as it would to any of the other participating entities.
2) Membership would include representatives from the entities responsible for implementation.
3) A resolution would be signed by all member agencies to ensure ongoing participation.
4) The Commission would publish an annual report to update the public on its progress toward
implementation of the Task Force's recommendations.
5) Each member agency would be responsible for implementing its own recommendations from this Task Force report.
6) Ethnic community organizations would elect members of their choice to represent them on the Commission.
7) The Commission would have subcommittees to oversee implementation of system-wide
efforts.
8) The commission would conduct an annual evaluation of its efforts including ongoing modifications for improvement and the viability of community sponsorship in 3-5 years.
In closing, Mr. Zimmerman mentioned, the goal of this group is to educate and sensitize public agencies and personnel to be aware of racial and ethnic diversities.
2. SELF-INTRODUCTIONS OF COMMISSION MEMBERS:
The following is a list of Commission members and the agencies they represent:
Michael Zimmerman Task Force Chairperson
Judge Tyrone Medley Task Force Co-Chairperson
* John T. Nielsen Task Force Co-Chaiperson
Judge William Thorne Utah Court of Appeals
John Adams Bar Association
Christina Barrera Advisory Council
Daniel Becker State Court Administrator
Susan Burke CCJJ Anti-Violence Coordinator
Paul Boyden SWAP
Kal Farr Utah Chiefs of Police Association
* Commissioner Bob Flowers Public Safety
Sid Groll Peace Officer Standards and Training
Keith Hamilton Board of Pardons and Parole
John Hill Salt Lake Defenders Association
Sheriff Brad Slater Utah Sheriffs Association
Ed McConkie Utah Sentencing Commission
* Representative Lamont Tyler House of Representatives
Haruko Moriyasu UU Asian American Studies
Mike Chabries Utah Department of Corrections
Anthony Smith Indian Walk-In Center
Joan Smith NCCJ
Joe Tafua South Utah Polynesian Association
Deidre Tyler SLCC Professor
Carolina Webber National Coalition of La Raza
* Dan Maldonado Assistant Director of Youth Corrections
* Brent Johnson Administrative Office Legal Counsel
* Represents members not present at the meeting.
It is expected that all members may be contacted as a resource for information regarding the entities they represent.
3. LOGISTIC OF THE COMMISSION:
Regarding meeting dates and times, the members decided on the following:
With the exception of the orientation, all meetings will be held on the fourth Wednesday of every month from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m..
For the next six months (excluding February), this group will meet monthly. After that six month period, this group will meet once every other month.
In order for everyone to visit the various agencies their fellow members represent, each meeting will be held at a different location. This will allow the host of each meeting to introduce their organization and demonstrate how various issues regarding racial and ethnic fairness are being implemented. In order to limit confusion, the locale of future meetings will always be announced at the prior meeting.
4. NEXT MEETING - MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2001:
In order for everyone to become oriented, the next meeting will be held at the Matheson Courthouse in the Large Conference Room A, 1st Floor, on Monday, October 1st from 8:00 a.m.
to Noon. Breakfast will be provided, compliments of the Administrative Office of the Courts.
5. ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT MEETING:
It was requested that everyone obtain a copy and review the "Racial and Ethnic Fairness: Report on the State of the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System, written in September, 2000, by the Utah Judicial Council's Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Legal System. If you have yet to receive a copy, please contact Sandra Kinoshita at (801) 578-3976.
6. OTHER BUSINESS:
For contact information, Sandra Kinoshita will create a member telephone and address list.
Ms. Kinoshita will distribute this list at the next meeting.
7. ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m.