‘Assignment of my life’: Top NY judge oversees reforms to combat court racism

Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Edwina Mendelson said overseeing reforms intended to combat institutional racism in the state court system was the “assignment of my life.” Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

By Rachel Vick 

A top New York judge tasked with overseeing reforms meant to topple institutional racism in the court system says the role is the most important work she has ever done. 

Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Edwina Mendelson was tapped by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore to monitor the statewide implementation of recommendations from the Equal Justice in the Courts Task Force, which identified entrenched bias from top to bottom in the legal-justice system.

“It is not hyperbole, the need to regard the equal justice in courts initiative as the assignment of my life,” Mendelson said Monday during a panel hosted by the South Asian Indo-Carribean Bar Association of Queens

“This is multilayered, multifaceted and it's going to be a multi year endeavor — this is not one and done,” she continued. “Those of us working on this project owe the highest level of commitment and insistence on excellence ... to each other and communities we serve as the court system.

The Equal Justice task force interviewed court staff, attorneys, litigants and visitors to compile a comprehensive analysis about institutional racism and bias in the courts. Their findings included a disproportionately low number of people of color in top positions, a “culture of toxicity” among court officers and persistent bias against court visitors of color.

The task force recommended that court leaders establish a “zero tolerance” policy against racism and discrimination, implement comprehensive bias training programs and increase the hiring of people of color and other underrepresented populations throughout the court system. 

The report’s authors also advised court leaders to assign an independent monitor to evaluate and report on the court system’s handling of the recommendations.

The SAICBA-QC panel featured one of the report’s authors, Amitav Chakraborty, an associate with the law firm Paul, Weiss, who said the court system had already begun implementing some of the guidance, like updating social media policies and incorporating mandatory bias training.

“We felt it was important that there be commitment from the top to note issues of racial bias not just as a concern but as a priority,” Chakraborty said. “Something to be taken seriously, something to be kept track of and solved to the extent possible.” 

The new report is a “critical” part of progress towards racial equity in the courts, he added. 

“It creates a historical record for those who are reading now and comparing against previous reports ... but it also creates a record for folks 10, 15 years down the line who are going to be measuring us against any progress that the court system had made and record how much further we have left to go,” Chakrabortye said.

Other panelists included S. Anthony Walters, the director of the court system’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, as well as Hon. Shirley Troutman, from the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, and Hon. Troy Webber, from the Appellate Division, First Department. 

Troutman and Webber co-chaired the 1988 Williams Judicial Commission, which analyzed court system bias. Webber said many of the same issues —  like disparate conditions for people of color in family and housing courts, overt racism by court officers and “microaggressions” towards lawyers of color — persist more than 30 years later

“What I see is that unfortunately the two reports are very similar in their conclusions,” Webber said. “This was pretty much the same type of things we found in 1988; the same issues present themselves in terms of bias and racism within the system.”

“I find it interesting that there was a shock after the report came out - this was not shocking to the Williams Commission,” she said.