Independent review details institutional racism throughout New York's court system
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Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson led the Equal Justice in the Courts evaluation. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese
By David Brand
An independent commission tasked with examining institutional racism in the New York State court system released a landmark report Thursday detailing racial and ethnic disparities on the bench, a failure to prioritize diversity in hiring and even a “culture of toxicity” among court officers statewide.
The Equal Justice in the Courts task force, led by former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, was a four-month project commissioned by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore in June, amid nationwide demonstrations against institutional racism touched off by the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Their report specifically calls on court leaders to 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. Chief Judge Janet DiFiore has appointed Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David to that role.
Johnson and his team of attorneys and advisers interviewed hundreds of judges, attorneys, court staffers, observers, litigants and other court stakeholders and accepted testimony and reports from people involved in the legal-justice system.
“In my assessment as a lawyer, a student of history, a former public official, and as an African American, this is a moment that demands a strong and pronounced rededication to equal justice under law by the New York State court system,” said Johnson, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP.
DiFiore said she and the Office of Court Administration endorse the recommendations, which “offer a tangible framework for a court system that truly reflects the diversity and inclusiveness of our communities, ensures the fair administration of justice and promotes the public trust.”
Nearly three decades after the last review on court system bias, judges, attorneys, court personnel and other stakeholders continue to report implicit and explicit racism, the report found.
“The good news is that today’s New York State judiciary is more diverse than it was 30 years ago,” the authors state. “The bad news is that the accounts of explicit and implicit racial bias we heard as part of this review were strikingly similar to the testimony from decades ago.”
The report found that people of color are underrepresented on county and municipal benches across the state, including in every borough of New York City.
In Queens, for example, over 60 percent of the judiciary is white, compared to less than a quarter of the population, the report found. Latino and Asian populations are the most underrepresented on the bench in Queens.
While the judiciary has become more diverse statewide, the gap between the percentage of non-white residents and non-white judges has actually increased since 1991, according to the report.
In 1991, people of color made up 30.7 percent of the state population and just 8.2 percent of the bench — a 20.5 percent gap. In 2020, people of color made up 44.8 percent of the state population and 23.9 percent of the bench — a 20.9 percent gap.
The most explicit accounts of racism pertain to the conduct of court officers, based on interviews with various attorneys, personnel and litigants.
Multiple people described court officers using racial slurs, including the n-word, in courthouses. One court officer sergeant called a group of Black teenagers the n-word in an elevator, according to a public defender interviewed by the commission.
Court officers of color told interviewers that they did not feel comfortable coming forward to report the abuse for fear of being ostracized and that officers faced few consequences for their behavior.
“Although interviewees stressed that not all court officers behave in a hostile manner, almost every interview touched on what appears to be a culture of toxicity and unprofessionalism exhibited by court officers towards litigants, litigants’ relatives and attorneys of color,” the report states.
Observers have long noted the demographic disparities and institutional racism in the court system.
The report has galvanized many groups, including bar associations and organizations representing judges, to share their concerns — often backed up by demographic data and personal testimonies.
In August, for example, an organization representing more than 200 New York judges of color released a report on institutional racism in the state court system that they had submitted to the Commission on Equal Justice in the Courts.
The report by the Judicial Friends Association highlighted racial and ethnic disparities in judicial leadership, detailed impediments to equal justice for Black and Latino defendants and made recommendations for addressing pervasive biases.
“To assess the extent to which racism affects the New York State Unified Court System, one must start at the top and ask, “are Black judges participating in the most powerful, policy making positions within OCA?” The answer is a resounding NO,” the Judicial Friends wrote.
None of the executive judges in the Office of Court Administration are Black, the association wrote. Just three Black judges hold statewide positions and the disparities continue down the judicial ranks, including the presence of just six Black judges on the 81-member Court of Claims appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, they added.
The Judicial Friends cited OCA statistics showing that roughly 76 percent of New York’s 1,291 state judges are white, about 14 percent of judges are Black, 7 percent are Latino and 2.7 percent are Asian.
Their report described disparities at all levels of the criminal justice system, such as a jury selection process that allows attorneys to strike potential jurors based on their negative interactions with police officers or their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Judicial Friends President Erika Edwards, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice, told the Eagle that the commission enabled judges and other stakeholders to speak out on the key matter of representation and bias.
“The difficulty as judges is we are precluded from speaking on political matters,” Edwards said last month. “It’s difficult, being a judge of color, dealing with COVID, dealing with shootings of unarmed men and women of color because there’s not much we can do.”
“But this was something we could do to help improve our system and the world,” she continued.
The demographic disparities have also galvanized activism among Queens’ bar association and legal groups.
Attorneys and judicial leaders have called for more Black, Latino, Asian, South Asian and Muslim judges on the bench to truly reflect the diversity of the borough.
“The courts where people of color are the predominant users, it’s so critical that there be a diverse bench,” Supreme Court, Criminal Term Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas said earlier this month. “It’s not disputable. People need to see themselves reflected on the bench.”
