VP of Publications’ Message

his September, NAWJ will be celebrating 20 years since its award-winning Color of Justice program was created. We owe our thanks to long-time NAWJ member Hon. Brenda Stith Loftin who created the program which debuted across the country in St. Louis Missouri, September 20, 2001. Recently, I asked Judge Loftin how this program came about, and she explained that “in 2001, then-NAWJ President Noel Kramer called to say she had ‘a few dollars’ left that had not yet been spent in a grant from the Jesse Smith Noyes Foundation.” Judge Kramer said she wanted NAWJ to create a program that would be targeted toward young girls and which would introduce them to the judicial profession. Never one to avoid a challenge, Judge Loftin set to work and created the program with three goals in mind:

a) First, it would target minority girls from junior high school through the twelfth grade. The idea was to introduce them to the legal profession and the judiciary, in particular; b) Second, it would offer a way to give judges, especially those that were elected, an opportunity to be involved in their community in a manner that couldn’t be confused with political activity; and c) Third, it could raise the national profile of the

NAWJ.

The first Color of Justice program was presented alongside NAWJ program co-chairs in St. Louis, and following that successful event, Judge Loftin put pictures about the program into a beautiful album, which she brought to a then-upcoming NAWJ conference. She laid the album out for conference participants to review, and, she reports, things really took off at that point. “Everyone was so excited and the judges loved it. They wanted to understand how they could bring the program back to their locales.” So, Judge Loftin set about creating a step-by-step NAWJ Program Manual, called The Color of Justice Program Manual. In it, she mapped out everything from the learning objectives to presentation tips. Judges around the country followed the manual, and began holding these successful programs. She credits the manual with actually leading to completion of all of her initial three goals. In addition, in those days, because the judges didn’t see each other very often in their districts, the program became a vehicle for them to work together on a structured program that was good for the judges, the girls, and for the NAWJ.

Over time, and building on the program’s success, some judges wanted to expand it in ways that would better support their communities. What had begun as a program for girls, expanded to one for boys, as well. Some judges modified it from a half-day program to a two-hour program in an effort to be more responsive to the needs of a particular community. As a result, the program leadership received awards from a range of groups, including state Supreme Court judges, and some judges received awards for putting on the programs year after year. One judge filmed her Color of Justice program and it received significant media attention, which resulted in an award from the media for her work.

Today, every state in the country has put on at least one of these programs. It’s become a programming staple in New York, for example, where Judge La Tia W. Martin has put it on year after year. The program is so effective because it serves the needs of girls and youth in a way that many of our communities still require. There have been a couple of states that have even expanded the programs into law schools. It serves the target group which began as minority girls and has now expanded to support girls and boys and female law students. It has given NAWJ women judges an opportunity to participate in and be a part of their community