LEADING THE PRESENT
Improving Racial Justice Throughout the U.S. State courts, NCSC examine the role of race in the administration of fair and equal justice
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s recently as 2020, Kentucky used a simple system to notify juveniles about court-related appointments: Mail them a notice with the time, date and place. Many states have similar practices, but court leaders in Kentucky discovered that children of color had higher failureto-appear rates than white children, so Kentucky made changes. The courts began contacting parents and guardians to coordinate convenient appointment times and locations, and appearance rates for children of color increased by 14 percent statewide. Kentucky’s court leaders were not blind to how their policies and procedures affected people of color before. But their focus on racial justice intensified in 2020. That was the year when Breonna Taylor was killed by Louisville police. Two months later, the world witnessed video of George Floyd’s murder during an encounter with Minneapolis police. Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John Minton responded to the incident by acknowledging that systemic racism exists in Kentucky’s state courts and urging court leaders to address it. “That changed the conversation for our court system,” said Laurie Givens, the state’s top court administrator. Givens, past president of the Conference of State Court Administrators, serves on the steering committee for NCSC’s Blueprint for Racial Justice, a national effort of more than 150 individuals who are working toward ensuring equality under the law is a reality for all. “The Blueprint for Racial Justice is changing the conversation for courts across the country,” Givens said. “We recognize that every state is in a different place when approaching issues of racial justice and diversity, and we want to meet you where you are in the process and give you tools to advance your efforts.”
Learn more about the Blueprint for Racial Justice 10
ncsc.org/racialjusticeblueprint
N AT I O N A L C E N T E R F O R S TAT E C O U R T S
The project encourages conversation and collaboration among court leaders with a focus on systemic change; increasing the diversity of the bench, bar and workforce; fairness and awareness; and communication and implementation. Givens and others are sharing their successes and challenges during ongoing