The Voice of the Profession: Public Confidence in the Courts
12/20/21 • 23 min
December 21st Court Leader’s Advantage Podcast Episode
The preliminary results from NACM’s Voice of the Profession survey have revealed folks' number one issue this year: Public Confidence in the Courts. Over 95% of those responding reported that they either agreed or strongly agreed that NACM needs to advocate on behalf of the courts regarding the public’s confidence in our court system. This result is no surprise. The 2021 National Center for State Courts “State of the Courts” survey conducted this past October reported that public trust and confidence in the courts has sunk to a new low: 64%.
A common response to this issue is “we need more public outreach.” If we could just explain what we do and why we did it, the community would immediately embrace the court’s central role in society. This has been disparagingly referred to as the “to know us is to love us” approach. The community may actually know more about the courts than we think and yet remain less than satisfied. Here are three examples of why the public might have a negative impression of courts:
1. Many folks, including our fellow court professionals, think that courts are too complicated, particularly for self-represented litigants
2. Excessive fines, surcharges, and user fees that courts pile on can hobble defendants guilty of relatively minor crimes
3. Courts can exhibit subtle yet systemic bias against people of color, the mentally ill, and the poor.
Some of the questions we will explore this month include:
· Why do we think the public’s confidence in the courts is declining?
· What can and should courts do about this lack of confidence?
· What is NACM’s role in addressing this challenge?
· What advice do these court professionals have for the rest of us?
Today’s Panel includes:
· Samantha Wallis, Assistant Court Administrator for the District Court, in Coeur d’Alene Idaho
· Greg Lambard, Trial Court Administrator for the Superior Court in Middlesex Vicinage, New Jersey
· Danielle Trujillo, Court Administrator for the Municipal Court in Littleton, Colorado
December 21st Court Leader’s Advantage Podcast Episode
The preliminary results from NACM’s Voice of the Profession survey have revealed folks' number one issue this year: Public Confidence in the Courts. Over 95% of those responding reported that they either agreed or strongly agreed that NACM needs to advocate on behalf of the courts regarding the public’s confidence in our court system. This result is no surprise. The 2021 National Center for State Courts “State of the Courts” survey conducted this past October reported that public trust and confidence in the courts has sunk to a new low: 64%.
A common response to this issue is “we need more public outreach.” If we could just explain what we do and why we did it, the community would immediately embrace the court’s central role in society. This has been disparagingly referred to as the “to know us is to love us” approach. The community may actually know more about the courts than we think and yet remain less than satisfied. Here are three examples of why the public might have a negative impression of courts:
1. Many folks, including our fellow court professionals, think that courts are too complicated, particularly for self-represented litigants
2. Excessive fines, surcharges, and user fees that courts pile on can hobble defendants guilty of relatively minor crimes
3. Courts can exhibit subtle yet systemic bias against people of color, the mentally ill, and the poor.
Some of the questions we will explore this month include:
· Why do we think the public’s confidence in the courts is declining?
· What can and should courts do about this lack of confidence?
· What is NACM’s role in addressing this challenge?
· What advice do these court professionals have for the rest of us?
Today’s Panel includes:
· Samantha Wallis, Assistant Court Administrator for the District Court, in Coeur d’Alene Idaho
· Greg Lambard, Trial Court Administrator for the Superior Court in Middlesex Vicinage, New Jersey
· Danielle Trujillo, Court Administrator for the Municipal Court in Littleton, Colorado
Previous Episode
What We Know Now About Mental Health and the Courts: Grasping the Challenge
November 16th Court Leader’s Advantage Podcast Episode
The challenge of mental illness is impacting America nationwide. It impacts our states, our communities, our courts, and our entire justice system. The courts are at the center of the clash between competing funding choices, community concerns, and those struggling with behavioral health issues.
Local jails and detention centers are the largest providers of mental health services in the country. That’s for both adults and children. In 44 states a jail or prison holds more mentally ill individuals than the state’s largest psychiatric hospital. On the other hand, nearly 30 percent of all family homicides involve a mentally ill individual.
This month is the first of five episodes. They will be spread out over the coming winter and spring discussing the National Judicial Task Force to Examine State Courts’ Response to Mental Illness. Some of the questions we will explore include:
· What do we know now about mental health, incarceration, and the courts?
· What sort of change can courts make to deal with the mental health challenge?
· What options do judges have in helping the mentally ill, what sort of options should judges have? And finally
· What advice do our guests have for the rest of us regarding mental health and the courts?
Today's Panelists
· The Honorable Steve Leifman, Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court in Miami, Florida and
· Patti Tobias, Principal Court Management Consultant with the National Center for State Courts in Denver, Colorado
Next Episode
After Two Years of COVID: What Do We Know Now About Courts, Safety, and Privacy? Question of Ethics: A Video Conversation on Courts and Ethics Winter 2021 Edition
These last two turbulent years have brought into sharp relief the dynamic tension between a court’s duty to keep both employees and the public safe, and the duty to respect the privacy and the personal choices of those very same employees and the public. This conversation is taking place at a time when many of us thought (or at least hoped), that these kinds of discussions were behind us. We could move on. Yet, as of December of 2021 the recent appearance of yet another COVID variant has raised a new round of concerns.
Three examples suggest points where work life has become increasingly intrusive, yet employees and the public are still at risk.
1) As court offices reopen, some returning employees have refused to disclose their vaccine status. This can put those very same employees as well as others at a higher risk of contracting COVID.
2) As more courthouses open again for staff and the public, some members of the public refuse to disclose their vaccine status and refuse to wear a mask. Security at the front door has occasionally refused them entry; they are therefore being denied access to justice.
3) Courthouses, as public buildings, need to be accessible to the public. However, there have been instances of employees being attacked by individuals.
Three canons of NACM’s Model Code of Conduct for Court Professionals come into play when discussing this dynamic tension:
· NACM Canon 1.1 states that a court professional faithfully carries out all appropriately assigned duties.
Is not the safety of court employees and the public a fundamental duty? What could be more basic than ensuring the health and well-being of the staff and public that comes to the courthouse every day?
· NACM Canon 1.3 states that a court professional must make the court accessible.
Presumably, the courthouse must be accessible to the public and its employees. Can court security limit public access by demanding to know if an individual has legitimate business in the courthouse?
· NACM Canon 2.7 states that a court professional respects the personal lives of litigants, the public, and employees.
How intrusive can security personnel get in demanding to know about the medical background and business of the public and employees?
Today’s Panel includes:
Courtney Whiteside, Court Administrator for the Municipal Court, in St. Louis, Missouri.
Barbara Marcelle, Trial Court Administrator for the 4th Judicial District in Portland, Oregon.
Karl Thoennes, Trial Court Administrator for the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
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