Status of State Gender Bias Task Force Activity--1996

Forty-one states and the District of Columbia have established gender bias task forces. Many of the task forces have been initiated by the state supreme courts while others have been established by state bar associations.

The following 34 state task forces or bar commissions have published final reports or have made recommendations and are therefore in the Post-Report or Implementation phase of development: Arkansas; California; Colorado; Connecticut; District of Columbia; Florida; Georgia; Hawaii; Idaho; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Missouri; Minnesota; Nebraska; Nevada; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; Ohio, Rhode Island; South Dakota; Texas; Utah; Vermont; Washington; and Wisconsin. Many of the committees are now searching for an evaluative measure to determine to what extent their efforts at eliminating gender bias in the courts have been successful.

As a result of gender bias task force activity, many states have introduced and enacted legislation aimed at eliminating gender bias in the state courts. In addition, judicial education programs, court personnel programs, domestic violence projects, gender bias complaint procedures; amendments to codes of judicial conduct; amendments to codes of professional responsibility; and increased judicial appointments of women and minorities have resulted from gender bias task force recommendations.

The following eight states are in the formation, development, or data collection phase of development: Alaska; Arizona; Delaware; Maine; Montana; North Dakota; Oregon; and West Virginia. These states have drawn on the expertise of the gender bias task forces of other states to define and guide their missions.

The following six states have not established a gender bias task force, although several of these states are currently evaluating the necessity for one: Alabama; Mississippi; Oklahoma; Pennsylvania; South Carolina; and Wyoming.

North Carolina’s approach to addressing gender bias in the courts is unique: it has elected not to establish a formal gender bias task force as an answer to the problem. Rather, it has decided to assume that bias uniformly found by other state task forces also exists in North Carolina. North Carolina is committed to spending appropriate money and energy to address the problem. Toward this end, an advisory committee on gender fairness and minority concerns has been established within the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Tennessee has also not established a formal task force, but the state bar association is conducting open meetings and educational programs on gender bias issues in the courts.

In 1994, the Judicial Council of Virginia appointed a committee to study the necessity for a gender bias task force. Based on its findings, the committee recommended to the Judicial Council that a Task Force to Study Gender Bias in the Court System of Virginia be formed. The proposed task force is currently awaiting funding. In addition, the Virginia Commission on Women and Minorities in the Legal System, an independent, non-profit organization, was established in 1986 to work towards the eradication of prejudice and discrimination in the courts.

In addition to state task forces and commissions, several of the federal circuits have gender bias task forces, as does Puerto Rico.

Prepared by the Information Service, National Center for State Courts, July 1995, updated May 1996.