Many women and minorities are unable to flee the pervasive bias in our justice system.
A bill to offer equal rights for ladies and minorities within the courts recently passed unanimously within the California State Legislature's Judiciary Committee. This vote is greater than progress – it’s also a lifeline for countless individuals who have experienced the cruel reality of gender and minority bias in our courts.
While those that have the means to rent private attorneys can handle their legal matters confidentially and outdoors of the court system, others who wouldn’t have the flexibility to rent or speak to attorneys must accomplish that out of fear of the possible end result of the case plead guilty. This creates a two-tier justice system by which those with means can avoid the stigma and consequences of a criminal record, while those without means must bear the complete burden of injustice.
SB 1356 expands the scope of existing legal training programs to comprehensively address gender bias. The bill also requires training to know gender discrimination in lots of areas of ladies's work and lives.
Additionally, SB 1356 will expand legal training programs to make sure a judge understands how power and gender dynamics have impacted women and minorities. Training for judges under the proposed law would address implicit and explicit bias, discrimination, and stereotyping of ladies in court decisions, in addition to how judges can recognize and respond sensitively to issues faced by women and minorities in vulnerable situations .
A 2023 UCLA report concluded that long sentences for ladies within the criminal justice system sometimes serve more as punishment than as rehabilitation. The report also found that girls within the criminal justice system were often survivors of multiple types of racial, gender-based and sexual violence that were directly and not directly related to the costs against them.
California has the best rate of ladies sentenced to life in prison. 25 percent of those imprisoned for all times are women. Black and Latino people bear a disproportionate burden within the criminal justice system: They make up 66% of the county jail population and 74% of the prison population, while making up just 47% of the state population.
Judges are one of the best and final defense of a system that’s inherently distorted. They have immense power and skill to influence the end result of a case, to be sure that justice prevails over prejudice, and to acknowledge the unique vulnerabilities faced by marginalized communities and ladies.
To ensure impartiality in judicial decision-making, judges should receive training to know gender sensitivities and differences in judicial proceedings, including eliminating stereotypes about women, assessing power inequalities, and understanding the needs and remedies for groups of individuals particularly Situations of vulnerability.
Existing law only requires the Judicial Council of California to develop training programs on domestic violence and the results of domestic violence on children by perpetrators.
The Silicon Valley Ethics Roundtable, a bunch of respected members of the Santa Clara County community, has worked for a few years to make sure ethical decision-making in the neighborhood. The group unanimously supported SB 1356, laws authored by the president of the Ethics Roundtable and introduced within the Legislature by state Sen. Aisha Wahab, a member of the Legislature's Women's Caucus. Wahab's work within the legislature has demonstrated a powerful commitment to civil and human rights.
The Ethics Roundtable views the impartiality of the judiciary and judges' understanding of inequalities in our society as a crucial ethical issue, and the California Judicial Council is positive concerning the bill and the amendments to the training of judges.
Ann Ravel is President of the Silicon Valley Ethics Roundtable and a former member of the California Judicial Council. Ravel can also be a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, a former attorney for Santa Clara County and a former chairman of the Fair Political Practices Commission in California.
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