Shaw,, Leander J., Jr.

English

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Introduction to the Report and Recommendations of the Florida Supreme Court Racial and Ethnic Bias Study Commission

Florida State University College of Law

Florida State University Law ReviewVolume 19 | Issue 3 Article 1Winter 1992Introduction to the Report and Recommendationsof the Florida Supreme Court Racial and EthnicBias Study CommissionLeander J. Shaw, Jr.Follow this and additional works at: http://ir.law.fsu.edu/lrPart of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Courts Commons, Criminal LawCommons, and the Law and Race CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Florida State University LawReview by an authorized editor of Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact bkaplan@law.fsu.edu.Recommended CitationLeander J. Shaw, Jr., Introduction to the Report and Recommendations of the Florida Supreme Court Racial and Ethnic Bias StudyCommission, 19 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 589 (2017) .http://ir.law.fsu.edu/lr/vol19/iss3/1INTRODUCTION TO THE REPORT ANDRECOMMENDATIONS OF THE FLORIDA SUPREMECOURT RACIAL AND ETHNIC BIAS STUDYCOMMISSIONLEANDER J. SHAW, JR.*J am pleased to introduce the Report and Recommendations of theFlorida Supreme Court Racial and Ethnic Bias Study Commission.This document is the product of two years of study. Volume I, whichis reprinted in the following pages, was submitted to the court on De-cember 11, 1990. Volume II was submitted one year later.The Study Commission was composed of community leaders andprofessionals of varied backgrounds. One of its most important meth-ods was to conduct public hearings to gain information and to learnthe experiences and insights of people from all walks of life. TheCommission also used a variety of sources of scholarship and socialscience research, which were gathered, assembled, and analyzed by itssmall but able professional staff. The Commission's findings are sup-ported by strong documentation and well-reasoned analysis.The initial work of the Commission has already yielded concreteresults in the form of statutory changes enacted by the 1991 Legisla-ture and various policy initiatives in the executive and judicialbranches. It is hoped that the second volume will be as well-receivedas the first and will bring forth further needed improvements in thepractices of the criminal justice system and the court system generally.The special role of the judiciary in our system of government issuch that there is an imperative need for impartiality and the percep-tion of impartiality. The legitimacy of courts as arbiters of disputesdemands no less. In order for the rulings of the court system to beperceived as just, the process of adjudication must be free from thetaint of bias. There is much that remains to be done to improve ourcourts' performance in this regard.Volume I of the Report, as set forth in this issue, addresses thestatus, experiences, and treatment of racial and ethnic minorities inthe court system and offers recommendations in the areas of: (1) thejudicial system workforce, (2) the interaction of law enforcementagencies with minority groups, and (3) the juvenile justice system.Volume II, the Commission's second Report dated December 11,1991, addresses similar concerns with respect to: (1) the adult criminal* Chief Justice, Florida Supreme Court.590 FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITYLAWREVIEW [Vol. 19:589justice system, (2) minority women in the judicial system, and (3) mi-norities in the legal profession.As I invite readers to examine the Report and Recommendations, Iwould like to give a heartfelt commendation to the Chair, members,and staff of the Commission for their dedication and hard work onbehalf of this project. I also thank the Florida State University LawReview for republishing the Report, thereby promoting its dissemina-tion to a wider audience. It is my sincere hope that knowledge of theReport and Recommendations will help to bring about needed im-provements so that the judicial system can better work for all of us.

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Introduction to the Report and Recommendations of the Florida Supreme Court Racial and Ethnic Bias Study Commission

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