NEWS ADVISORY
Press Conference to Discuss Findings of Supreme Court's Commission on Race and Gender Fairness

Indiana Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard and the chair of the Commission on Race and Gender Fairness, former Justice Myra Selby, and its co-chair, Court of Appeals Judge Ezra R. Friedlander, will discuss the Commission’s findings at a press conference at 2:30 p.m., on Friday, January 17, 2003 in the Supreme Court Courtroom.

Since 1999 the Commission has been charged with the studying the treatment of racial and ethnic minorities in the Indiana judicial system, ascertaining the perceptions of fairness, and making recommendations on reforms and improvements.

Over the last several years the Commission has hosted seven public forums, polled 1,250 judges, court employees, attorneys, and court users, conducted 18 focus groups, and interviewed 120 court staffers, attorneys and court users.

Results from this wide-ranging body of work will be revealed at the press conference Friday. The press conference will be webcast live at www.IN.gov/judiciary/webcast.html and it will be archived for later viewing at the same web address.

Indiana is one of about 40 states that have convened race and gender task forces. The Supreme Court created Indiana’s 26-member commission in 1999 and asked Myra Selby, the first woman and African-American to serve on the Indiana Supreme Court, to lead the effort.