Opinion
21S-MS-428
09-15-2021
Order Establishing the Indiana Commission on Equity and Access in the Court System
ORDER ESTABLISHING THE INDIANA COMMISSION ON EQUITY AND ACCESS IN THE COURT SYSTEM
LORETTA H. RUSH CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIANA
Every day, members of Indiana's legal profession, this Court, the court system, and our partners in government strive to provide more equal access to justice and to improve public faith and confidence in the court system. Together, we have reformed our pretrial and bail practices; created pathways to the legal profession for college graduates from underrepresented populations, including those who are Black and Brown, low-income, or educationally disadvantaged; and instituted more collaborative, community-driven problem-solving courts as alternatives to the adversarial system. But we know that there is still much to achieve and that the ideal of justice feels out of reach for many. Our state court system can and must do better.
And this matters because the rule of law in an independent court system depends on the faith placed in it by the people it serves. The judicial branch does not make or enforce laws; we have neither armies nor coffers. What we have instead is something fragile, yet vital-the people's trust that the judicial branch, and we who serve in it, are fair and impartial arbiters of disputes; that a courtroom is a place where you will be judged only by the merits of your cause and through an equal application of the law. In other words, the judicial branch has the ethereal notion of "justice"-an ideal more powerful than militaries or monies, but that carries practical force only when people believe it fairly exists. And where public trust and confidence in Indiana's courts have waned or they are not fully shared by all, this Court is committed to creating and restoring them.
Accordingly, there is hereby CREATED the Indiana Commission on Equity and Access in the Court System, and the Commission is THEREFORE ORDERED to:
(1) Provide an independent and comprehensive review of Indiana's state court systems, policies, and practices;
(2) Identify areas of strength and areas where additional resources and efforts are needed in order to achieve greater and more equal access to justice; and
(3) Establish workgroups as needed to provide recommendations on ways to address these identified issues within the legal system.
The Commission is FURTHER DIRECTED to provide a written report, with findings and recommendations, to the Court not later than December 31, 2022. The Commission may also, in the interim, submit to the Court requests for immediate actions or pilot projects to address critical issues or provide better findings in its report.
A list of Commission members is attached, and its membership may change as the work continues. The Office of Judicial Administration shall assign staff to assist the Commission in its work.
INDIANA COMMISSION
ON EQUITY AND ACCESS IN THE COURT SYSTEM
1. Chair: The Honorable Steven H. David, Associate Justice, Indiana Supreme Court
2. Vice-Chair: Deborah Daniels, Krieg DeVault
3. Vice-Chair: Norris Cunningham, Katz Korin Cunningham
4. The Honorable Myra Selby, IceMiller
5. Karrah Herring, Office of the Governor
6. Rep. Ragen Hatcher, Indiana House District 3 (D)
7. Rep. Greg Steuerwald, Indiana House District 40 (R)
8. Sen. Greg Taylor, Indiana Senate District 33 (D)
9. Sen. Travis Holdman, Indiana Senate District 19 (R)
10. The Honorable Cristal Brisco, St. Joseph Superior Court
11. The Honorable Maria Granger, Floyd Superior Court #3
12. The Honorable Darrin Dolehanty, Wayne Superior Court #3
13. The Honorable Geoffrey Gaither, Marion Superior Court #9
14. Theodore Rokita, Attorney General of Indiana
15. Joe Skeel/Catheryne Pully, Indiana State Bar Association
16. Bernice Corley, Indiana Public Defender Agency
17. Chris Naylor, Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council
18. Professor Judy Fox, Notre Dame School of Law
19. Darwinson Valdez, Wilkins, Goeller, Modesitt, Wilkinson &Drummy
20. Renee Ortega, ROK Legal Group
21. Nick Huang, Harrison Moberly