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San Francisco Bay Space court docket CEOs replicate various public navigating authorized waters

Mendocino County Superior Court Executive Officer Kim Turner believes people of color, women and other citizens who happen to fall within a category on a diversity wheel should be represented in her house.

Court CEOs essentially run court operations like company CEOs do.

“This is a very diverse branch (of the state courts system), with a workforce very reflective of the California population,” she said.

Turner, who has worked as a Northern California court CEO for almost a half century, has noticed a growing list of county courts with diverse workers and management. Out of 11 counties in the greater Bay Area from as far south as Santa Clara to the middle of the Emerald Triangle, only one courthouse is managed by a white, heterosexual man.

“Kinda remarkable, isn’t it?” Turner asked.

And California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye is a woman of Filipino with Portuguese descent.

For a long time, people who walked up to the counters of courthouses would see women as clerks. Now, more women run are running the legal show.

“The dynamics have changed in public administration. In the last 25 years, there are more women in leadership in court executive positions,” Turner said.

The Mendocino County court manager said she’s made a concerted effort to urge her workers to learn other languages ​​and cultural differences surrounding various populations. For instance, 10 Native American tribes exist in Mendocino County.

To Turner, it’s difficult enough for anyone to understand completely legal language.

This “legalese” is what Turner refers to as “$28 words” lawyers use to get a point across. Sometimes these legal eagles aren’t even around to explain what is meant by the terminology. For example, no longer are attorneys needed to conduct a divorce or the dissolution of a domestic partnership unless it’s complicated. Still, the process requires a general understanding of how the legal system works.

Turner said her staff — which consists of Black, Asian, Hispanic, gay and transgender workers in the small county — is on hand to provide factual information, not advice. But she thinks having this diverse staff explain complicated legal issues provides a level of comfort.

“There’s a lot of sensitivity around our cultural services. We try very hard to connect with people,” she said, further emphasizing the need is exacerbated by court users feeling stressed out or even in mental anguish. “Very few happy things happen at our courts. I think it’s very important for people to go to court and see people who look like them.”

Turner cited a 2006 study titled “Trust & Confidence in California Courts” that evaluated the need for diversity in courthouses to better comprehend the plight of those in minority groups as making “a huge difference” at getting through to people navigating the legal system without regret .

“We have found that people walk away from court remembering not whether they won or lost, but whether they were heard,” she said.

The study discovered that trust and confidence in the courts varies widely among the state’s ethnic groups.

“Blacks and Latinos exhibited lower levels of confidence,” the report reads, with undocumented immigrants tending to avoid the legal system because they fear being deported.

Among the survey respondents, 31% were born outside the United States. The stat coincides with the US Census in 2000 showing over half of the state’s population belonging to an ethnic minority group — with the three largest groups being Latinos, Black, and Chinese Americans.

Court users in the focus groups indicated that many of these minorities and recent immigrants try to avoid the legal system altogether.

“Some fear that having a record of any sort will make them more likely to encounter problems legal with the system in the future,” the study adds.

Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, biotech, energy, transportation, agriculture as well as banking and finance. For 25 years, Susan has worked for a variety of publications including the North County Times, now a part of the Union Tribune in San Diego County, along with the Tahoe Daily Tribune and Lake Tahoe News. She graduated from Fullerton College. Reach her at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com

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