BENNINGTON — At a recent public forum organized by the Vermont judiciary, three of its top officials fielded questions that included how the courts could diversify its personnel and make the judicial system less intimidating.
Associate Justice Nancy Waples of the Vermont Supreme Court said the judiciary is planning to set up “access and resource centers” in every state courthouse to assist people who are trying to navigate the court system. Target clients would primarily be those representing themselves in court cases.
“A lot of those will involve the relief from abuse orders, as well as ultimately the criminal courts, if they have basic questions before they have an attorney,” Waples said during the forum, which was held Thursday in a Bennington courtroom.
The program would be piloted at the Costello Courthouse in Burlington, with the center expected to begin construction in the summer of 2024. Visitors would find information about court processes, court forms, language access services, a particular case’s status and free- or low-cost legal services, according to the state court administrator’s office.
Separately, the judiciary is planning to set up computer terminals in public places around the state to help people access court services, Waples said at the forum. These computers could be used to attend hearings remotely, pay fines or fees, fill out and email forms and find information on getting legal counsel.
The first computers are expected to be installed in multiple sites around Chittenden County, then rolled out to other parts of the state.
Waples spoke at the forum, along with Chief Justice Paul Reiber, Associate Justice William Cohen and Scott Griffith, chief of planning and court services at the state court administrator’s office. The event, attended by about 20 people in person and 25 online, is a project of the judiciary’s commission on diversity, equity and inclusion. The group aims to identify disparities in the justice system, understand the causes, evaluate solutions and implement changes.
Mia Schultz, president of the Rutland Area NAACP, was among those who appeared in person. She said court officials should consider bringing into the court access program a member of the local community who could explain the judicial system in plain terms, especially to marginalized populations that might have trust issues with government figures.
Schultz said her partner, Shawn Pratt, a member of the Criminal Justice Council, has been providing this type of free assistance for years. He has helped defendants in criminal cases, among others.
“People like me are the only ones that can communicate with people that are like myself because they’re more comfortable with me,” said Pratt, who is Black. “We understand each other. I can do certain lingo and lango.”
“You don’t need to always have an educated person, right? You just need somebody that got heart and that really want to do it. And that really cares about the community,” he said at the forum.
The state Supreme Court’s chief justice said the initiative that Schultz and Pratt described is part of the “peer support system” that the Vermont judiciary wants to establish. He said this type of court service has already been institutionalized in states such as Texas and Oklahoma.
“Why they are so far ahead of the states on the East Coast on this, I don’t know, but I’m very interested in that perspective,” Reiber said.
“The trust issue is a really, really big issue,” added Griffith, of the state court administrator’s office. “Quite frankly, we need to do more, and we need to do better.”
Susan McManus, a Bennington County public defender, asked court officials whether the judiciary provides Gov. Phil Scott guidance on appointing judges as a way to promote diversity on the bench. She said diversity not only pertains to culture and race, but also to professional background.
“It’s kind of well-known within the bar that this particular governor seems to have a penchant for prosecutors,” McManus said. “It might be nice to have perspectives on the bench from people who come from criminal defense backgrounds.”
Reiber responded that, once the state’s judicial nominating board submits names of qualified individuals to Scott, the choice is “the governor’s prerogative.” The chief justice added that any input judiciary officials provide relates to the courts’ geographic needs, since some areas don’t have judges who live locally.
Reiber encouraged defense attorneys who want to have a say in the judicial nominating process to run for a bar seat on the nominating board. The board includes three members of the Vermont Bar Association.
Since taking office in January 2017, Scott has made a total of 12 appointments to the Superior Court bench, VTDigger previously reported. There were six women and six men.
At least eight had extensive criminal prosecutorial backgrounds, including the appointments of two state’s attorneys and the chief of the criminal division of the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.
When asked for comment, the office of the governor said Scott does not favor prosecutors over defense attorneys.
“Whether a candidate has a prosecutorial or defense background is not a factor in the Governor’s decisions,” Scott’s spokesperson Jason Maulucci wrote in an email. “He focuses on who he believes is best for the role based on experience, judicial temperament and perspective.”
Maulucci said Scott is proud to be the first Vermont governor to have appointed more women than men to the bench, as well as the first person of color to the Vermont Supreme Court, referring to Waples who is Asian American.