Members of chief justice’s work group on bias are named

Six bench officers and two attorneys, members of a new work group created by Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, will update a judicial standard on bias to reflect current law and anti-discrimination efforts by the Judicial Council.

Members of the Work Group to Enhance Administrative Standards Addressing Bias in Court Proceedings were announced Wednesday.

The co-chairs are 5th District Court of Appeal Administrative Presiding Justice Brad Hill and Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Stacy Boulware Eurie.

Other members are: 1st District Court of Appeal Justice Carin Fujisaki; Los Angeles County Superior Court Presiding Judge Kevin Brazile; Humboldt County Superior Court Presiding Judge Joyce D. Hinrichs; San Bernardino County Superior Court Chief Executive Officer Nancy Eberhardt; Gretchen Nelson of Nelson & Fraenkel LLP, and Rachel W. Hill, an attorney and mediator with the Law Office of Rachel Hill and Hill Mediation Services.

In the coming year, the work group aims to consider how state courts should implement local bias committees. Standard of Judicial Administration 10.20 recommends bar associations and courts create these committees to develop informal procedures for receiving complaints about bias and support educational programs to eliminate it.

The work group will also make recommendations to the Judicial Council by next fall on whether to update the protected classifications listed under Standard 10.20. These efforts are to build upon another court work group, which issued a report in 2019 with recommendations on how to update policies on reporting complaints and inappropriate workplace conduct.

A survey this summer by the Daily Journal and the California Employment Lawyers Association found a handful of courts had established local bias committees in accordance with Standard 10.20.

- Jessica Mach