Message from Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille

With the establishment of its Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Fairness in January of 2005, Pennsylvania joined the cluster of other states around the country that have established permanent

offices or commissions to promote fairness and equality within the justice system. The Commission grew out of a large-scale study conducted under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from late 1999 through March of 2003 that focused on racial and gender bias within the justice system in Pennsylvania. The study included findings on 14 different topics and resulted in a voluminous report with 173 recommendations to the Supreme Court and other entities for addressing inequities within the justice system.

One of the problems identified in the report was the treatment accorded females and minorities during their contact with the court system. Regardless of what role they were playing in the justice system—attorney, litigant, witness, judge or court employee—women and minorities reported incidents of demeaning behavior directed toward them in the justice system throughout the Commonwealth. While some of the incidents were intentional, most simply demonstrated a lack of understanding or knowledge about the impact of their actions on those to whom the actions were directed.

As a consequence of these findings, the report recommended, among other things, that court employees, attorneys and judges within the justice system receive training dealing with behavior that is likely to be perceived as discriminatory or harassing. Toward that end, in December of 2007, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court approved a new