09/26/2016
Some progress on diversity
Effort has focused on NoVa bench, prosecutors and PDs
By: Peter Vieth September 19, 2016
Lawyers who raised concerns about a lack of diversity among the bench and bar in the Northern Virginia criminal justice system earlier this year say progress is being made, but there is still cause for concern.
A group of African-American and Hispanic attorneys organized and sent a letter to legislators in January, urging a more diverse bench. They pointed to a nearly all-white bench in Fairfax County and a lack of minorities among some prosecutors’ and public defender offices.
Advocates point to gains since then, including a female African-American judge elected to the general district bench in Prince William County, an African-American prosecutor hired in Fairfax County and two minority substitute judges appointed in Fairfax.
“We have definitely made some headway,” said Fairfax’s Vernida R. Chaney. A former public defender, Chaney led a task force on diversity in public defender offices.
“At least a dialogue has been started,” said Dontaé L. Bugg, president of the Northern Virginia Black Attorneys Association. Bugg is one of two African-American lawyers appointed as substitute judges in Fairfax. His term begins in November.
Service as a substitute judge at the district court level is often seen as a boost for a judicial candidates.
Bugg said challenges remain.
“We were so far from where we need to be, it’s still a glaring disparity,” Bugg said.
Several leaders heralded the General Assembly’s selection of Petula C. Metzler as a Prince William general district judge. She is the first African-American to sit in that court.
Manuel Leiva, past president of the Hispanic Bar Association of Virginia, also pointed to the election of Ricardo Rigual as a circuit judge in Spotsylvania County.
“As far as I know, he is the first Hispanic judge on a court of record,” Leiva said.
“We made some progress,” Leiva added.
Nevertheless, Leiva said the process of selecting judges remains murky. Legislators will not disclose their thinking until the Assembly makes its choices.
“It’s almost secretive,” Leiva said. “We started this movement because we believed there were some good people who applied who were not recommended.”
Litigator Chidi I. James of Fairfax, who also signed the January letter, agreed there has been progress. Legislators are listening, he said.
“I think it was effective,” James said of the lobbying effort.
Beyond the bench
The advocacy effort was directed not just at the makeup of the Northern Virginia bench, but also at the lawyers who work in the criminal justice system.
“The effort is focused more on judicial, but as we’ve been moving forward, we’ve been having conversations with the public defenders and commonwealth’s attorneys’ offices,” Chaney said.
Many general district criminal defendants are nonwhite. Until recently, however, the faces of Fairfax prosecutors were nearly all white, Chaney said.
Several of the diversity advocates hailed the recent addition of an African-American on the staff of the Fairfax County commonwealth’s attorney’s office, which has 34 lawyers.
Half of those lawyers are women, but most are Caucasian, acknowledged Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Morrogh.
“I do not think it would be appropriate for me to ask the rest of the lawyers here to identify themselves by race or ethnicity,” Morrogh said in an email. “However, I can say that we have at least four attorneys who in casual conversation have described their ancestry to include Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic and Native American heritage. We are always looking for the best and brightest lawyers regardless of their racial or ethnic background.”
With 16 prosecutors, the Arlington County commonwealth’s attorney’s office also has one African-American lawyer. Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos nevertheless said many of the other lawyers come from diverse backgrounds.
“It’s not a homogeneous group,” she said.
Stamos emphasized her recruitment efforts, but said it’s difficult to attract highly qualified attorneys to an area with a high cost of living and perpetual traffic congestion.
“We cast a net as wide as we can. For folks with diverse backgrounds or who speak multiple languages, the competition is fierce,” Stamos said.
Morrogh said he, too, is reaching out to seek diverse applicants.
“One of the ways in which we encourage diverse participation in the criminal justice system is by speaking at local high schools with diverse student populations and encouraging them to intern with us and shadow our attorneys. It is our hope that we can inspire these students to become prosecutors, defense attorneys and police officers,” Morrogh said.
Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan L. Porter was traveling when contacted and said he could not respond in detail.
“This is an issue that I believe is an important one, and one that I am currently trying to bring some attention to,” Porter said in a brief email.
Commonwealth’s attorneys in Loudoun and Prince William counties did not respond to requests for comment.
Public defenders
Diversity advocates say some public defender offices have been slow to reflect the population they serve.
“I am aware of the lack of diversity in all levels of the criminal justice system,” said Dawn Butorac, recently named as Chief Public Defender in Fairfax County. She said she is trying “to recruit attorneys and staff from all racial and ethnic backgrounds.”
“We strive to employ a diverse group of individuals but it isn’t always as simple as that,” Butorac said in an email. She said low pay for indigent defense limits the pool of applicants.
“Diversity in indigent defense needs to begin with encouraging law students to seek out opportunities in our field,” Butorac said.
Vernida Chaney agreed.
“It is important for these offices to do outreach. We’re willing to help as much as we possibly can,” Chaney said.
Alexandria Chief Public Defender Melinda Douglas said her 10-attorney office includes African-American, Hispanic and gay attorneys.
“I have actively recruited Hispanic and African-American law clerks and have tried to encourage minority lawyers to practice in Virginia. And sometimes, that can be a challenge,” Douglas said.
Arlington County Chief Public Defender Matthew Foley said he has begun minority recruitment efforts, although he, too, pointed to diversity among his present staff.
“You basically have to actively recruit. You can’t wait until something falls in your lap,” Foley said. “You just really have to make it a priority and do it.”
He agreed that low salaries hinder recruitment. “Minority or non-minority, you have to be able to support yourself in this jurisdiction,” Foley said.
The public defender’s office in Leesburg did not respond to a request for information and comment. Prince William County does not have a public defender’s office.
Overall, Chaney said the reception to the diversity push has been “pretty positive.”
“If this issue wasn’t on their radar, it’s now on their radar,” she said.
Virginia Coalition for Racial Diversity in the Justice System Chidi James Justin Fairfax Vernida R. Chaney
