- Executive Office of the Trial Court
On June 19, 2020, the world will observe Juneteenth. Juneteenth commemorates the official ending of slavery in the United States when the news of the end of slavery reached Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, nearly two and a half years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. There, the enslaved descendants of Africans were finally informed of their freedom following the Civil War. This year, one hundred fifty-five years after the official end of slavery, Juneteenth has become particularly symbolic in light of recent events and the realization of pervasive racial disparity that exist in our country.
As Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court, I acknowledge the pain, suffering, and ongoing oppression of black people at the hands of racism that has been occurring for centuries. Moreover, I embrace the groundswell demanding justice for all across the nation and globally. I am committed to tackling systemic racism within the court system, and externally in the delivery of justice.
I recently shared my thoughts on local and national events in a letter sent to our Trial Court community after the death of George Floyd. Our Supreme Judicial Court has also unequivocally declared the need to recognize and confront the inequity and injustice toward black people in a recent letter to members of the Judiciary and the Massachusetts Bar. In sharing these letters, I hope to convey the commitment of the Trial Court to achieving equal justice for all in our seven court departments and supporting departments. I also salute the recent messages issued by members of the legal community and other court systems around the country, and I stand with them in recognizing that we need to listen, reflect and support those who are suffering as a result of centuries of disparate and racist treatment.
As the Massachusetts Trial Court, we join the legal community in recommitting “to the systemic change needed to make equality under the law an enduring reality for all,” as urged by the seven justices of the Supreme Judicial Court. Dedicating resources to acknowledge and address race in the justice system is not a new venture for the Massachusetts Trial Court, but we acknowledge that some of the efforts to date have not done enough to move the needle. The number of black employees and employees of color is insufficient in the judicial and clerk magistrate ranks. Our numbers are not where they should be. It is our obligation to hire people of color in leadership roles and do more to mentor our diverse talent and create pathways that would enable them to move up in the organization. It is also essential that we identify, recruit, attract and develop lawyers of color to build the skills to obtain a judicial or clerk magistrate appointment and other positions within the court system.
As members of the Trial Court, we hold unique positions as leaders in the justice system, and we need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, because this work will not be easy. We will be more introspective about the fact that what we do and what we fail to do impacts the lives of others who have experienced the indignities of racism and injustice throughout their lives. We need to listen to the experiences of black people and people of color as we work together to change our system. The time is now, and it will take all of our collective efforts to eradicate racism in our justice system. Failure is not an option. We must achieve racial equality and justice for all, especially for those most disserved by our nation’s justice system for centuries.