Now hiring: Someone to help eliminate racism in Utah courts

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The state of Utah is now hiring someone to lead a new effort to root out racism and bias in the court system.

It’s a new position in a whole new office: the Office of Fairness and Accountability, which is being established by the Utah Judicial Council, a group of policy-making judges.

In the job description is a commitment to identifying anything that leads to “unequal treatment of individuals based on factors such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender. We understand we must take action to address inequities and hold ourselves accountable for equitable treatment for all.”

View the press release from Utah State Courts here.

Members of the Utah Judicial Council declined an interview request through a spokesman.

One lawyer who is following the effort hopes more minorities are recruited to work in the courts.

“If the public is represented and served appropriately, that means better outcomes for all,” said Raj Dhaliwal, a corporate attorney and a former president of the Utah Minority Bar Association.

A legal scholar hopes for a deep dive into data that could reveal problems, like in child custody disputes: Does a mom or dad get a different amount of time with the kids in a mixed-race family?

“They need to diagnose why it’s happening and then make determinations about, ‘OK, is this something we can fix from a structural perspective? Do we need to change the law in some way?’” said Anna Carpenter, University of Utah law professor.

The office will find inequities and recommend solutions, from training to new state laws.

Read more about the areas of focus from the Utah Judicial Council below.

Read the charter for the Office of Fairness and Accountability here.