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The Williams Institute's Judicial Training Program |
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The Williams Institute is a national research center on sexual orientation law and public policy at UCLA School of Law. Its judicial training program provides state and federal judges with substantive training on legal issues impacting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. The goal of our training program is to provide judges with the most up-to-date legal and policy information they will need when considering sexual orientation law issues in cases coming before them. The Williams Institute's judicial training program draws on the intellectual and material resources of UCLA, one of the world's leading research universities. Courts across the country are increasingly considering sexual orientation law issues -- such as workplace discrimination, same-sex marriage, and parental rights -- but very few state and federal judges have expertise on these issues. Most judges did not have the opportunity to take a sexual orientation law course when they were in law school and, to date, there have been only a handful of judicial trainings focused on sexual orientation law. Many sexual orientation law issues present relatively new and complex constitutional questions or require knowledge of the most recent empirical research and data. Judges have had to rely on their own efforts to learn about this rapidly developing field and the often innovative arguments that have been used in LGBT rights cases. Without knowledge of current legal theories and relevant data, judges may lack the legal knowledge to make decisions regarding LGBT rights. For example, many judges may not be familiar with arguments that non-biological parents should have their rights recognized if they act as "functional parents" for their children, or cases holding that public schools have a general duty under negligence theory to protect LGBT students from harassment and violence. The Williams Institute's substantive trainings on sexual orientation law provide judges with the legal theories and relevant data needed to make decisions regarding these issues. Cost of Trainings The Williams Institute will pay all costs for the content of its judicial training programs, including travel costs for the speakers and speakers’ honoraria. Depending on the location of the training, co-sponsorship, and whether or not the training is part of a larger conference, the Williams Institute may either pay for items beyond this, such as any special needs and venue costs, or anticipate that those costs will be covered by the overall conference or in-state judicial educators. Training Faculty The Williams Institute’s judicial training faculty has extensive experience with teaching sexual orientation law. In addition to teaching law students, Professor Bradley Sears, the Executive Director of The Williams Institute, conducts judicial trainings and offers sexual orientation and HIV/AIDS law presentations and trainings to lawyers and members of the community. Other Williams Institute affiliated or guest faculty that have participated in trainings for either lawyers or judges include UCLA School of Law Professors Christine Littleton, Kenneth Karst, Devon Carbado, Cheryl Harris, Russell Robinson, Gia Lee, and Grace Blumberg, as well as Professors Todd Brower (Western State College of Law), Erwin Chemerinsky (Duke), Chai Feldblum (Georgetown), Suzanne Goldberg (Columbia), Janet Halley (Harvard) Nan Hunter (Brooklyn) Darren Hutchinson (American), Pam Karlan (Stanford),Laura Kessler (Utah), Andrew Koppelman (Northwestern), Clifford Rosky (Utah), William Rubenstein (Harvard), Joan Shaffner (George Washington), Dean Spade (Harvard/Seattle) Laura Spitz (Colorado), Edward Stein (Cardozo), and Kenji Yoshino (New York University/Yale). Types of Training Offered by the Williams Institute The Williams Institute offers a variety of training formats, with the goal of making our judicial trainings as accessible to as many state and federal judges as possible. Our training formats include: · Live training sessions as part of ongoing trainings and conferences. Working in partnership with judicial educators for state and federal judges, the Williams Institute offers panels, workshops, and speakers that can be included in the agenda of existing trainings and conferences. We find this format reaches the widest possible audience and is the most likely to attract judges who do not already have a particular interest in the subject matter and who have a variety of opinions about gay rights issues. For example, in May 2007, the Williams Institute conducted a day-long legal education program for the New York Judicial Institute for all New York family court judges. Those sessions included panels on same-sex couples and custody and adoption, LGBT minors and the juvenile courts, and the recognition of same-sex couples’ out of state marriages, civil unions and partnerships. The Williams Institute conducted a training in March of 2008 for Nevada family court judges and members of Nevada’s Supreme Court. In December of 2007, a judicial training was conducted in Concord, New Hampshire in anticipation of the commencement of New Hampshire’s January 1, 2008 law recognizing civil unions. Trainings were conducted in May 2006 for judicial and other court officers in Colorado and Washington, DC, at the Annual Utah Judicial Conference in September 2006, and at the New Jersey Judicial College in November 2006. In September 2005, the Williams Institute organized a two hour panel addressing the rights of same-sex couples at the California Statewide Judicial Branch. In December 2005, the Williams Institute presented an overview of domestic violence issues in gay and lesbian relationships at a judicial conference in Portland, Oregon. In September 2004, the Williams Institute presented a three and a half hour session on sexual orientation law issues at the 47th Washington Judicial Conference. Over two hundred Washington state judges attended, including six of the justices on Washington Supreme Court. In spring 2003 the Institute conducted a sexual orientation law training at the annual training conference for California appellate judges. Other trainings included the National Association of Women Judges’ annual conference. Additionally, the Judicial Education Director presented a workshop on conducting sexual orientation judicial trainings at the Annual Meeting of the National Association of State Judicial Educators in August 2006.· Live and remote stand-alone trainings. The Williams Institute also organizes independent trainings (which are not part of larger conferences that include other topics) both at UCLA School of Law and throughout the country. For example, each February the Williams Institute holds a full-day "Annual Update" on sexual orientation law at UCLA School of Law. The faculty at our Annual Updates has included several state supreme court justices, federal circuit judges, well-known legal scholars and lawyers, and foreign, state and federal legislators. Over one hundred and fifty judges, lawyers, and community members attend the Williams Institute's Annual Update each year. Our last Annual Update was on February 22, 2008, and the 2009 Update will take place in early March. In November 2005, the Williams Institute participated in a California judicial satellite broadcast covering emerging legal issues related to the LGBT population. Issues covered in this training included unique concerns of LGBT consumers, disclosure of private information, adoption, incarceration, and jury instructions. This training was simulcast to courts throughout the State of California. The May 2007 training for New York judges was presented live in New York City and simulcast to all judges within the state. · Distribution of The Dukeminier Awards journal to state and federal judges. The Williams Institute publishes The Dukeminier Awards, a prize journal recognizing the three to five most important pieces of sexual orientation law scholarship published each year. A central goal of the journal is to provide easy access to each year’s best scholarly materials for those outside of legal academia, including judges, lawyers, and legislators. The journal is distributed free-of-charge to the chambers of all federal judges and state supreme court justices. Individual judges and other courts can also request to be put on the journal's free distribution list. · National Sexual Orientation Law Moot Court Competition. http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/programs/upcoming.html · Web-based trainings. The Williams Institute is currently developing judicial trainings that will be available on our website, www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute These programs will include written and video trainings. Certification will be provided to judges who complete the trainings, and the programs are being designed to meet the training requirements of a number of states. Our first web-based trainings will be available in Fall, 2008. · Contact Information.
For information about the Williams Institute Judicial Training Program please contact:
Brondi Borer Email: borer@law.ucla.edu Judicial Education Director Voice: (310) 267-4382 The Williams Institute Fax: (310) 825-7270 UCLA School of Law Box 951476 The Williams Institute website: Los Angeles, CA 90095-1476 www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute
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