S M J B: Tate of Aine Udicial Ranch

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STATE OF MAINE JUDICIAL BRANCH

Statement of Maine Supreme Judicial Court

The horrific deaths of African-Americans in Minneapolis, Louisville, and


Atlanta in recent weeks have driven home a stark and heartbreaking reminder
to all Americans that racism continues to be a pervasive blight upon our
constitutional republic and the world at large. As the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights stated:

Racism and racial discrimination attack the core of a person’s dignity, for
they seek to divide the human family, to which all people and individuals
belong, into categories, some of which are considered more worthy than
others. History has proved time and again that, when allowed to take
root, discrimination, racism and intolerance shatter the very foundations
of societies and damage them for generations.

United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, United
against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance,
Foreword (2012).

https://www.un.org/en/letsfightracism/pdfs/United%20against%20Racism_
English_web.pdf

The courts have a direct and fundamental responsibility to dispense


justice without any hint or even appearance of racism or other bias in all of their
insidious forms. Freedom from disparate treatment based upon race is not only
a constitutional right—it is a basic human right. The mission of the Maine
Judicial Branch is to “administer justice by providing a safe, accessible, efficient
and impartial system of dispute resolution that serves the public interest,
protects individual rights, and instills respect for the law.”
Bearing in mind that we must learn in order to lead, we have begun to
reach out to people and resources that can help us better understand, identify,
and address racism in all its forms and its insidious effects upon attitudes and
behavior. In addition to further training for judicial officers and other court
staff, we will work toward integrating into our systems additional measures to
prevent racism and other forms of discrimination from affecting the justice
process, and will seek the advice and support of those in the wider community
to help us with that continuing and redoubled effort.

Dated: June 8, 2020


/s/
ANDREW M. MEAD
Acting Chief Justice, Senior Associate Justice

/s/
ELLEN A. GORMAN

/s/
JOSEPH M. JABAR

/s/
THOMAS E. HUMPHREY

/s/
ANDREW M. HORTON

/s/
CATHERINE R. CONNORS
Associate Justices

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