1. Building Bridges: Lessons Learned from Ferguson
Photo courtesy of CBSNews.com
Building Bridges:
Lessons Learned from Ferguson

2. Timeline Aug. 9, 2014: Officer shooting death of
Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson.
Led to weeks of protests.
Nov. 24, 2014: St. Louis County
Grand Jury found no true bill to indict Wilson.
Led to week of protests.

3. Timeline cont’d March 4, 2015: Justice
Department announced it would not charge Wilson in the death of Brown.
Parallel DOJ report found sweeping
patterns of racial discrimination by the City of Ferguson.

4. We Learned
Citizens do not have a good understanding of how our courts work
Some citizens don't trust – and maybe fear - our courts
The Department of Justice Report and other studies show citizens have reason to feel this way
For example, confusion about:
The role of a grand jury, probable cause standard
How a grand jury works and why it is secret
Prosecutor's role in grand juries
Officer Use of Force
Right to protest

5. Examples of Abuse
A citizen arrested, jailed, and fined more than $1,000 for two parking tickets she received in 2007
A 67-year old woman arrested after failing to pay a trash removal citation
As of October 2014, Ferguson municipal court had 103,000 pending cases in a city of 21,000 people
More than 14% of Ferguson's revenue stemmed from fines and fees

6. 1
Collaboration is Key
So, what can we do about it, as a unified bar? Collaboration is key, because we can’t solve these problems by ourself.

7. Partner with the Court, executive and legislative branches to achieve reforms and educate the public about how our courts work
Coordinating with other organizations who have similar interests can prevent a void in communications, especially for unified bars

8. Ways we helped
Established a free legal hotline in coordination with the Mound City Bar Association and Legal Services of Eastern Missouri available to Ferguson residents and business owners to help those impacted by violence, looting and
vandalism in Ferguson

9. Ways we helped
Produced a Mini Law School for the Public in St. Louis covering related topics like How Grand Juries Work, Municipal Courts, Officer Use of Force, Media and the Law and Implicit Bias

10. Ways we helped
Produced a civics education program for teachers on how to teach issues related to Ferguson

11. Ways we helped
Shared educational programming and news for citizens produced by the Courts and others, such as the
Mound City Bar
Association

12. Ways we helped
Produce content such as blog posts, lesson plans, podcasts and infographics to share on our website for the public and educators
Example: How Grand Juries Work in Missouri

13. Ways we help
Endorsed and financially supported the creation of the Supreme Court of Missouri’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness

14. We can always do more to foster diversity2
We can always do more to foster diversity
We all know the alarming statistics of diversity in the legal profession. These statistics show we still have much work to do to make sure our profession and our courts reflect the makeup of our communities.

15. Diversity seats your board
Develop inclusive leadership training programs – Leadership Academy
Courageous Collaboration
Missouri Bar actions:
1. Diversity seats:
Of the 45 seats on the Missouri Bar Board of Governors, three seats are diversity seats
Two past diversity seat members have since been elected to the board in district contests
The board reviews the success of the seats and if there is a continued need every six years
2. Leadership Academy:
The Leadership Academy's mission is to recruit, train and retain Missouri attorneys who have been admitted for 10 years or less for leadership positions in the Missouri Bar
The academy seeks diversity in gender, race, area of practice and region within the state
The academy anticipates bringing in attorneys from underrepresented arenas will broaden and strengthen The Missouri Bar
3. Courageous collaboration – the next step in diversity. Are you ready?