The Asheville/Buncombe County League of Women Voters has become concerned about the degree to which citizens of this community understand the workings of the system of justice. Discussions with local leaders have revealed that many citizens, but particularly minority groups, have less than total confidence in the equity of the legal system.
In the case of persons with Hispanic backgrounds, this distrust could well have been acquired from living in societies where the niceties of law and justice were treated with less respect than is apt to be the case in our courts. And for many native members of our community, their knowledge of the legal system has been derived from personal experience—not always benign—with the enforcement of the law. That can result in the citizen becoming accustomed to relating to the meting out of justice on an adversarial plane.
The League has devised a program designed to strengthen the social fabric by making the justice system more accessible to all of our citizens, and to empower persons who may be handicapped by a limited understanding of legal procedures by offering the kind of knowledge that will enable them to better navigate their way through the system. The underlying assumption is that they will be more likely to use the system more advantageously if they are less fearful of it.
The program is being offered on three consecutive Thursdays, April 19, 26 and May 3, in the Buncombe County Courthouse. Lawyers, judges and a bailiff will enact their actual roles in the very settings where justice is administered. A jury of peers will be present. Teachers in the county school system who attend will receive CEU credit. Signing and translation services may be available.
— Hal Hogstrom
Asheville
