 You're watching FJTN, the Federal Judicial Television Network. Coming up on Court to Court. We wanted to have something that would live over time as more employees would retire. Hopefully we could add to that remembrance. The court held that Meredith should be admitted to the university. Judge Wisdom, again writing for the majority, found that Meredith was rejected solely because he was a Negro. The most important part of our program is the collaborations that we have created, and that has been the true key to our success. This is Court to Court. Your connection to what's happening in the federal courts around the country, providing information and ideas that will enhance your job and how the courts function. Now with today's program, Michael Burney. Welcome to Court to Court, the Federal Judicial Center's educational magazine program for all court employees. Today we'll see how honoring retired court staff can motivate current employees. We'll learn about a court case that helped end racial discrimination in higher education. And we'll visit a U.S. probation office where creative thinking and dedicated officers make a positive difference in the lives of offenders. Everyone likes to feel appreciated for the work they do, and court employees are no different. Many court unit managers find various ways to express gratitude in a lasting way, and we recently visited one bankruptcy court clerk's office to see how they did it. In downtown St. Louis, the new courthouse for the Eastern District of Missouri created an opportunity for bankruptcy clerk of court Dana McQuay to honor court staff. We were placing the portraits of the judges on the walls, we were moving in the furniture, and it dawned on me we had nothing that showed the staff and their contribution to the court and how the court works. And it took some time for me to figure out how to find that contribution, how to make that vivid, how to make it real. But McQuay had more in mind. I also wanted to send a message to our staff that it's important that they recognize that in some day in the future they're going to be recognized officially by the court with some physical remembrance of their time here. I think it's a very good idea. I've heard a lot of positive comments from our employees in terms of you work hard. It's a way of remembering your contributions to the court. McQuay created a project team which decided on a commemorative wall plaque with individual staff names. It was important for us on this project to involve an interdisciplinary team to make this work. We wanted to have the procurement people in up front. I learned a lot along the way about design and fabrication. Being flexible is very important. Lots of unexpected things happen. And we needed creative folks. So we called on the circuit librarian and she loaned us some of the time of the circuit librarian archivist, Joan Wilker. And we have a staff member in our court, Sue Toler, who is just really creative. She's a case administrator. We bounced ideas off each other and we went to some places to get ideas of what other places had done. Pretty early on we decided we wanted to incorporate architectural elements and that led to including design elements we thought would reflect this building. And then we used the administrative assistant to the clerk, Susan Schmidt, who has just done a fabulous job of doing the logistics of coordinating this, coordinating the ceremony. I hope we get some feedback on that. I think it's nice how we have the screenshots. James placed those screenshots nicely. In an era of tight budgets, they had an overriding and guiding theme. We wanted this to be low tech, low cost and low maintenance. But it had to have gravitas. We wanted to have something that would live over time as more employees would retire. Hopefully we could add to that remembrance. This will be in place, it will be a practice that we follow and it's something that just isn't a flash in the pan. It has longevity to it. Administrative analyst Cornberger had logistical oversight of the design and fabrication. He says a key role was being an interpreter. I took information I obtained from the vendor in terms of what they thought in terms of design would look good for what we wanted to achieve. And basically I brought information back and forth. His advice works for any type of project. Don't make a lot of assumptions even if you think you know the answer. Don't assume that you understand what a person is saying. Asking a lot of questions and making sure that you clearly understand what the answer to that question is so that you can properly communicate that. Another factor in making this happen was involvement of judges. And McCoy uses a train metaphor to make her point. It really is important to have the judges behind the project. It's a message to the staff that the judges not only know their names but they value them and they recognize that the train runs and works because it's more than the judge at the bench. They know that this is a partnership. It is all of those people working together to make this so that the judiciary functions. So then it takes away from the seal if you adjust the light in that way. Because the commemorative plaque is for staff, not the public, McCoy chose a high traffic area within the clerk's office so that staff could see it in the course of their daily work. And so it's caused them to stop and look and recognize it and pay attention and it's really had people stop and think about their contributions to the court. Everybody worked together over the course of really what was almost a year and then how that all came together and came through fruition in the final product. Which was dedicated at a simple but moving ceremony this spring. Lorraine, it's our pleasure to have you. Thank you so much. It began more like a reunion. I heard you were married! Thank you, how are you doing? Good. Hi, how are you? Good to see you. Hi, how are you? Good to see you. Yes, hello, I'm so glad you came. Absolutely. We have a spot for you in this front row. After clerk of court McCoy welcomed retirees, several family members of deceased employees, court staff and staff from other agencies in the building, Chief Judge James J. Barda expressed the court's appreciation. We want to recognize those people who have retired from our court. We want to say to these retirees, thank you sincerely for building the foundation that we have today. We want this wall to be a reminder to our present court family that everything that we are doing today, all the hard work from 7.30 in the morning until late in the evening, it really is worth it all. This wall will also serve as a reminder to our present staff members that as you retire, your names will be added to the court's wall of honor. We fondly remember and hold in heart. The dedication continued with the plaque's inscription. We dedicate this wall of honor in recognition and appreciation of their many contributions. I have to tell you on behalf of the staff and behalf of the judges, we mean every single word. And we really want you to understand how important it is your contributions have been to the court. The public face of the judiciary is seen through the work of the judges and the work of the court staff. And in some cases, it is only the face of the court staff that the public sees as the face of the judiciary. And whether that is a court staff member at the front counter, on the telephone, through correspondence, the court staff make and contribute to the full functioning of the judiciary. Though brief, the ceremony was well received. Go up and see that. Go up and see that. I thought it was great. I enjoyed it. I'm honored. I'm honored. It's very nice. I think it was very nice and I appreciate it very much. I thought it was lovely. I was very honored to be invited. I thought it was very nice. The retirees agreed that the wall of honor could motivate current employees. I think it will be positive for them. We always try to encourage them to make a career out of the courts once they've joined us. I hope it gives them incentive. I hope it does because it's a nice way to be honored. The reception that followed was a chance for former employees to meet or reconnect with current staff. I just thought it was nice because we've never had anything like that and they showed their appreciation for their employees. I was thinking it was a wonderful wall and hoping that in a few years my name will be honored as a retiree. Seeing it just as a physical structure was at one level, but today it makes it human and that's what I know, what I like about it. You know, people are remembered, you know, for the years that they've served. I was impressed by the wall. It was special to me, special. It was marvelous. We are so fortunate to have a turnout as well as it did and I think it touched everybody who was here. The best part was the fact that the retirees were able to attend. Some came from as far away as Florida for this today. The goal of low tech, low cost and low maintenance was achieved, but so was a new way for this court to recognize its employees. I think there's probably been recognition, but there's never been anything that's been tangible that you could actually go to and say, this person, look what they did. So it's not just for yourself, but for other people to see. It's a nice, tangible reminder. In 1954, the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education, declared that public educational facilities segregated by race were inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional, but that decision did not address higher education. It took rulings by several lower federal courts in the early 1960s to open those doors. My colleague Bob Fagan tells us about one such case. In May 1961, James Meredith filed suit in U.S. District Court for admission to the University of Mississippi. After several months of trial, in February 1962, the District Court ruled that Meredith had failed to prove he was denied admission solely because of his race. Meredith immediately appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, asking that the decision be overturned and a temporary injunction granted so that he could enroll for the February school term. In the two-to-one ruling, the Court of Appeals denied the temporary injunction. Writing for the majority, Judge John Minor Wisdom emphasized that the case was tried below and argued here in the eerie atmosphere of Never Never Land. With counsel for the university contending, there was no state policy of maintaining segregated institutions of higher learning. Taking judicial notice of such a state policy, the majority held that a full trial on the merits was needed in order to clarify the muddy record that made it impossible to determine whether there were valid, nondiscriminatory grounds for the university's refusing Meredith's admission. In dissenting, Chief Judge Albert Tuttle said an injunction should be issued immediately. After the trial, the District Judge ruled once more that there was no denial of admission because of Meredith's race. The Fifth Circuit overturned that decision in June 1962. In another two-to-one opinion, the Court held that Meredith should be admitted to the university. Judge Wisdom, again writing for the majority, found that Meredith was rejected solely because he was a Negro and that the university had engaged in a well-defined pattern of delays and frustrations. After further legal maneuvering, US Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, in his capacity as Circuit Justice for the Fifth Circuit, issued an order on September 10th that cleared the way for issuance of the injunction allowing Meredith to enroll. But state officials were determined not to comply. Governor Ross Barnett directed state education and university officials to defy the court orders. During the last ten days of September, Meredith, who was accompanied to the Ole Miss campus in Oxford by US Justice Department officials and marshals, tried three times to register. Each time, university and state officials rebuffed him and he was confronted by state troopers and crowds of protestors. The crosses were burned on campus. For their refusal to comply with the court orders, the officials were held in contempt by the Fifth Circuit. Finally, on September 30th, in the face of growing defiance of federal authority, President John Kennedy issued an executive order authorizing the Secretary of Defense to take all appropriate steps to enforce all orders of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and to remove all obstructions of justice in the state of Mississippi. That night, Meredith was quietly brought through a side entrance to the campus and moved into a dormitory. Unaware that Meredith had already arrived, angry crowds of students, townspeople and outsiders gathered on campus throughout the evening to face a cordon of US Marshals and what has become known as the Battle of Oxford, Bedlam and Sioux. Thousands of Army and National Guard troops were mobilized, hundreds of rioters were incarcerated, scores of people were injured and two civilians were shot and killed. That night, a university professor wrote in his diary, This is 1962 and because one Negro has been admitted or is about to be admitted, it seems, to Ole Miss, a new civil war has begun. Meredith, ensconced in the dorm, was unaware of Aldermaham until morning when federal officials escorted him across campus to register. Until his graduation in August 1963, James Meredith was guarded 24 hours a day by teams of US Marshals and Army troops. That's a moment in court history for today. Join me for another on a future Court to Court. Many court units around the country find innovative ways to deal with wide-ranging challenges in their particular circumstances. We feature some of these efforts as recognition of creative problem-solving and as techniques that others might use. Today we highlight the Eastern District of Missouri Probation Office's Offender Employment Program. It's an outstanding example of dedicated staff thinking creatively and using collaboration to achieve goals. In this case, Employment for Offenders, which is one of the standard conditions of supervised release for federal offenders. US Probation Officers monitor compliance. I've been a probation officer for 10 years and normally it's just, you know, you've got to have a job, you've got to have a job. You have to have a job, I don't care what you do. I've never thought of it long-term. Success beyond the period of supervision is one of the goals outlined in Monograph 109 and the procedures for supervision. So the challenge is more than an offender simply getting a job. But it's helping them keep the job and retention is what's going to relate to long-term success for these folks. It's almost impossible to overstate the importance of employment for offenders. Nationally an offender is four times more likely to be revoked if they are unemployed. Burris, who collects movie posters from the 40s and 50s, assessed the district's caseload unemployment rate when he arrived as chief in 2000. He learned that 12% of offenders were unemployed. That was more than three times the area's unemployment rate. But there was more. The revocation rate in this district was 47% higher than the national probation average. In examining those figures, we also found that four out of every five offenders that was revoked was unemployed at that time. So we started to recognize that we were forgetting those under-employed and we weren't thinking about making sure that there was some match between interest and the employment that folks got. With that motivation and based on training from the Justice Department's National Institute of Corrections, Burris and his staff created an offender employment program and a position for an employment specialist. We assist people that are unemployed and also those that are under-employed seeking jobs that pay living wages, have promotional opportunities and benefits. Anders helps his colleagues understand employment issues for offenders. They're getting into that. I'm a convicted felon syndrome and I think they're kind of losing hope on finding something. There's a great training program that's put on by productive workforce development that we can refer her to. It's called Learning to Work at App. Officer Yule learned to look for signs of problems on the job. How do you get along with your supervisor? How do you get along with your coworkers? Are you getting to work on time? Those type of issues. Job retention has become very important to me. Now off supervised release, Cedric Bradley had been one of Yule's clients. Yes, I've had other jobs, but nothing really just really caught my attention to make me want to stay there. Once I sat down and talked with him and really dove into the issues of why he couldn't maintain employment, it was due to job interest and low pay. So at that point, I referred him to the employment program for assistance. He was asking me about my previous employment and the skills that I had. He was trying to just make sure that it was a job that I would like and go to. It may not seem so important that an offender should necessarily like a job, but interest does affect job retention. Greg Martin is a small business owner who's had trouble getting production workers to stay with the job at his printing company. After meeting Scott and the others in his office, it became a no-brainer pretty quickly that they were going to help me find an individual who was not only motivated but interested in this kind of work. I think the key to success in getting employers to participate is to create a relationship with them. He sent me a couple of guys to interview, Cedwick being one of them, and after a couple of sit-downs with Cedwick, it was get them in here and get to work. Bradley likes this job because he can creatively solve problems. It's like I have different ideas that I can put to a table to try to get a job finished. It's more than one way to complete a task, so I just use the one that's most effective for me. He is definitely dedicated to showing up, which is a big thing in this type of job. He's enthusiastic about coming in. To have this particular job since I like it, it means a whole lot, a new start. It's intentional that the space is here so these panels don't butt up to each other. That's why they're missing the ear and the fingertips here, so you did get that. That's perfect. In addition to employers, the Offender Employment Team also works with public and private organizations that want to help people change their lives. The most important part of our program is the collaborations that we have created, and that has been the true key to our success. You've got to talk about what are the common goals and how you can help each other, and as we became more successful and got more credibility, people actually started coming to us and saying, I'd like to be involved or I'd like to help. One organization they work with is the non-profit Connections to Success. Its mission is to break the cycle of poverty one family at a time. We try to select individuals that have set a plan and are really showing a sincerity and commitment to changing their life. Mr. Ghani was recently released from custody, and at the time of his release was unemployed. At enrollment we talked about his interests, what motivated him, and how we might best help him. Which led to Muhammad Ghani's referral with Connections to Success. And we've helped him with job placement, and transportation is one of his barriers. So he applied through our Wheels for Success program, and today is the day that he gets his car. Among other activities, Lambert's Group provides donated automobiles to qualified participants. So it's my privilege to hand you the keys to a 1997 Saturn right here today. Ghani had found work as a sales representative with a local business directory publication, and now will be able to make calls beyond his immediate neighborhood. I'd like to thank everybody in the program for helping me believe in me and also motivating me, pushing me forward and letting me know that there's people out here that do believe in you and they will give you a second chance. News media coverage of such events helps bring public awareness of the program. One of the probation officers' early successes, and one which it repeats each year, was a one-day job fair. Using a local college as a venue, the employment team worked with 48 employers and organizations to meet with offenders who were on federal, state, or city supervision. About one-fifth of them found a job or enrolled in a training program. We have had fantastic support from our local media, and our first annual career fair drew attention because it was the first of its kind in this area, and the turnout was amazing. We had over 1,000 applicants coming through. Of course a program such as this doesn't just happen. The key to having an effective employment program is to have passionate people involved in the process. I like that it was working with media and Tracy with the facility. The team has to be really committed to trying things that are different, and sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Even if it doesn't, we've always learned something or created a new collaboration because of that event. The Eastern Missouri Probation Office has itself begun training other probation offices and vendors, such as halfway houses. We can give them a heads up on the training that's going to be happening this year. We didn't start out thinking that training was going to be one of our big missions, but when we went through this training ourselves, we really saw the value. The Probation Office partners with the National Institute of Corrections and the National Career Development Association to provide a course involving two separate week-long sessions with both classroom work and a practicum. It's a very intense training curriculum, but it provides a firm foundation about the issues related to offender employment. Among those issues are the barriers to employment that offenders often face in the transition from incarceration to supervised release. Some of the referrals to our employment program need additional training or college to find jobs. Others have no work experience and come in and need training on even how to interview, how to deal with those questions about incarceration and the gaps in their work history. We just need to be surrounded by those people that really care, because employment is one of the major things too that we have a problem with, especially when we have to check that little box that says, yeah, I've been convicted. Former offender Pamela Palacios is a supervisor at the detox unit of a Salvation Army Center. Hey, Gloria. Yes, ma'am. I've got a client for detox. Yes, we have a force seeking detox at this time. At one point during her supervised release, she worked for an organization which provides free bus trips for children of incarcerated mothers. And I was having a battle with the Department of Corrections as far as me getting in, being a part of the bus trips. And there was a stipulation that you had to be all probation for a certain length of time. They were not willing to let me in. So we corresponded with the Missouri Department of Corrections based on the significant progress that she had made under supervision, supported her in that request, and so she was able to take that job on. And it really gave her some great experience. One thing that happened during our meeting today, we were talking about us getting bombarded with the phone calls. We know that you and Ms. Mitchell know how to screen the people to find out where the phone calls need to really be routed to. It's very emotional and intense, and I guess because these same people here who are my clients, I was once a client to someone. By working to ensure that people are in jobs that match their interests and by providing services that improve job retention, probation offices reduce revocations and recidivism. In the Eastern District of Missouri, the caseload unemployment rate dropped more than half in five years. Over that time, the local unemployment rate in the community has gone up. A second way that we have monitored the success of this program is tracking violations. In the five years since the program has been in place, our caseload, the number of offenders we have under supervision, has increased by over 53 percent. Yet over that same time period, the total number of violations filed have decreased by about half. The third and final way that we've measured the program has been with the impact it's had on individuals and their families. I got my family, I got kids that I have to worry about and I want to make sure that I leave something long better than them than a prison record or something that's negative. Burrah says another saving from reduced revocation and recidivism is the cost to house someone in a federal prison, currently about $23,000 a year. He believes everyone involved wins because of the offender employment program. It benefits the community by having people contribute to the tax base rather than take from it. It benefits the employers by having employees that truly appreciate an opportunity. It benefits the court by lowering the workload as violations go down. Then of course it benefits the people, the offenders that become part of the program. They get to become productive citizens. So far so good. So far so good. I have my two daughters. I have my job. I'm three years into school social work at Forest Park Community College and things are just better. Chief U.S. probation officer Burrah says his office will help other districts implement a similar program if they have a strong desire and commitment to make it successful. He can be contacted at the email address on the screen. Also, the AO's office of probation and pretrial services provides a listserv to connect those working with offender employment. The listserv can be accessed at this address. Once in the listserv itself, click on join or leave the list and follow the instructions. That's our program for today. We'd like to hear your comments and get your ideas for future topics. Please email me at the address on the screen. On the next Court to Court broadcast, among the stories we'll feature is how one circuit court library highlights circuit history and we'll learn the definitive meanings of more words to know. We hope you'll join us. On behalf of everyone at the Federal Judicial Center, thank you for watching today.