August 2023 President's Letter

It's hard to believe that summer is almost over. I hope you've had an enjoyable summer with family and friends -  in spite of the excessive heat.  July was busy. The NAWJ Human Trafficking Committee (HTC)  has created a video designed to help judges identify human trafficking victims in their courtroom. The goal of this training video is to provide judges handling a variety of cases that come before them the ability to detect the potential that the case and person or persons before them intersect with human trafficking and exploitation. Sometimes the victim is hiding in plain sight. That video will be presented at  the annual conference during the program presented by the HTC. New York continues to have a robust mentorship program for the Afghan women judges who are now making New York their home. NAWJ hosted a successful gathering for new NAWJ members. It was a wonderful opportunity for leadership and staff to connect with new NAWJ members and for them to meet us. During that gathering, new NAWJ members were encouraged to join NAWJ Committees and to attend the upcoming Annual Conference.

Please be reminder that the deadline for nominations for positions as posted on NAWJ website  on the Executive Committee is August 4th. Please consider nominating  yourself or someone else for one of the vacant positions on the executive committee. At the annual meeting NAWJ will present numerous awards. The deadline for nominations for The Joan Dempsey Klein Honoree of the Year and The Florence K. Murray awards is August 4th. Descriptions for those awards are on the NAWJ website. Please consider nominating someone you feel qualifies for one of these awards.

By the time this monthly statement posts many of our members will be in Denver attending the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Annual Meeting in Denver. At that meeting one of our members, Judge/Col Linda Murnane, will be receiving the Franklin N. Flaschner Award from the National Conference of Specialized Court Judges. Congratulations to her.

NAWJ and the ABA, through the Judicial Division (JD) of the ABA, have partnered creating a group membership opportunity with a substantial ABA dues discount for NAWJ members who join the ABA JD.  If you join the ABA  through the NAWJ group, your ABA dues will be substantial discounted. The ABA’s new bar year starts September 1st, so now  is the time to join. If you are currently a member of the ABA  you can also take advantage of the discount if you renew your ABA membership through the NAWJ group. You must go through NAWJ and join the JD to take advantage of the ABA group discounted membership. If you wish to take advantage of the group membership or have any questions,   please contact NAWJ Executive Director Laurie Denham for more information on how to join.

As you know NAWJ has a seat in the House of Delegates (HOD) of the ABA. That seat is tied to the number of NAWJ members who are also members of the ABA. It is important to keep this seat to allow NAWJ an opportunity to weigh in on so many issues that the ABA addresses through its Resolutions,  policies, and advocacy that impact some of NAWJ’s core values such as access to justice, the rule of law, diversity equity and inclusion, and judicial independence. Having a seat at the table gives us access and provides an opportunity to weigh in on these important issues.

The NAWJ Annual Conference is fast approaching, October 5-7, 2023. The deadline for early registration has been extended to August 4th. We have great programs, keynote speakers (The Honorable Rosemarie Aquilina, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, and The Honorable J. Michelle Childs) , and social events lined up. This is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends and to make new ones. I look forward to seeing you in Indianapolis!

Respectfully submitted,

Judge Toni E. Clarke, (Ret)
President, NAWJ