Cobb Courts Among First In GA To Hold Implicit Bias Training

COBB COUNTY, GA — The entire Cobb judiciary learned about implicit biases related to race and equity and how they can affect judgments in court in a training last week.

The Superior Court hosted an interactive, implicit bias training from the National Training Institute on Race and Equity (NTIRE) at Morehouse College last Friday, led by the organization's founder and chief equity officer Bryant T. Marks, according to a news release.

The NTIRE describes implicit bias as an unconscious mental association between a group and a trait or characteristic that can influence someone's feelings or behavior toward said group — such as a particular race, gender, age, religion or socioeconomic status. The training focused on the normalcy of implicit biases as a byproduct of being human, living in society and being overexposed to certain groups with certain traits in certain roles.

Implicit biases are not about the content of one's character, but about the way human minds work, the release said. Fifty judges from Cobb superior, state, juvenile, probate, magistrate and municipal courts attended the training.

“It’s important to let the public know that we take very seriously our solemn obligation to dispense justice fairly and impartially,” Chief Judge Rob Leonard, who organized the training, said in the March 3 release.

Marks served on former President Barack Obama's board of advisors with the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, the release said. He also served as a senior advisor with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Additionally, Marks has provided implicit bias training to more than 2,000 police chiefs and executives via a series of briefings at the White House, and trained "tens of thousands" of police officers in local police departments and local prosecutors across the U.S., the release said.

“It is important for us to begin to understand and address the historic race issues affecting justice in the court system and this training was a great first step," Superior Court Judge Angela Brown, who attended the training, said in the release. "To see my colleagues from all classes of Cobb courts and such great participation from my own Superior Court bench is encouraging.”

Chief Magistrate Brendan Murphy said he also found the training useful.

“As magistrate judges, our decisions set the trajectory for the entire criminal justice process,” Murphy said in the release. “Even small unconsidered and unchecked unconscious biases can have devastating consequences. I’m grateful Chief Judge Leonard organized this dynamic presentation and proud that all 18 Cobb magistrate judges actively participated.”