(Presidentialwire.com)- According to an exclusive report on Fox News, the federal court system is establishing a mentorship program within its probation and pretrial offices designed to create a “psychologically safe space” for “minoritized staff.”
Fox News obtained a memo outlining the Probation and Pretrial Services System’s 2-year Assistance Inclusion Diversity Equity mentorship program in which non-executive employees who identify as a minority can participate.
While the program memo doesn’t define who the “minoritized staff” are, it emphasizes the importance of equity and diversity in the workplace in light of the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery which “sparked outrage about police brutality and social injustice.”
The memo, issued in November by the national office of the Probation and Pretrial Services System, claimed that “we are traumatized by unlawful police acts” and have “all” experienced “racism fueled by fear tactics” and that these “system barriers” are continuing to “espouse false stereotypes about us.”
According to a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, two of the 13 US circuit courts have adopted the mentorship program so far: the 6th and 7th circuits, which cover Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
However, the spokesperson clarified that some people who aren’t racial minorities will be allowed to participate in the mentorship program. The purpose of the program is to provide mentors the employees can relate to “as they navigate the early phases of their careers” or transfer to new roles or responsibilities, the spokesperson explained.
The goal of the program is to “improve recruitment and retention of excellent pretrial and probation staff,” the spokesperson told Fox.
According to the memo, program mentors will build a “psychologically safe space for mentees.” Employees who identify with a minority group can apply for a subgroup within the program that will hold regular virtual meetings.
Fox spoke with three legal experts who reviewed the memo and all three believe the program may violate civil rights laws since it is structured to benefit exclusive groups of employees.
Read the full report at Fox News HERE.
