Deciding Cases: Deliberations

Some civil rights cases require a “deliberation hearing”; other cases may require no hearing at all. For those cases that do require a hearing, Commissioners may be asked to participate in deciding these cases that come before the Commission for “final agency action.” To decide cases, panels of three (3) Commissioners are assembled under the authority of the Commission Chair.

If you are asked to participate in a set of deliberations hearings, you will typically will be given about four weeks’ notice prior to the actual hearing date to allow you time to determine whether, depending upon your schedule, you are able to participate. Usually, two to six cases are scheduled for any given hearing day. These hearings are conducted over the telephone so you will be able to participate from your office or home via phone. Copies of the records of each case to be heard will be provided to you in sufficient time for you to review them prior to the scheduled hearing day.

If you agree to serve on a deliberations hearing panel and you then find out later that you have a scheduling conflict, notify the Commission staff person who requested your participation. The Commission schedules four Commissioners to participate in deliberations hearings: three who actually participate and one “alternate” to cover situations when a Commissioner has a last-minute schedule conflict and cannot participate.

If you agree to participate on a Commission panel on cases that do not require a hearing, you will be sent case materials to review and voting sheets, which are to be returned to the Clerk of the Commission.

If a Commissioner decides he or she wishes to have a formal deliberation on a case, a deliberation hearing will be scheduled upon request to the Commission’s legal advisor. Legal staff will process the request and appropriate notices in conjunction with the Clerk of the Commission. If an oral argument is requested from the parties in advance, according to existing policies, the oral argument will be scheduled at the same time as the deliberation meeting. Each side’s presentation will be limited to 15 minutes. This presentation should not include a repeat of any materials submitted with the request to the Commission. These presentations will be properly recorded. In the event of an oral argument, court reporting expenses will be the responsibility of the party requesting the presentation.

The Commission may amend the current protocol to designate the types of cases to be set for deliberation, if any, so that when such a case is received, the hearing may be scheduled and the case completed within the required 90-day timeframe.

Alternatively, if any Commissioner has issues with a case, the Commissioner should discuss those issues with the Commission’s legal advisor for the purposes of deciding the case.

As always, the Commission’s legal staff, as your legal advisor in these matters, stands ready to assist you with any questions or concerns you may have about participating on a panel or about any particular case on which you are asked to participate.