DJ profiles 2/3's Justice Dhanidina

Today's DJ offers Paving the Way -- Halim Dhanidina embraces a ‘Muslim judge’ identity to dispel misperceptions, fight bias.

• Dhanidina said he tries to pass on a sense of inclusiveness from his position on the bench. That could mean a good-faith effort to pronounce someone’s name correctly. After years of his last name being butchered by grade-school teachers, he knows that’s important. It could also mean training himself not to allow his own intuitive stereotypes to interfere with his rulings.
• “Trying to craft a shorter more streamlined opinion has sort of a ripple effect in making all of the operations quicker,” he said. “I try to limit my observations to what’s absolutely necessary to resolve the issue before us.”
• “I try to look at everything with a fresh set of eyes,” he continued. “You have to be willing to periodically evaluate yourself and ask yourself, ‘What can we do better?’” On the brink of his one-year anniversary on the court, Dhanidina has been taking a moment to reflect and said one thing has stood out in his mind:
• “I have no buyer’s remorse at all,” he said. “I was at a training last year where the chief justice asked me, ‘Do you miss the trial court?’ and the answer is I do miss it, but I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be here. I think that I’ve grown intellectually and professionally in ways that surpass my expectations, and it’s provided me an opportunity to contribute to the justice system that I have been so dedicated to over the years in a different way.”