Category: News

In November 2016, the Circuit Civil Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida implemented the Civil Justice Initiative Pilot Project (CJIPP) to test the impact of Civil Case Management Teams (CCMTs) on civil case processing.   CCMTs were envisioned as an essential component of civil justice reform in the report and recommendations of the CCJ Civil Justice Improvements Committee.  With SJI support, the CJIPP created four CCMTs, each consisting of a judge, a case manager, a judicial assistant, and a bailiff.  The CCMTs developed a standardized case management process to streamline administrative tasks, triage cases into appropriate case management pathways, and monitor case progress.  The remaining 21 judges in the Circuit Civil Division continued to manage civil caseloads under traditional case processing practices and staffing assignments, providing a baseline for comparison.

To assess the impact of CJIPP, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) conducted an outcome evaluation that compared the outcomes of cases assigned to the CJIPP teams with those assigned to the non-CJIPP judges (baseline).  The NCSC found that CJIPP cases closed at a significantly higher rate, and approximately five months earlier on average than baseline cases.  Shortly after the initial launch of the pilot program, the CJIPP cases experienced a temporary increase in the number of court hearings and case management conferences as lawyers in the CJIPP cases requested modifications to case management orders, including continuances or extensions of time to complete litigation tasks; however, the frequency of these case events returned to normal levels within three months.  In addition to shorter timeframes and increased case activity, the CJIPP cases also showed a smaller ratio between the number of motions filed and the number of orders entered, suggesting that CJIPP judges were more responsive than baseline judges in deciding motions in a timely manner, thus preventing unnecessary costs and delay for litigants.

The NCSC evaluation also conducted focus groups and surveyed attorneys in CJIPP cases to solicit their perceptions about the pilot program.  Attorneys were positive overall about the case management practices introduced through CJIPP, with more than half of attorneys surveyed reporting that CJIPP judges set clear expectations and enforced case deadlines.  During focus groups, several attorneys also commented that the CJIPP judges’ level of oversight and willingness to enforce case management orders tended to reward competence and professionalism and to discourage unnecessary gamesmanship in litigation.   CJIPP judges also reported that the CCMT model removed some of the administrative burden associated with civil case management, giving them more time to review case details before hearings or deciding motions.  CJIPP judges also noted that attorneys seemed to respond positively to the greater attention from judges, moving their cases sooner than usual.

The NCSC evaluation report also describes challenges that the Court experienced during the CJIPP implementation as well as suggestions for other courts planning to implement CCMTs.

The Massachusetts Trial Court is looking for leaders willing to “commit to a longer-term partnership” between the courts and the community.  In Nebraska, the state Supreme Court wants to better recognize the needs of Native Americans.  The Franklin (Ohio) Municipal Court is learning how under-served populations perceive specialized dockets and its Self-Help Resource Center.

Those are three of the six court systems participating in NCSC’s Public Engagement Pilot Project, which aims to identify proven ways to build trust and confidence in the courts.  Each pilot court is working on a different aspect of court services in connection to public engagement.  After the project ends, toolkits will be available for courts nationwide.

Chief Judge of the D.C. Court of Appeals Anna Blackburne-Rigsby chairs the Community Engagement in the State Courts Initiative, which oversees the pilot project. At the first meeting of the pilot site teams earlier this year, Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby said courts have been working for decades to improve public trust and confidence in the courts, but little progress has been made.  She said the primary method courts have used is outreach to communities. Representatives from state teams and project researchers are pictured at top of the page.

“Outreach is one-way communication,” she said. “Engagement is different.  It involves listening. It’s a two-way.  We are going to come up with strategies, outcomes, toolkits, and data.  This project is going to make a difference.”

The other three pilot sites include:

• Kansas City (Mo.) Municipal Court, which is integrating court user surveys into its public engagement process;
• Puerto Rico Judicial Branch, which is focusing on helping communities address neighborhood conflict; and
• Texas Office of Court Administration, which is building on results from its prior “Beyond the Bench” effort.

The Public Engagement Pilot Project is building on information gathered and analyzed from a three-city listening tour in which judges met with community members to hear about their experiences with – and their impressions of – the courts. The sessions, broadcast on PBS titled “Courting Justice,” were held in Los Angeles, Cleveland and Little Rock, Ark.  After the listening tours, surveys were sent to court and civic leaders to hone in on specific areas of concern that courts need to address.  Each of the pilot sites is engaging the public to address such needs collaboratively.  Tune into this month’s podcast with Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Judith Nakamura addressed a joint session of the New Mexico Legislature earlier this year to outline plans for improving and streamlining New Mexico Courts  operations to better serve New Mexicans.  A core component moving forward will be an SJI grant-funded evaluation by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) of appellate court processes.

The first-ever evaluation is already underway and seeks to help the judiciary and court administration identify issues that need to be addressed.  It will work in tandem with a workload study, also to be performed by the NCSC of the district, metropolitan, and magistrate courts.

Plans for improving court operations are part of a campaign called “Advancing Judicial Excellence” that originated last spring at a meeting of chief judges, court executive officers and representatives of magistrate and municipal courts.

“This initiative, which will provide the framework for the judiciary’s strategic planning and budgets for the next three years is rooted in two simple questions,” the Chief Justice told lawmakers. “Are we doing our best work? And how can we do better?”

To further support state courts in developing and improving language access services, the National Center for State Courts provided direct technical assistance, guidance, and new tools for state and local courts with the support of an SJI Grant awarded in FY 2013.

In addition to providing individual local and state court technical assistance, the NCSC also used developed a national tool to assist state courts in locating and accessing qualified court interpreters that may not be easily sourced at the local level.  The result was the release of a court interpreter database with 1,324 interpreters in 49 languages, which was made available to court language access program managers across the country in 2016.

These efforts assisted local and state jurisdictions of varying size and governance structures not only in addressing their specific language access needs, but also in providing models and work products for use by others, thus contributing to significant improvements in language services nationwide.

The full report on the work completed by NCSC under this grant is available online at the NCSC Language Access Services Section website.

The SJI Board of Directors met on April 1, 2019 to make decisions on quarterly grant applications and awarded a total of 13 new grants.

Nine (9) Technical Assistance Grants were awarded: the Kansas Judicial Branch to improve and expand services for self-represented litigants; the Judiciary of Guam for an assessment of Superior Court case assignments; the Franklin County, Ohio, Municipal Court for strategic planning; the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) for a digital redesign project; the Montgomery County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas for behavioral screening of youth in court schools; the National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) for webinars and training on the judicial role in ensuring due process rights for youth; the Summit County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas for an adult probation improvements project; the Oregon Judicial Department for a reengineering assessment in Washington County; and the Colorado Bar Association for an online triage initiative for aging adults.

Four (4) Curriculum Adaptation and Training (CAT) Grants were awarded: NAWJ for educational sessions on elder issues; the National Judicial College (NJC) for educational programs on water rights law in times of shortage; NJC for digitization of the course titled, Presiding over a Capital Case; and the Nebraska Supreme Court for statewide education and collaboration on juvenile justice.

The next deadline for grant applications is May 1, 2019 (FY 2019, 3rd quarter).

The Public Engagement Pilot Initiative is a joint collaboration of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center, with grant support from the State Justice Institute (SJI).

After a nationwide call for proposals, six public engagement pilot projects have been selected from an exciting and diverse group of proposals.  Over approximately 18 months, the pilot projects will receive resources and support from the NCSC in partnership with the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center.  The sites will work both individually and collaboratively to engage their communities, with the goal of building trust.

Included in this effort are the following sites:

• Administrative Office of the Massachusetts Trial Court;
• Franklin County, Ohio Municipal Court;
• Kansas City, Missouri Municipal Court;
• Nebraska Supreme Court Office of the State Court Administrator;
• Puerto Rico Judicial Branch; and,
• Texas Office of Court Administration

To benefit all state courts, the Initiative will be developing a toolkit for courts to use in their own public engagement efforts.  Already developed as working documents are: 1) Visioning Public Engagement; and, 2) Appendices A and B, that detail issues identified and examples of public engagement.  More resources are expected to be added as the pilots move forward in their work.

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) recently released the Automated Redaction Proof of Concept Report, made possible by an SJI grant.  The goal of this 16-page, Proof of Concept (POC) Report, is to quantify the accuracy of automated redaction capabilities and share those results with the court community.

The report focuses on the following areas:

• Developing a comprehensive redaction policy;
• Identifying redaction targets;
• Evaluation and Metrics; and,
• POC Trials in multiple court settings.

The report is intended to provide: 1) background about the principles underlying the Revised Model Policy; and (2) a description of the categories of protected information included within the scope of the POC, the methodology that the NCSC and participating vendors followed during the POC, and, most importantly, the impressive results achieved in automated redaction of the data targets.

The chief justices of the six New England states have launched the New England Regional Judicial Opioid Initiative (NE RJOI), the second regional group of its kind.  The establishment of the New England group, which includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, comes at a time when federal, state and local leaders have committed to work together to combat the opioid epidemic and to help others recognize the crucial role that the courts play to fight this crisis.

The first joint effort, the Appalachia/Midwest Regional Judicial Opioid Initiative, included Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia.  It was established in 2017 – the same year the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators established the National Judicial Opioid Task Force.  The national task force, which NCSC staffs, was created to examine current efforts and find solutions to address the opioid epidemic.

Like the states in the first regional group, the New England states have experienced some of the highest opioid-related overdose death rates ranging from 36 deaths per 100,000 in New Hampshire to 18 deaths per 100,000 in Vermont, according to the most recent figures available. The New England states also have some of the nation’s highest rates of opioid prescriptions per 100 people.  The rates range from 60 per 100 in Massachusetts to 70 per 100 in Maine.

In support of the NE RJOI, the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance has awarded the group $1.5 million. The initiative intends to develop a multi-state approach to the opioid epidemic with a focus on the courts.  The project will allow states to share best practices, coordinate and standardize procedures, and communicate in a more targeted and unified way.

The Elements of Judicial Excellence (EJE) are a set of knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics of being a great judge that emerged from lengthy consultations with Illinois judges.

The EJE framework was developed with support from SJI and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC).  In the NJC’s 2019 printed catalog, courses are aligned with the Elements of Judicial Excellence.  A graphic representation of the framework is on page 22.

To view which NJC courses align with which Elements of Judicial Excellence:

1. Go to the 2019 online catalog page.
2. Click on any of the three major development categories from the Elements of Judicial Excellence: Citizen of the Court Community, Informed and Impartial Decision-Maker, or Leader of the Court Process.
3. View the resulting list of 2019 courses designed to support that element.
4. Click “Read more” for a detailed description and the link to enroll.

To address the issue of gender bias and sexual harassment in the workplace, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) created a  web page for court employees and others with information specific to the courts work environment.  This project is supported with grant funding from SJI.

The web page includes information such as the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and American Bar Association (ABA) resolutions on sexual harassment and gender bias, judicial codes of conduct, and the ABA’s conduct code.  It also lists additional resources from the ABA, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Women’s Law Center, and the National Association of Women Judges.