Category: News

Earlier this month, the National Judicial Opioid Task Force (NJOTF) convened in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Presenters from national organizations with knowledge and expertise on the opioid crisis shared information, resources, and discussed collaboration with state courts and the NJOTF.

Content from each presentation is now available online and linked below:

• Pregnant and Parenting Women with Opioid Use Disorders: Implications for Child Welfare and Juvenile Dependency by Nancy Young, Executive Director, Children and Family Futures.
• Collaboration Opportunities: Addiction Medicine, Justice and the Opioid Crisis by Penny S. Mills, Executive Vice President/CEO, American Society of Addiction Medicine.
• Substance Use Disorders: A Public Health and Public Safety Priority by Kathryn Cates-Wessel, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.
• Opioid Addictions Outbreak: A Response to a Public Health Crisis in Erie County, New York by Matt Chase, Executive Director, National Association of Counties and Mark Poloncarz, County Executive, Erie County, New York.
• Combating the Opioid Epidemic by Carrie Hill, Director, National Center for Jail Operations, National Sheriffs Association.
• How Governors and States Are Approaching the Opioid Epidemic by Chelsea Kelleher, Senior Policy Analyst, Best Practices Health Division, National Governors Association.
• Overview of State Opioid Policy and Legislation by Alison Lawrence, Program Director and Amber Widgery, Senior Policy Specialist, Criminal Justice Program, National Conference of State Legislatures.
• Advancing Justice: The Opioid Crisis by Carson Fox, Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Drug Court Professionals.
• NAAG Efforts Against the Opioid Epidemic by Chris Toth, Executive Director, National Association of Attorneys General.

This content builds on and expands previous NJOTF efforts.  Sharing this information is consistent with principles developed in January 2018.  SJI provided key support to launch the Task Force and remains a partner in these efforts.

The SJI Board of Directors met on June 11, 2018, at the Minnesota Judicial Center to make decisions on quarterly grant applications and awarded a total of 10 new grants.

A Project Grant was awarded to the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts for a statewide gender bias assessment.  The project will identify and describe gender bias with a particular focus on how race, poverty, and other intersectional identities impact women when they access the courts, participate in proceedings, or work in the court environment, and the consequences they experience once they leave the courthouse.  The National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) has expressed interest in this project, and will seek to incorporate the outcomes of the assessment into their meeting programming.  In addition, both the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) have expressed renewed interest in gender bias in the courts, as demonstrated by a recent resolution encouraging state judicial branch education on workplace harassment, procedures for addressing harassment, and directing the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to create a repository of resources on workplace harassment, including model policies and procedures.

Seven (7) Technical Assistance (TA) Grants were awarded: the 17^th Judicial Circuit of Illinois for an efficiency and process assessment for; the NCSC for a municipal court interactive learning and website revision project; the Texas Municipal Court Education Center to build trust and confidence through model court websites and signage; the Texas Office of Court Administration for a family court outcomes assessment; the Colorado Administrative Office of the Courts for a plain language forms project; the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts for a strategic planning initiative; and the Barry County, Michigan, Family Court Division for a strategic planning project.

Two (2) Curriculum Adaptation and Training (CAT) Grants were awarded: the NAWJ for a sexual harassment education program; and the Institute for Continuing Judicial Education of Georgia for a judicial faculty development workshop.

The next deadline for grant applications is August 1, 2018 (FY 2018, 4th quarter).

With support from SJI, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) released a new report titled, Jurors With Disabilities, as well as a corresponding presentation.

Both products derive from a greater need expressed by the state court community for updated, comprehensive information that addresses the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and other statutory requirements requiring accommodations.

The presentation provides an overview of ADA Title II, including exceptions, and lesser known Architectural Barriers Act, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and a nod to state statues that may require more compliance than federal laws.  It includes detailed notes for each slide to assist the reader.

The report delves much more deeply into accommodations for jurors with disabilities; what is needed and necessary; and how to conduct a “reasonableness analysis” if a court denies an accommodation.  Included in the report is extensive caselaw related to the public sector, and specifically court accommodations for jurors.  Other key elements include:

• A timeline of courts and disabilities;
• Assistive devices and technology to accommodate persons that are blind, Deaf-Blind, low vision, or have hearing impairments;
• Conditions specifically excluded under ADA, and some of the more difficult determinations, such as alcoholism, illicit drug use, and persons receiving treatment for a substance-use addiction;
• Service animals and the allowable information a court may obtain to make determinations; and,

General guidance designed to achieve a proactive program, with well-trained jury managers, that maintains compliance as its cornerstone.

Former SJI Board Chair and Alabama Chief Justice Clement Clay “Bo” Torbert, Jr. died on Saturday, June 2, 2018. In November 1976, he was elected Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court where he served two terms until 1988. During his tenure as Chief Justice, he was active in national and international judicial organizations, serving as President of the Conference of Chief Justices, Chairman of the National Center for State Courts, and SJI’s first Board Chair, serving from 1986 to 1991. After leaving the court, he taught at both the University of Alabama School of Law and Cumberland School of Law before joining the law firm Maynard, Cooper & Gale where he practiced until his retirement.

The SJI Board of Directors met on April 23, 2018, at the St. Louis County, Missouri, Courthouse to make decisions on quarterly grant applications and awarded a total of 13 new grants.

A Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG) was awarded to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to support a Natural Language Processing initiative for state courts.   Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a field of computer science, artificial intelligence, and computational linguistics that employs predictive analysis and machine learning, and focuses on the interaction between computers and both written and spoken language.  NLP has become useful for a variety of legal tasks, most prominently as the primary technique employed in e-discovery to identify documented related to a specific query based on keywords or phrases.  Although courts have vast repositories of legal documents, they have been slow to adopt NLP technologies.  This project will support the use of NLP for court operations in two distinct areas: 1) triage of civil cases into appropriate case processing pathways; and; 2) quality control for high-volume dockets to ensure principals of procedural due process.  For civil case triage, the NCSC will work with general jurisdiction courts that participated in the Civil Justice Initiative (CJI) automated civil case triage project, to use NLP to identify and extract key terms and characteristics from the case pleadings and develop a more robust triage model than was possible using a case management system.  For quality control over high-volume documents, the NCSC will work with one or more limited jurisdiction courts to identify inaccurate or missing information from case documents in consumer debt collection or other high-volume dockets that would signal the need for increased judicial review.  The project will be guided by an 8-member Advisory Committee consisting of the Conference of State Court Administrators/National Association for Court Management/NCSC Joint Technology Committee (JTC), the Court Information Technology Officers Consortium (CITOC), and other subject matter experts.

A Project Grant was awarded to the Missouri Judiciary to support a Circuit Realignment Plan.  The plan will include: recommendations for changes to the geographical boundaries and territorial jurisdiction of the judicial circuits; a statement on the numbers and boundaries of the proposed judicial circuits, together with a map of the proposed judicial circuits; a current judicial weighted workload model, clerical weighted workload model, judicial duties and travel time; and other information deemed relevant by the Missouri Judicial Conference.

Seven (7) Technical Assistance (TA) Grants were awarded: The 4th Judicial Circuit of Florida to increase access to family court forms; the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts for a criminal case management assessment in Jefferson County; Yakima County, Washington, Superior Court for a calendaring and case management project; the National Association of Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers (NAPCO) to update and promote the 2005 monograph titled, Key Elements of an Effective Rule of Court on the Role of the Presiding Judge in Trial Courts; the Berrien County, Michigan, Trial Court for a strategic planning project; the Hawaii Judiciary for a plain language English translation and training initiative; and the 37th Judicial Circuit of Alabama for a caseload assessment.

Four (4) Curriculum Adaptation and Training (CAT) Grants were awarded: the National Judicial College (NJC) for a judicial webcasts series; the NJC for a judicial podcast series; the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts to develop a curriculum for establishing business courts; and the 8th District Court of Michigan for an implicit bias/procedural fairness education program for judges and staff.

The next deadline for grant applications is August 1, 2018 (FY 2018, 4th quarter).

On May 15, 2018, The U.S. Senate confirmed SJI Board member John Nalbandian to be a U.S. Circuit Court Judge for the Sixth Circuit.

Mr. Nalbandian currently is a partner in the Litigation Department of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP.  He concentrates on appellate and complex litigation in state and federal courts and is a member of the firm’s Appellate Practice group.  He has represented clients in a wide range of areas including antitrust, class actions, products liability, intellectual property, and white collar crime.  Mr. Nalbandian is a member of the Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, and District of Columbia Bars.  He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He also serves on the Ohio State Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Specialty Board and is a member of the Greater Cincinnati Minority Counsel Program’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Nalbandian is a Life Member of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and serves on the Life Member Committee.  He has served as a Board member of the Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky and the Northern Kentucky Tri-Ed Board of Directors, and has been recognized annually since 2007 by The Best Lawyers in America for his work in Appellate Law. He has also served as a Special Justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court and is a frequent presenter on appellate practice.  He was appointed to the SJI Board of Directors in 2010.

The National Judicial College (NJC) regularly offers webcasts that provide judges with a flexible opportunity to engage in professional development from their chambers.  SJI and other partners often provide resources to the NJC, so they are able to offer webcasts at no charge with advance registration.  The NJC also maintains an On-Demand Catalog of course content and webcasts that are archived.

The NJC has a website for upcoming webcasts, and the option to subscribe to a list for future course and eCasts announcements.

Earlier this month, as part of Law Day celebrations taking place across the country, the Cochise County Law Library reopened as a Self-Help Center.  Housed within the Bisbee Courthouse, the newly remodeled space offers dynamic new spaces filled with natural light, allowing for individual and group discussions.

With a grant from SJI, consultants from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) were able to provide assistance to the Court in order to achieve a transformation that will allow greater access to legal forms, information, and/or guided help with research for both attorneys and the public.  Some of the outcomes included:

• Space where events and informational clinics can be held;
• Added public computer terminals for public research;
• Dedicated space for interpreters and translators to work with clients;
• Caselaw access electronically; and,
• A new librarian position to assist with increased traffic.

To learn more about the effective use of court space and resources, visit the Cochise County news page and the NCSC’s courthouse facilities section website.

The Conference of Chief Justices/Conference of State Court Administrators (CCJ/COSCA) National Task Force on Fines, Fees, and Bail Practices recently released an 8-page report titled, Principles on Fines, Fees, and Bail Practices.

The principles each fall into one of the following seven categories:

• Structural and Policy-Related Principles
• Governance Principles
• Transparency Principles
• Fundamental Fairness Principles
• Pretrial Release and Bail Reform Principles
• Fines, Fees and Alternative Sanctions Principles; and,
• Accountability Principles

Categories and principles are expected to be refined as the Task Force and its stakeholders work through existing and emerging issues on court fines, fees, and bail practices, including pending legislation and cases in individual states.

The Task Force originated in 2016 from the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators.  Collaboration at the time identified a need to: develop recommendations and tools to promote the fair and efficient enforcement of the law; ensure no person is denied access to the justice system based on lack of economic resources; and, develop policies relating to legal financial obligations that promote access, fairness, and transparency.  SJI, along with the DOJ/Bureau of Justice Assistance, has provided grant funding to support the work of the Task Force.

The Human Trafficking and the State Courts Collaborative recently added a new resource –  a webinar by the National Resource Center on Justice Involved Women and the Center for Court Innovation that explores the nexus between prostitution, human trafficking, and victimization among justice involved women.  Over 200 participants registered for the original webinar, and it continues to be shared weekly.

Content included:

• Strategies that justice system stakeholders can take to identify women who may be victims of exploitation and human trafficking;
• Tools to address their needs; and,
• Ways the justice system and its partners can collectively improve their response to these women.

The full webinar is available online as are the materials and additional resources.