Category: News

Many Americans will be or are involved in state courts via domestic relations cases (e.g. divorce, separation, child custody, child support, etc.).  Many states are reporting increases in these types of cases, along with increases in litigants who are representing themselves.  While the state courts, Access to Justice Commissions, and other key stakeholders are beginning to examine and implement best practices and programs to address these cases, there is limited information available about what works.

The SJI-funded Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) Civil Justice Initiative purposefully excluded domestic relations cases from its work, recognizing that these case types are sufficiently different from general civil cases to warrant independent analysis and recommendations.  What has become clear is that recommendations are needed to address domestic relations cases and guide state courts towards managing resources and improving outcomes.

With SJI support, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS), and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), in partnership with the CCJ/COSCA Courts, Children, and Families Subcommittee, will  assess the current landscape of domestic relations cases, and promulgate recommendations to improve proceedings, rules, and practices.  The Family Justice Initiative will consist of three phases: 1) Assess the Landscape and Best Practices; 2) Engineer Pathways and Development of Recommendations; and 3) Implementation and Evaluation.  The Family Justice Initiative will focus primarily on cases involving divorce/dissolution, property distribution and spousal support, and the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities.  Cases that originated in criminal, probate or juvenile courts will be excluded from FJI.

 

Earlier this year, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) conducted two focus groups, one specifically focused on privacy policies and the other on automated redaction.  The product of these focus groups is a white paper titled, “Best Practices for Court Privacy Policy Formulation.”  Prepared with support from SJI, the document outlines how privacy policies and redaction capabilities should be considered in concert with each other as state courts refine this business practice.

Court privacy policy was an area last addressed in 2002 by the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) in the report titled, “Developing CCJ/COSCA Guidelines for Public Access to Court Records:  A National Project to Assist State Courts.” An update review was necessary given that technology and transparency has both improved over the past 15 years.

The report includes a broad examination of the issues surrounding privacy, including public attitudes towards openness, accountability, and the value of data gleaned.  It also addresses specific cost/benefits of court technology used in automated redaction and risk averse strategy to accomplish the challenges associated with a comprehensive privacy policy.  Limited examples of courts in other counties utilizing automated redaction technology with greater efficiency are highlighted.

The report features four appendices that update, expand, or define for the first time, work from the seminal 2002 white paper.

 

Earlier this month, SJI Vice Chair Daniel Becker was among five state court professionals inducted into the Warren E. Burger Society.  Burger Society membership is reserved for individuals who have volunteered their time, talent, and support to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) in exceptional ways.

Mr. Becker worked for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts serving in the positions of: Deputy Director (1993-1995); Court Services Administrator (1986-1993); and Assistant to the Director (1984-1986).  He also held the position of Trial Court Administrator for the Fourteenth Judicial District of North Carolina, and Assistant Director of Operations for the Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts. From 2004 to 2005, he served as President of the Conference of State Court Administrators and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center for State Courts.  Mr. Becker was the recipient of the 2006 Warren E. Burger Award for Excellence in Judicial Administration.  He was initially appointed to the State Justice Institute (SJI) Board of Directors in 2010, and currently serves as Vice Chair.  He is the newly retired Utah state court administrator, a position he held since 1995.  Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ)  President, Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor (OH) and NCSC President Mary McQueen presided over the ceremony.

Joining Mr. Becker in the celebration were SJI Board of Directors Chief Justice John Minton (KY), Chief Justice and SJI Board Chair Chase Rogers (CT), Ms. Marsha Rabiteau, President of the Center for Human Trafficking Court Solutions, and SJI Executive Director Jonathan Mattiello.

The Burger Society is named for the former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, who, with the Conference of Chief Justices, helped found NCSC in 1971.

A press release with full details of the other recipients and the award presentation can be found online.

 

The October 2017 edition of Trends: Close Up, provides useful information to help courts plan, prepare for, and recover after a disaster.

In addition to natural disasters like hurricanes, the article covers other areas of emergency preparedness such as widespread grid damage, pandemics, and terrorist attacks.  The key considerations in all disaster scenarios center on: 1) who may exercise authority with respect to court operations?;  and  2) what does that authority entail?

Readers are asked to also review several publications on specific disaster scenarios:

• CCJ/COSCA’s Preparing for a Pandemic: An Emergency Response Benchbook and Operational Guidebook for State Court Judges and Administrators (2016);
• CCJ/COSCA’s Court Security Handbook: Ten Essential Elements for Court Security and Emergency Preparedness (2012); and,
• NCSC’s online Emergency Preparedness/Disaster Recovery Resource Guide

In addition to providing guidance necessary for starting important conversations among court executives, judicial officers, their partners, and others who may also be impacted, the article addresses several considerations unique to the issue of authority.  It also redirects the reader to the earlier work of the CCJ/COSCA Pandemic and Emergency Response Task Force, which posed an essential set of questions regarding court operations under known and unknown emergency contexts.

The Close Up publications are special reports, and are part of the National Center for State Courts’ “Trends in the State Courts” series.  They serve as informative and timely updates for state court leaders.

SJI continues to support state courts at the local, state, and national levels in preparing for, and responding to, disasters that impact court operations.

 

SJI recently released the Grant Guideline for FY 2018.  The Grant Guideline appears as part of the National Archives and Records Administration’s Federal Register, and sets forth the administrative, programmatic, and financial requirements for applying for and administering SJI grants.

Fiscal Year 2018 Deadlines for Project, Technical Assistance, and Curriculum Adaptation Grants are as follows:

• 1st Quarter – November 1, 2017;
• 2nd Quarter – February 1, 2018;
• 3rd Quarter – May 1, 2018; and,
• 4th Quarter – August 1, 2018.

 

A new brief by the National Center for State Courts’ Center for Sentencing Initiatives, funded in part by The Pew Charitable Trusts, addresses evidence-based sentencing (EBS) as part of a comprehensive sentencing policy for probation-eligible felony offenders.

Intended for a judicial audience, the brief:

• defines evidence-based sentencing;
• explains what risk and needs assessment (RNA) instruments are;
• how they differ from risk assessment (RA) instruments; and,
• outlines how judges may appropriately use RNA information to inform community corrections-related sentencing decisions.

Also detailed is the use of RNA tools to adjudicate matters fairly, without predictive or implicit bias.  The brief notes it is, “critical that the RNA tool be properly validated on the local criminal justice population with whom it will be used.”

The brief, Use of Risk and Needs Assessment Information in State Sentencing Proceedings, and other resources can be found online: www.ncsc.org/csi.

 

The misuse of opioids such as heroin, morphine, and prescription pain medicines is not only a devastating public health crisis, it is critically affecting the administration of justice in courthouses throughout the United States. The number of children in foster care because of parental substance abuse has nearly tripled since 2012, and drug overdose deaths are at record highs.  In response to this national crisis, SJI is funding a new Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ)/Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) National Opioid Task Force to examine current efforts, develop solutions, and make recommendations to address the opioid epidemic’s ongoing impact on the justice system.

The work plan for the judicial branch task force includes the following strategies:

• Convening representatives from state and federal government and key national organizations to share existing strategies and identify unmet needs.
• Creating partnerships with entities addressing the impact of opioids on children, with specific emphasis on foster care, assisting state courts in developing opioid task forces, and working with existing state task forces to make recommendations for local response efforts.
• Developing guiding principles that state courts can use for successful collaboration among treatment providers, criminal justice systems, and child welfare agencies.
• Creating a checklist of state legislation, policy, and court rules that aid or inhibit response efforts.

 

The SJI Board of Directors met on September 11, 2017, in Raleigh, North Carolina, to make decisions on quarterly grant applications, and awarded a total of four new grants.

A Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG) was awarded to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), in partnership with the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ), the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) to too support the CCJ/COSCA National Opioid Task Force.  The initiative will pursue short and long-term objectives that: 1) highlight the landscape of current responses and effective practices; 2) establish a mechanism to engage justice system partners in collaborative efforts; and 3) provide immediate tools for state courts in addressing the opioid crisis.  A SIG was also awarded to the NCSC, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS), and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCFJCJ), in partnership with the CCJ/COSCA Courts, Children, and Families Subcommittee, to assess the current landscape of domestic relations cases, and promulgate recommendations to improve proceedings, rules, and practices.

A Technical Assistance (TA) Grant was awarded to the National Judicial College (NJC), the Center for Court Innovation (CCI), and NCJFCJ to build an online judicial education self-study course on human trafficking.  Additional funding and support for this project is being provided by the Center for Human Trafficking Court Solutions (CHTCS).

A Curriculum Adaptation and Training (CAT) Grant was awarded to the Missouri Office of the State Court Administrator to support statewide Institute for Court Management training programs.

The next deadline for grant applications is November 1, 2017 (FY 2018, 1^st quarter).

 

A white paper is now available from the Civil Justice Initiative that explores the feasibility of using data elements that are routinely collected in court case management systems to triage cases into the most appropriate pathway for civil case processing.

The study is based on actual case complexity as measured by the degree of judicial involvement in resolving more than 500,000 fully disposed civil cases in Arizona, Missouri, and Palm Beach County, Florida.  Using information collected from case pleadings (complaint and answer), the algorithms included in the final triage model assigned civil cases to the correct pathway in 93 percent of cases filed in limited jurisdiction courts/divisions and 74 percent of cases filed in general jurisdiction courts/divisions.  The paper concludes with geographical and structural considerations for automated civil case triage, and implementation recommendations.

This project gained momentum when the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) endorsed the work of the CCJ Civil Justice Committee, inclusive of recommendations that called for maximizing the efficiencies of court processes to minimize civil caseload delay.

 

Five years ago, state court leaders from across the country convened at the 2012 National Summit on Language Access in the Courts, where representatives from 49 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia were present.  The 2013 release of the publication A National Call to Action: Access to Justice for Limited English Proficient Litigants outlined a set of nine action steps developed during the Summit.

The Summit and the Call to Action resulted in a new level of collaboration and focus that assisted the language access community to effectively and efficiently create solutions to language barriers in the state courts.  A new website and report, titled Called to Action: 5 Years of Improving Language Access in the State Courts, 2012 – 2017, details the incredible progress state courts have made in improving language access.  The report is divided into six sections, including an assessment of needs and challenges, as well as a look at the future of language access in the state courts.

The website assembles in one place the key elements of work accomplished, including the collective charge to ensure language access, evaluation of project components, results from surveys of state courts and their partners,  programming highlights, and relevant publications.

SJI remains committed to improving language access in the state courts.  Language Access is a Priority Investment Area for SJI funding in FY 2017.  In addition, since FY 2016, SJI has awarded over $2.7 million in grants to support language access projects at the local, state, and national levels.