In July, the National Association for Court Management (NACM) and the International Association for Court Administration (IACA) held a joint conference outside of Washington, D.C. With funding from SJI, NACM live-streamed conference sessions and archived its 2017 annual conference content.
The joint IACA-NACM conference was an incredible success, with over 900 attendees, faculty, and exhibitors attending.
A new Language of Justice Institute is now available. The Institute is a joint project of Widener University’s Delaware Law School, the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania (FJD-Philadelphia County Courts), and the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC), and was funded in part by SJI.
The purpose of the Institute is to provide a structured academic approach to preparing candidates for the oral exams, and help improve passing rates. It is also an excellent resource for continuing education opportunities for already-credentialed interpreters. Located in Wilmington, Delaware, this program will have regional appeal and will attract prospective candidates from throughout Mid-Atlantic region, including Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.
Prospective candidates, interpreters, and others who might be interested can find more information on the resource page. A small number of scholarships are available. The application deadline is December 15, 2017.
Transforming Our Civil Justice System for the 21st Century: A Roadmap for Implementation provides guidance to state courts who are answering the Call to Action from the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) following their endorsement of the Report and Recommendations of the CCJ Civil Justice Improvements Committee. With continued SJI support, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS), have partnered to develop this new guide to ensure the Recommendations are implemented in a way that is thoughtful, responsive to the needs of court users, well-designed, and well-executed so that the reforms have the greatest possible likelihood of success.
The Roadmap sets forth seven steps, building off the successful experiences of innovative states that have already implemented reforms:
The Roadmap is just one tool developed as part of the CJI Implementation Phase, a multi-pronged effort that includes strategic planning assistance for state judicial leadership; education and technical assistance for state and local courts; evaluation of demonstration pilot projects to document the impact of best practices; and the development of practical tools and instructions on effective implementation efforts. For more information about the CJI Implementation Phase, visit the CJI website, or contact the Project Director, Paula Hannaford-Agor, at phannaford@ncsc.org.
The Courting Justice Listening Tour, which was hosted by Tavis Smiley on PBS, and supported by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the State Justice Institute (SJI), concluded its multi-city town hall-style sessions late last year.
An archive of programs and content exists on both the Tavis Smiley Show page and the NCSC website. According to the host’s podcast, the audience size was greater than 50,000 unique in-home viewers for each of the three listening tours. This does not include the views of content online or via other formats.
Key takeaways from Courting Justice show a strong desire across audiences for greater transparency, accessibility for self-represented litigants, and improvements regarding fairness, especially in the area of fines, fees, and bail. Each Courting Justice episode addressed diverse audiences, and connected state court leadership with constituents on the major issues impacting the public and the courts.
Over the past several years, the MacArthur Foundation has provided significant funding to support the Models for Change initiative, which has identified and developed juvenile justice reform efforts and programs across the U.S. Beginning in 2013, MacArthur transitioned to a “legacy phase” which developed Resource Centers for juvenile justice focused on specific areas of reform. The state courts have been a major stakeholder group throughout these efforts. As part of the legacy phase, MacArthur funded five Conference of Chief Justices/Conference of State Court Administrators (CCJ/COSCA) regional juvenile justice reform summits, led by the CCJ/COSCA Courts, Children, and Families Committee and staffed by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). For the summits, the Chief Justices were invited to send a 5-person state team to participate in each region. The purpose of the summits was to identify best practices and develop state level plans for addressing juvenile justice reform. States are now in the process of implementing these action plans.
Resource Center partners and other key organizations have been involved in the Models for Change initiative and the CCJ/COSCA summits, including the NCSC, the National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL), the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), the Center for Children’s Law & Policy (CCLP), the National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC), and the RFK National Resource Center (RFK-NRC). Unfortunately, there were no resources to provide technical assistance to state teams as they implement their action plans, and work with key stakeholders on juvenile justice reform efforts.
SJI is excited to announce it is funding the Juvenile Justice Reform and State Courts Initiative, which will enable the Resource Center partners to develop national resources and TA for the state courts on this critical area. In collaboration with CCJ and COSCA, the 2-year project will build on the CCJ/COSCA regional summit and state team work, and be informed by the Models for Change Initiative. The CCJ/COSCA Courts, Children, and Families Committee and the CCJ/COSCA Criminal Justice Committee will appoint a 10-member Advisory Committee to oversee the project.
The NCSC, NCSL, NCJFCJ, CCLP, NJDC, and RFK-NRC will serve as the Expert Working Group for the project. The Expert Working Group will:
The Expert Working Group will also promote court community sharing by disseminating information about the initiative and its resources through various websites, conference presentations, and social media. Initial topics identified by the Expert Working Group include: access to counsel; dual status youth; mental and behavioral health; probation; risk/needs assessments; status offenders; court administration (e.g. data collection, court rules, alternatives to fines and fees); and model protocols for special populations, such as military families.
The SJI Board of Directors met on June 5, 2017, at SJI Headquarters in Reston, Virginia, to make decisions on quarterly grant applications, and awarded a total of ten (10) 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), the National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL), the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), the Center for Children’s Law & Policy (CCLP), the National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC), and the RFK National Resource Center (RFK-NRC), to advance juvenile justice efforts through developing national resources and technical assistance for state courts. The project will build on the CCJ/COSCA regional juvenile justice summits and state team work, and be informed by the Models for Change Initiative. A SIG was also awarded to the NCJFJC to update the Juvenile Delinquency Guidelines, which will be linked to the work of the broader effort on juvenile justice reform. SJI remains committed to improving juvenile justice in the state courts, and these two major initiatives will further advance those efforts. A SIG was also awarded to the NCSC to develop a Leadership Academy for presiding judges and court administrators to promote a new approach to judicial leadership based on previous work, such as the Harvard Executive Session for State Court Leaders in the 21st Century.
Two (2) Project Grants were awarded: 1) a collaboration between the NCSC, the American Judges Association (AJA), NCJFCJ, and the National College of Probate Judges (NCPJ) to develop judicial response protocols to guide judges in taking preemptive steps to address allegations or evidence of abuse, neglect, and/or exploitation in guardianship cases; and 2) a project to provide guidance to state courts on how to respond to requests for accommodations related to disabilities in the jury setting.
A Technical Assistance Grant was awarded to the 2nd Judicial District Court of Nevada plan and develop a shared Self-Help Center for self-represented litigants accessing the District Court and the Reno Justice Court. Four (4) Curriculum Adaptation and Training Grants were awarded including: support to the National Judicial College (NJC) to adapt Probate Courts: Contemporary Issues using the highly successful SJI-funding curriculum Probate Matters, with an emphasis on the National Probate Court Standards; an Institute for Court Management training program for the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois; and a faculty development workshop for judges and court staff in New York.
The Education Support Program (ESP) supports full-time state court judges and court managers to attend courses that enhance their knowledge, skills, and abilities which they could not otherwise attend because of limited state, local, and personal budgets. Beginning in FY 2018 (October 1, 2017), the National Judicial College (NJC) and the National Center for State Courts/Institute for Court Management (ICM) will administer the ESP program separately, in partnership and with funding from SJI.
COVERED COSTS
The Education Support Program (ESP) only covers the cost of tuition up to a maximum of $1,000 per award. Awards will be made for the exact amount requested for tuition. Funds to pay tuition in excess of $1,000, and other costs of participating in a course such as travel, transportation, meals, materials, and transportation to and from airports (including rental cars) at the site of the education program, must be obtained from other sources or be borne by the ESP award recipient.
ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS
Because of the limited amount of funding available, only full-time judges of state or local trial and appellate courts; full-time professional state or local court personnel with management responsibilities or on a professional career track; and supervisory and management probation officials in judicial branch probation offices are eligible for the program. Senior judges, part-time judges, quasi-judicial hearing officers including referees and commissioners, administrative law judges, staff attorneys, law clerks, line staff, law enforcement officers, and other executive branch personnel are not eligible. Applicants are limited to one ESP award every other fiscal year (i.e. if awarded an ESP in FY 2018, the applicant will remain ineligible until FY 2020), unless the course specifically assumes multi-year participation as part of a certificate program.
ELIGIBLE COURSES
Awards are only for courses presented by the NJC and ICM in a U.S. jurisdiction to participants in the U.S. or U.S. Territories. These courses are designed to enhance the skills of new or experienced judges and court managers. Participation during annual or mid-year conferences or meetings of a state or national organization does not qualify for ESP purposes, even though the conference may include workshops or other training sessions.
HOW AND WHEN TO APPLY
For NJC courses:
To seek an ESP to attend an NJC course, simply find the course you wish to attend on the NJC website: www.judges.org/courses, and click “register.” During the registration process, the website will ask whether you need a scholarship to attend. Simply follow the online instructions to request tuition assistance. If you have any questions about this process, you may contact NJC Scholarship Coordinator Rebecca Bluemer, at bleumer@judges.org or 800-255-8343. The NJC reserves the right to apply additional selection criteria.
For ICM courses:
To seek an ESP to participate in the ICM Fellows Program, submit a completed application to ICM Education Program Manager Amy McDowell, at amcdowell@ncsc.org. If you have any questions about this process, you may contact her at 757-259-1552 or via email.
To seek an ESP to participate in an ICM course, find the course you wish to attend on the ICM website: www.courses.ncsc.org, and click “register.” During the registration process, the website will ask if you need a scholarship to participate. Follow the online instructions to request tuition assistance. If you have any questions about this process, you may contact, ICM Director of National Programs Margaret Allen, at mallen@ncsc.org or 757-259-1581. ICM reserves the right to apply additional selection criteria.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF ESP AWARD RECIPIENTS
Recipients are responsible for disseminating the information received from the course, when possible, to their court colleagues locally and, if possible, throughout the state. The NJC and ICM may impose additional requirements on recipients.
Made possible through an SJI grant, the new Managing High-Profile Cases for the 21st Century website is a joint project of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), the Conference of Court Public Information Officers (CCPIO), and the National Judicial College (NJC).
“The vast majority of cases in our state courts are resolved with little or no fanfare,” NCSC President Mary McQueen said. “But when public scrutiny focuses on a particular trial – whether it involves a heinous crime, a celebrity, or a societal issue – judges and other court leaders need effective tools to help them manage intense media, security, and crowd issues, especially in a rapidly evolving technological environment.”
Judges and court professionals now have online access to the tools necessary to plan and manage high-profile cases in their courts. The new website offers best practices, techniques, and tools that have proven useful to courts that have experienced high-profile trials, in addition to checklists to help the trial judge, administrative officer, security personnel, jury managers, and others provide public access while ensuring a fair trial. The website also features the top six considerations for courts confronted with a high-profile trial, and helps provide answers to these issues and questions.
The New Mexico Center for Language Access (NMCLA) at the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts, with support from the New Mexico Judiciary, and in collaboration with the University of New Mexico School of Law and Judicial Education Center has recently completed their grant to improve access to justice for native peoples in the courts (SJI-14-N-153).
The report is presented in a 30-minute online video format, which takes the viewer through the design and intent of the project, introduces key partners, and includes perspectives from the Native American community. Courts embarking on work with language access, interpretation, and mediation projects involving the Native American community are encouraged to review the video and contact the NMCLA if they have questions.
The video is available online: http://bit.ly/2renRlN
Improving language access in the state courts through remote interpretation (outside the courtroom), interpreter certification, courtroom services (plain language forms, websites, etc.) remains a Priority Investment Area for SJI in FY 2017.
The Remote Public Access to Electronic Court Records: A Cross-Jurisdictional Review for the D.C. Courts report, prepared by the Remote Access to Court Electronic Records (RACER) Committee of the Council for Court Excellence, identifies best practices from across the nation on public access to electronic court case files.
Completed at the request of former Chief Judge Eric Washington of the D.C. Court of Appeals, this report outlines practices intended to inform the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, which has recently implemented electronic filing. Additionally, the report will help enhance public access to the D.C. Court of Appeals, which has begun gradually implementing an electronic case filing system on a voluntary basis which will augment the operation of its automated case-flow management system.
Included in the report are:
State courts were surveyed to acquire the necessary benchmarking information and state court data regarding level of access to the public via online or in-house systems. Overall, results continue to show a marked increase in jurisdictions utilizing technology to “e-file” and adopting a broad movement towards online access to court records.