Ensuring Language Access Outside the Courtroom: Training Judicial Employees, is a new SJI funded project (SJI-12-N-156) of the New Mexico Judiciary. With the support of the Conference of Chief Justices/Conference of State Court Administrators (CCJ/COSCA), seven state courts have joined the New Mexico Center for Language Access (NMCLA), a project of the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos, to develop and distribute a high-quality, affordable language access training and qualification program for state court employees. The goal of this training is to improve the quality of language access services for limited English proficient (LEP) and non-English speaking individuals.

The final product of this collaborative effort will be the Language Access Basic Training Suite (LABT Suite) for state courts, an online/downloadable and easily accessible package that includes the following modules:

1. Theory – an introduction to language access for all court employees;
2. Practice – detailed, language-specific training for bilingual employees;
3. Skills Assessment – optional evaluation of bilingual employees’ language skills and vocabulary.

The LABT Suite will focus on language access outside the courtroom, providing language access training for all judicial employees with specialized training for bilingual employees. It is being designed to be both affordable and easily accessible by court personnel, and will provide an option for measuring bilingual employees’ language skills and vocabulary. The intent is to develop a strong basic training curriculum, which can be customized and easily updated/revised by NMCLA on behalf of state courts nationwide. Collaborating courts, in addition to New Mexico, include Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, New Jersey, and North Carolina.

For more information about this project, please contact Pam Sánchez, Statewide Program Manager for Language Access Services at aocpjs@nmcourts.gov.

Nearly 300 court leaders from 49 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia, concluded the first ever Nation Summit on Language Access and the Courts in Houston, Texas, October 1-3, 2012. The Summit focused on developing solutions to improve access to justice for litigants with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). The Summit enabled state court leaders to share successful strategies and evidence-based practices, plan system improvements, and discuss ways to pursue greater consistency across the states on policies related to court interpretation. A Summit website is available that includes the Summit program, speaker bios, and videos conference and events section. A National Call to Action report will be issued on the Summit’s outcomes and strategies.

The SJI Board of Directors has established Human Trafficking and the State Courts as a new Priority Investment Area for grant funding. Human Trafficking manifests itself in a variety of court settings, including prostitution and drug cases where the individual may be a trafficking victim, child thieves who are part of trafficker-controlled organizations, and abused and neglected children in a variety of settings. In addition, human trafficking goes beyond immigrants who are in the United States legally or illegally, but also includes U.S. citizens who are victims.

Since 1994, Congress has enacted a series of laws addressing human trafficking, most notably the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). State courts are beginning to see human trafficking cases under state laws, as 47 states have passed criminalization statutes for human trafficking. However, the state courts are finding themselves without the knowledge, expertise, processes, and basic infrastructure needed to address this issue. SJI is interested in future grant applications that address the challenges state courts are facing on this issue. SJI recently announced a request for Concept Papers on Human Trafficking and the State Courts, which are due by November 1, 2012.

The SJI Priority Investment Areas were established in FY 2011 to replace the former Special Interest Categories, and apply to all grant types (i.e. Project, Technical Assistance, and Curriculum Adaptation Grants). SJI encourages all potential grant applicants to consider projects addressing one or more of the Priority Investment Areas.

The SJI Board of Directors has established Human Trafficking and the State Courts as a new Priority Investment Area for grant funding. Human Trafficking manifests itself in a variety of court settings, including prostitution and drug cases where the individual may be a trafficking victim, child thieves who are part of trafficker-controlled organizations, and abused and neglected children in a variety of settings. In addition, human trafficking goes beyond immigrants who are in the United States legally or illegally, but also includes U.S. citizens who are victims.

Since 1994, Congress has enacted a series of laws addressing human trafficking, most notably the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). State courts are beginning to see human trafficking cases under state laws, as 47 states have passed criminalization statutes for human trafficking. However, the state courts are finding themselves without the knowledge, expertise, processes, and basic infrastructure needed to address this issue. SJI is interested in future grant applications that address the challenges state courts are facing on this issue. SJI recently announced a request for Concept Papers on Human Trafficking and the State Courts, which are due by November 1, 2012.

The SJI Priority Investment Areas were established in FY 2011 to replace the former Special Interest Categories, and apply to all grant types (i.e. Project, Technical Assistance, and Curriculum Adaptation Grants). SJI encourages all potential grant applicants to consider projects addressing one or more of the Priority Investment Areas.

Nearly 300 court leaders from 49 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia, concluded the first ever Nation Summit on Language Access and the Courts in Houston, Texas, October 1-3, 2012. The Summit focused on developing solutions to improve access to justice for litigants with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). The Summit enabled state court leaders to share successful strategies and evidence-based practices, plan system improvements, and discuss ways to pursue greater consistency across the states on policies related to court interpretation. A Summit website is available that includes the Summit program, speaker bios, and videos conference and events section. A National Call to Action report will be issued on the Summit’s outcomes and strategies.

The Executive Session for State Court Leaders in the 21st Century (SJI-07-I-203, and SJI-11-I-064) brought together state court leaders including chief justices, judges, and court administrators, as well as key stakeholders to address an array of issues impacting the state courts, including:

• adapting to the budget crisis and leadership in times of limited resources;
• identification of essential principles for effective court governance;
• the tension between problem solving and decision making;
• the challenges social media pose to court legitimacy;
• how courts defend themselves from political attack; and,
• the concept of chief justices as civic leaders.

The SJI and Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (DOJ/BJA) funded Executive Session recently released the fourth and fifth papers from the series. Additionally, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has created a Vimeo Feed that includes introductory videos explaining the purpose and significance of the papers. A brief explanation of each paper with a link follows:

A Case for Court Governance Principles
In this report, Utah Chief Justice Christine Durham and Utah State Court Administrator Dan Becker describe the limits to what structural changes like centralization can accomplish. Recognizing that court culture inherently stresses independence and self-interest, the authors propose eleven unifying principles to guide states as they seek to improve court performance.

Herding Lions: Shared Leadership of State Trial Courts
Retired Arizona Judge Barbara Mundell and Texas Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson put forward an approach based on the recognition that all courts within a state have a collective responsibility for the quality of justice. They urge that leadership be shared across the different levels of court structure and that local innovation be encouraged and, where effective, replicated statewide.

Opinions as the Voice of the Court: How State Supreme Courts Can Communicate Effectively and Promote Procedural Fairness
This paper discusses the nature of, and trends in, the formation of state supreme court opinions and the methods by which opinions are communicated to the press, the public, members of the bar, and online communities. It considers current practice in light of a field in social psychology called procedural fairness—a practical theory that explains what makes it likely that people are satisfied with and comply with decisions by authorities, such as judges.

Courts Are Conversations: An Argument for Increased Engagement by Court Leaders
Social media expert Garrett Graff explains the true significance of the arrival of social media as it alters the expectations and habits of American society. He advises state court leaders that they “must not only learn how to communicate with new tools; they must also envision new means of judicial engagement with the public through the new social media that can further advance the legitimacy of courts in a democratic society.”

Juror and Jury Use of New Media: A Baseline Exploration
NCSC staff members Paula Hannaford-Agor, David Rottman, and Nicole Waters offer insights into the current and likely future use of new media by jurors at all stages of the process. The project explored the impact of the new media on jurors and jury decision-making as a basis for recommending steps to reconcile new media use with the adversarial process.

SJI received 18 grant applications requesting a total of $1,349,759 for the 4th quarter of FY 2012. The Board met on September 17, 2012, to make decisions on those grant applications and awarded 15 grants totaling $791,537. Because of the high demand, SJI had to deny some applications due to lack of available funding in the 4th quarter.

Three (3) Project Grants were awarded, including: the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts to develop language access training for court employees to provide enhanced language access outside the courtroom; the American Bar Association (ABA) and the National Guardianship Network (NGN) to promote guardianship networks across the U.S.; and a judicial workload assessment for the Pennsylvania courts.

Seven (9) Technical Assistance (TA) Grants were awarded, including: a language access project for the Rhode Island Judiciary; a readiness assessment of the Superior Court’s adult probation department in Imperial County, California; development of a succession plan for the Guam Judiciary; a pilot project for jury management using technology in the Fourth Judicial District Court of Minnesota; an evaluation of the organizational structures of the Supreme and Superior Courts in the U.S. Virgin Islands; a planning study for justice center facilities in Barberton, Ohio; rural court reengineering for Cochise County, Arizona; and court security projects in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, and the State of Hawaii.

Three (3) Curriculum Adaptation and Training (CAT) Grants were awarded, including: development of a National Judicial College (NJC) course on the legal issues related to fracking along the Marcellus Shale; a curriculum development project on human trafficking for the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ); and training for family law judges on immigration, domestic violence, and sexual assault for the National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project at American University.

On September 13, 2012, the House passed a six-month Continuing Resolution (CR) (HJ Res. 117) for FY 2013. The Senate passed the CR on September 22, 2012. The CR will enable SJI to maintain current operations at the FY 2012 funding level, and award 1st quarter FY 2013 grants.

On September 21, 2012, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a report detailing the impact of a possible sequestration, as required by the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-155). Should sequestration happen, SJI will be subject to an 8.2 percent reduction, or $419,922, from the FY 2012 funding level.

On May 24, 2012, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Local Courthouse Safety Act of 2012 (S.2076). The House passed the bill (H.R. 6185) on August 1, 2012. The bill enables state courts to request excess surplus security equipment from the federal government. In addition, the legislation adds a purpose area to the SJI Authorization Act highlighting SJI’s authority to award grants to improve court security.

The 4th National Symposium on Court Management, held at the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) in October 2010, convened a range of state court stakeholders for only the 4th time since 1981. Participation at this symposium was by invitation only; however, the NCSC has recently made the resources from this event available to the entire state court community through a website titled, Readings from the 4th National Symposium on Court Management. The website includes the symposium program, videos, materials, and a summary of the results from a recent survey on the well-being and growth of state courts.

SJI received 23 grant applications requesting a total of $1,349,759 for the 4th quarter of FY 2012. The Board will meet on September 17, 2012, to finalize decisions on grant awards for the last quarter of this fiscal year. The results of this Board meeting will be available that same week.

SJI continues to receive inquiries regarding funding priorities and interests for FY 2013. The SJI Grant Guideline for FY 2013 will be available online through the SJI website in October. The grant and Education Support Program (ESP) application deadlines for FY 2013 are: 1st quarter – November 1, 2012; 2nd quarter – February 1, 2013; 3rd quarter – May 1, 2013; and, 4th quarter – August 1, 2013. SJI staff are available to assist with questions on the application process, and applicants are encouraged to review the SJI website and social media outlets for information and news on recently funded projects.