SJI recently released a 30th Anniversary Report highlighting its successes. For the past three decades, SJI has been dedicated to improving the quality of justice in our state courts. In 1984, Congress established SJI to award grants to the state courts, charging it with the mission of “assuring each person access to a fair and …
Read MoreThe number of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) from Central America entering the United States has been dramatically increasing. Federal law provides a mechanism for UAC to seek Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). However, in order to obtain this status, federal law requires that a state court judge with juvenile jurisdiction first issue an order with …
Read MoreThe Board met on June 16, 2014, to make decisions on quarterly grant applications and awarded a total of 11 grants. Two (2) Project Grants were approved: support to improve language access for Native Americans in state courts for the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts; and a court security and response awareness project …
Read MoreDuring its June 16, 2014 meeting, the Board of Directors awarded a FY 2014 Strategic Initiatives Grant to the Human Trafficking and the State Courts Collaborative. SJI established human trafficking as a Priority Investment Area in FY 2013. This led to the creation of the Collaborative to address this critical issue. The Collaborative currently consists …
Read MoreIn late 2013, SJI, in partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), made resources available to the National Judicial College (NJC) to support a series of webcasts addressing human trafficking, notable decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, and managing self-represented litigants (SJI-12-E-072). These recorded webcasts are now available online and are accessible for continuing …
Read MoreThe recent release of The Politics of Restraint: State Judicial Leadership in the 21st Century, authored by Chief Justice (ret.) Jeff Amestoy of the Vermont Supreme Court marks the 11th paper in the Harvard Executive Session series. The author discusses how judicial leaders should understand their role as extending beyond protecting and enhancing the budgetary …
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