SJI NEWSLETTER 

In this Issue 

Page 1 

Volume 28, No. 1 

Disaster Management 1 

Evidence-Based 

Sentencing Brief 

2 

FY 2018 Grant Guideline 2 

CCE Munsterman Award 3 

October 2017 

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 rediDisaster Management 

Planning and Preparation for State Courts 

Products and 

Resources

Since 2011, SJI has designated 

the library at the National Center 

for State Courts as the official 

repository of published work 

related to SJI-supported grant 

projects. You can search the 

ecollection online by using the 

term, State Justice Institute. 

rects 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. 
Page 2 

SJI Newsletter Volume 28, No. 1 October 2017 

SJI Releases FY 2018 Grant Guideline 

Center for Sentencing Initiatives Shares New Brief 

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 probationeligible 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. 

Education Support Program Reminder 

If you are a judge, court manager or executive, and would like to apply for a scholarship to attend a program offered by the 

National Judicial College (NJC), or the National Center for State Courts/Institute for Court Management, please contact: 

NJC Scholarship Coordinator Rebecca Bluemer, at bleumer@judges.org 

ICM Education Program Manager Amy McDowell, at amcdowell@ncsc.org 

 ICM Director of National Programs Margaret Allen, at mallen@ncsc.org 
Page 3 

SJI Board of Directors

Chair 

Chase T. Rogers 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Connecticut 

Hartford, CT 

Vice Chair

Daniel J. Becker 

State Court Administrator (ret.) 

Utah AOC 

Salt Lake City, UT 

Secretary 

Gayle A. Nachtigal 

Senior Circuit Court Judge 

Washington County Circuit Court 

Hillsboro, OR 

Treasurer 

John B. Nalbandian 

Partner 

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP 

Cincinnati, OH 

Jonathan Lippman 

Chief Judge of New York (ret.) 

Of Counsel 

Latham & Watkins, LLP 

New York, NY 

John D. Minton, Jr. 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Kentucky 

Frankfort, KY 

David V. Brewer 

Justice 

Oregon Supreme Court 

Salem, OR 

Wilfredo Martinez 

County Judge 

9th Judicial Circuit of Florida 

Orlando, FL 

Marsha J. Rabiteau 

President & CEO 

Center for HT Court Solutions 

Bloomfield, CT 

Hernan D. Vera 

Principal 

Bird Marella P.C. 

Los Angeles, CA 

Isabel Framer 

President 

Language Access Consultants, LLC 

Copley, OH 

Jonathan D. Mattiello 

Executive Director 

The State Justice Institute is a federallyfunded, non-profit corporation established by 

federal law in 1984 to improve the quality of 

justice in the state courts. 

SJI Newsletter Volume 28, No. 1 October 2017 

systems in D.C.'s local and federal courts that 

proposes several reforms to strengthen the institution of the jury. The report was prepared by a 

40-member committee of prosecutors, criminal 

defense attorneys, plaintiff and defense civil 

attorneys, and former D.C. jurors. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. District Court 

for the District of Columbia and Irvin B. Nathan, then D.C. attorney general, co-chaired the 

committee. CCE continues to work on implementing the reforms. CCE has done a significant amount of other work to improve jury service. SJI congratulates CCE on their receipt of 

this award. 

NCSC will present the award to CCE at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on November 16, 

2017. 

CCE Named Munsterman Award Winner 

for Jury Innovation 

Earlier this month, the National Center for State 

Courts (NCSC) announced that it has selected the 

Council for Court Excellence (CCE) to receive the 

2017 G. Thomas Munsterman Award for Jury Innovation. The Munsterman Award recognizes states, 

local courts, organizations, or individuals that have 

made significant improvements or innovations in 

jury procedures, operations, and practices. The 

award is named for the founder and former director 

of NCSC's Center for Jury Studies, and an internationally renowned innovator in jury systems and 

research. 

CCE's work on jury system improvements spans the 

organization's 35 years, beginning with advocacy for 

one-day-or-one-trial jury service in D.C. Superior 

Court, which was adopted in 1986. 

In 2015, CCE published Jury Service Revisited: 

Upgrades for the 21st Century, a comprehensive study of the jury