SJI Newsletter

May 2021 | Volume 31, No. 8

 

U.S. Treasury Opens Portal for Counties to Receive Fiscal 

Recovery Funds

On May 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Treasury released guidance on the State 

and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Fund (Recovery Fund), which is part of 

the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP). The bill includes $65.1 billion in direct, flexible 

aid to every county in America, as well as other crucial investments in local 

communities.

Additionally, the U.S. Treasury opened the new portal that counties must complete to 

receive Fiscal Recovery Funds. Since the ARP was signed into law, the National 
Association of Counties (NACo) has been supporting the U.S. Treasury’s efforts to 

successfully implement the Recovery Fund. Included in the guidance is the flexibility to 

use Recovery Funds to invest in broadband infrastructure, services and programs to 

contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including capital investments in public 

facilities, investments in housing and neighborhoods and other guidance counties 

advocated for. Courts are encouraged to work with their county and state 

governments on potential opportunities to access recovery funds.

Self-Represented Litigation Network

Hosting a Webinar on Funding for Non-Lawyer Navigators

Under the recently passed American Rescue Plan, there is a major new infusion of federal 

funding for AmeriCorps programs, a potential funder of court navigator programs. Join the 

Self Represented Litigation Network (SRLN) for a webinar on Friday, 5/21/2021 at 2PM 

EDT to take a deep dive into seeking AmeriCorps funding for court navigator 

programs. A senior AmeriCorps official, joined by several program leaders of court 

navigator programs who use AmeriCorps funds, will provide an overview and offer useful 
guidance and handy tips for submitting applications to secure funding.

Register Today: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1867915633479036172

Findings on Jurors and New Media

As a result of COVID-19, Americans rely even more heavily on the Internet and 

social media to complete everyday tasks than they did before the pandemic. Indeed, 

courts in several states are piloting remote jury selection and even fully remote trials 

to resume jury trials safely, raising concerns about the risk of juror misconduct 

involving new media. With SJI support, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC)

undertook a study of jurors and new media, including a survey of judges and lawyers 

about their opinions and experience with incidents of alleged juror misconduct and a 

review of more than 20 years of case law in which the issue was addressed.

Among the key findings:

• Only one-quarter of judges and lawyers reported having any experience with 

juror misconduct involving new media in their professional careers, but 41% 
believe that one or more jurors will use new media inappropriately in any 

given trial;

• Cases that pose the highest risk of juror misconduct include serious criminal 

charges, multiday trials, cases involving unfamiliar terms or concepts, trials in 

which jurors may find information on reputable websites or local news media, 

and trials in which attorneys know or suspect that prejudicial information 

exists online;

• Incidents reported in the judge and attorney survey were usually discovered 

during trial, providing the trial judge with the opportunity to conduct an 

investigatory hearing and address any prejudicial impact of the misconduct in 

a timely manner;

• As long as trial judges adequately investigated incidents of alleged juror 

misconduct, appellate courts overwhelming affirmed their responses to those 

incidents;

• Recent case law tends to focus on the extent to which extraneous 

information is prejudicial to the parties, reserving the remedy of a mistrial or 

new trial only for cases in which the information is clearly prejudicial.

A detailed technical report and a brief Research Highlights are available 

at https://www.ncsc-jurystudies.org/what-we-do/jurors-and-new-media.
The Evolving Science on Implicit Bias: An Updated Resource 

for the State Court Community

The NCSC, with support from SJI, prepared an updated resource for the court 

community to summarize the current state of the continually maturing science on 

implicit bias as of March 2021. This report replaces NCSC’s 2012 report, Helping 

Courts Address Implicit Bias: Resources for Education.

The Evolving Science of Implicit Bias: An Updated Resource for the State Court 

Community defines commonly used terms originating from the science of implicit bias; 

explains how the concept of implicit bias fits into broader conversations underway across 

the country about equity and fairness; and summarizes what is currently known from 

research in the psychological and brain sciences, including implicit bias interventions 

generally found to be effective and ineffective. This report concludes with some 

implications of this knowledge for state court leaders and other court practitioners who seek 

to better understand and address the reproduction and perpetuation of systemic biases 

through this lens. Preparation of the report was funded by State Justice Institute and 

NCSC.
The State Justice Institute is a federally-funded, non-profit corporation established by federal law in 1984 

to improve the quality of justice in the state courts.

SJI Board of Directors

Chair

John D. Minton, Jr.

Chief Justice

Supreme Court of Kentucky

Frankfort, KY

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

David V. Brewer

Justice

Oregon Supreme Court

Salem, OR

Jonathan Lippman

Chief Judge of New York (ret.)

of Counsel

Latham & Watkins, LLP

New York, NY

Chase T. Rogers

Chief Justice (ret.)

Supreme Court of Connecticut

Partner

Pitney Day, LLP

Hartford, CT

Wilfredo Martinez

Senior Judge

State of Florida

Orlando, FL

Marsha J. Rabiteau

Executive Director

Center for Human Trafficking 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

Share the News

SJI uses Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to promote the work of its grantees and also 

shares information of interest to the entire state court community. If your organization’s 

work complements ours, let us know and we will share.