SJI NEWSLETTER SJI NEWSLETTER

In this Issue 

Page 1 

Volume 27, No. 7 

Chief Justice Minton 

Joins SJI Board 

1 

SJI Awards FY 2017 

2nd Quarter Grants 

1 

SRLN Completes 

Remote Appearances 

Review 

2 

Civil Case Management 

Team Guide 

2 - 3 

EBP for Probation Compliance 3 

Indiana Competes 

Governance Planning 

3 - 4 

April 2017 

Accepting 

Submissions

SJI is accepting submissions 

from its grantees for the May 

and June issues of the 

SJI Newsletter. 

Articles of fewer than 300 words 

are preferred, and should report 

on the culminating work of a 

grant or significant progress of 

a single or multi-year project. 

Please send articles via e-mail to 

kathryn.tuck@sji.gov 

On April 2, 2017, Chief Justice John D. Minton, Jr., 

from Kentucky was sworn in by Chair Rogers to 

serve on the SJI Board of Directors. Chief Justice 

Minton was nominated by the President on July 13, 

2016, and confirmed by the Senate on December 10, 

2016. He was elected to the Supreme Court of Kentucky in 2006, and reelected in 2014. His fellow 

justices elected him as Chief Justice in 2008, 2012, 

and 2016. Chief Justice Minton was in private practice for 15 years before serving as a Circuit Court 

Judge from 1992 to 2003, and a Kentucky Court of 

Appeals Judge from 2003 to 2006. In 2016, He was 

elected by his fellow chief justices to serve as President of the Conference of Chief Justices and Chair of 

the National Center for State Courts Board of Directors. He holds degrees from Western Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky College of 

Law. 

Chief Justice Minton Sworn In as Board Member 

SJI Awards Second Quarter Grants 

Nine (9) Technical Assistance (TA) 

Grants were approved, including: juvenile probation accountability reviews 

for the juvenile courts in Fairfax 

County, Virginia, Nashville/Davidson 

County, Tennessee, and Lancaster 

County, Nebraska; an adult probation 

assessment for the Summit County, 

Ohio, Common Pleas Court; and the National Center 

for State Courts (NCSC) for an implicit bias educational program and resources. Four (4) Curriculum 

Adaptation & Training (CAT) Grants were approved, including guardianship and conservatorship 

training programs in Texas and Connecticut, and 

support to the American Judges Association to provide judicial education on topics relevant to state 

courts across the United States. 

The SJI Board of Directors met on April 3, 2017, at 

the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts in 

Nashville to make decisions on quarterly grant applications, and awarded a total of fourteen (14) new 

grants. 

One Project Grant was awarded to the Center for 

Court Innovation (CCI) to develop a human trafficking court video tool for courts to have ready access to 

innovative practices to addressing this critical issue. 
Page 2 

SJI Newsletter Volume 27, No. 7 April 2017 

Earlier this year, the Self-Represented Litigation Network completed a 

thorough review of current court rules and practices with support from 

SJI. 

The Remote Appearances of Parties, Attorneys and Witnesses, A Review of Current 

Court Rules and Practices, is a follow up 

report to Serving Self-Represented Litigants 

Remotely – A Resource Guide. It presents 

the author’s conclusions about the current 

state of remote appearances in the United 

States based on his review of existing state 

statutes and federal, state and local court 

rules on the topic and discussions with 

knowledgeable persons throughout the 

country." 

The analysis includes benefits and disadvantages to appearing in court remotely, presumptive norms for court appearances, types of cases and proceedings 

Self-Represented Litigation Network Completes 

Multi-State Review of Remote Appearance Practices 

in which remote appearances are permitted, necessary permissions, and 

technology standards and options. 

Along with the report, two appendices 

were also included: 

A detailed Compendium of Statutes and 

Court Rules Relating to Appearances of 

Parties, Lawyers and Witnesses in Court 

Proceedings; and, 

The Use of Telephonic and Video Conferencing Technology in Remote Court 

Appearances assessment. 

Civil Justice Improvements Committee Publishes 

Civil Case Management Team Guide 

In July 2016, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) endorsed the Report and 

Recommendations of the CCJ Civil Justice Improvements Committee. The 13 recommendations are intended to reduce cost and delay in 

civil litigation and improve customer service to litigants. With SJI 

support, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the Institute 

for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) are 

partnering on a three-year project to implement the CJI Recommendations. 

Recommendation 7 proposed a radically different staffing model for 

civil case processing that delegates substantial responsibility for routine case management to specially trained professional staff supported 

by effective case technology. The civil case management team 

(CCMT) model enables judges to focus on tasks that require unique 

judicial training and expertise. The Committee has developed A 

Guide to Building Civil Case Management Teams (CCMT 

Guide). The CCMT Guide: 

describes case management tasks that court staff should be 

trained and empowered to undertake 

under the supervision of one or more 

judicial officers; 

provides a 

checklist of questions for courts to 

inventory existing 

staffing and technology resources; 

provides guidance about the necessary training staff 

will need to function 

effectively; and 

Continued on page 3 
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SJI Newsletter Volume 27, No. 7 April 2017 

Center for Sentencing Initiatives Releases Brief on 

Evidence-Based Approaches to Probation 

With support from SJI and The Pew Charitable Trusts, new brief from 

the National Center for State Court’s Center for Sentencing Initiatives

is now available: An Evidence-Based Approach to Promoting & Enforcing Compliance with Conditions of Probation Supervision,.

This brief outlines how judges can use an evidence-based approach to 

promoting and enforcing offender compliance with conditions of probation supervision. Targeted to a judicial audience, the brief summarizes 

the goals of effective probation supervision, what works to promote 

compliance with the terms and conditions of probation, and what works 

in sanctioning violations. It also describes the use of graduated sanctions and incentives, including administrative sanctions; the role of 

offender risk and needs assessment information and other specific factors that should be considered in making decisions about individual 

cases; and when revocation may be an appropriate response to a violation. 

CSI will continue to work closely with the Conference of Chief Justices 

and the Conference of State Court Administrators to implement 

their resolution “In Support of Sentencing Practices that Promote Public 

Safety and Reduce Recidivism.” 

gether 30 individuals collectively charged with rethinking and proposing new ways to lead in the state courts. Through its deliberations and 

11 papers written by its members, a distinctive approach emerged as to 

the purposes and practice of leadership in the judiciary. At the Session’s conclusion, NCSC and its funding partners, including SJI and the 

Bureau of Justice of Assistance (BJA) offered free consultation to states 

interested in launching pilot projects that applied the Executive Ses-

recommends steps for successful implementation at different levels of the court system and across a wide variety of political and 

organizational settings. 

The CJI Implementation Plan is a multi-pronged effort that includes 

assistance in strategic planning 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 

Plan, visit the CJI website, or contact the Project Director, Paula Hannaford-Agor, at phannaford@ncsc.org. 

Continued from page 2 

Indiana Supreme Court Finalizes Governance Plan 

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) submitted the final report, “Strengthening the Governance of Indiana’s Courts: Planning and 

Implementing Change,” at the end of 2016 to the Indiana Supreme 

Court. The report was the result of a process that began with the SJIand DOJ/BJA-funded collaboration between NCSC and the Harvard 

Kennedy School of Government to support the “Executive Session on 

State Court Leadership in the 21st Century.” The Session brought toContinued on page 4 
Page 4 

SJI Board of Directors

Chair 

Chase T. Rogers 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Connecticut 

Hartford, CT 

Vice Chair

Daniel J. Becker 

State Court Administrator 

Utah AOC 

Salt Lake City, UT 

Secretary 

Gayle A. Nachtigal 

Senior Circuit Court Judge 

Washington County Circuit Court 

Hillsboro, OR 

Treasurer 

Hernan D. Vera 

Principal 

Bird Marella P.C. 

Los Angeles, CA 

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 

Executive Director 

Legal Policy Strategies Group 

Bloomfield, CT 

John B. Nalbandian 

Partner 

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP 

Cincinnati, OH 

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 27, No. 7 April 2017 

sion’s ideas and insights to their own most pressing challenges. Indiana 

and Massachusetts volunteered. Indiana faced the impending retirement of key court leadership. Objectives for the project included reviewing the current organization of the agencies providing support to 

the Chief Justice, Supreme Court, and the trial courts. 

An NCSC team engaged in a two-phase process to assist Indiana in 

meeting its objectives. First, an assessment phase used over 20 individual interviews with Supreme Court justices, trial judges, unit managers, 

as well as line staff to diagnose governance needs, supplemented by 

extensive reviews of documentation. The organization and governance 

of six states identified as similar in court systems and geography to Indiana were used to 

generate ideas and alternatives. The assessment phase 

report offered potential models for the Supreme Court to 

consider, varying from a basic 

to a comprehensive roadmap 

for change. The Supreme 

Court adopted the most ambiContinued from page 3 

tious model for reorganizing the central administrative office and establishing a new position of Chief Administrative Officer. 

The second phase implemented that model, with the NCSC team and a 

consultant from the Center for Applied Research providing support. A 

transition team of key court leaders met regularly throughout the process. 

Guiding principles for the reorganization effort were established, work 

groups assigned to evaluate and consolidate areas of duplication, and job 

descriptions and recruitment strategies developed, notably for the new 

Chief Administrative Officer. The two phases were completed in 18 

months. Indiana Chief Justice Rush stated, “Thanks to the excellent 

support and assistance of the National Center for State Courts and SJI, 

Indiana was able to develop a customized governance plan to strengthen 

our administrative processes and achieve greater efficiencies.”