E-SJI News

SJI received a total of $1,374,751 in grant applications for the 3rd quarter of FY 2010. SJI received over 

$1 million in new grant applications for each of the 1st and 2nd quarters; and the total amount of grant requests 

for FY 2010 through three quarters is $4,293,416. For FY 2009, SJI received a total of $3,485,034 in grant 

requests for the entire fiscal year. The amount requested so far in three quarters of FY 2010 has exceeded the 

FY 2009 total by 23 percent.

The demand for SJI grants has increased dramatically as the state courts are looking for assistance to deal with 

the ongoing budget crisis. SJI has responded by maximizing its limited grant funding to support critical 

technical assistance projects, focusing on how to deal with the budget cuts, and by supporting state court reengineering at a national impact level through its Strategic Initiatives Grants program. 

SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE APPROVES 

NEW BOARD MEMBERS

On May 27, 2010, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the President’s nominations for six new members 

for the Board of Directors. The next step in the process is for the nominations to go to the Senate floor for a 

confirmation vote. SJI will provide updates as these nominees progress through the Senate confirmation 

process: 

Chief Justice James Hannah – Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court. 

Daniel Becker – State Court Administrator of the Utah Administrative Office of the Courts. (continued on page 2) 

SJI RECEIVES OVER $1 MILLION IN GRANT APPLICATIONS 

FOR THE 3rd QUARTER

Inside

Senate Judiciary Committee 

Approves New Board Members 1, 2

May 2010 Vol. 20, No. 8

Board Appoints Next Executive 

Director 2

Texas Task Force on Indigent 

Defense Concludes SJI-Funded 

Project 3, 4

DOJ/BJA Working with SJI on 

State Court Re-Engineering 3
Hon. Gayle A. Nachtigal – Judge for the Circuit Court of Washington County, Oregon.

John Nalbandian – Partner in the Litigation Department of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. 

Marsha J. Rabiteau – Policy Consultant with Rabiteau Consulting, where she works on a number of policy, 

legislative, and court rules issues.

Hernán D. Vera – President & Chief Executive Officer of Public Counsel, the nation’s largest pro bono, public 

interest law firm.

By law, SJI is supervised by a Board of Directors consisting of 11 members appointed by the President with the 

advice and consent of the Senate. Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 10703, the President appoints 6 judges and 1 state 

court administrator from a list of candidates submitted by the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ). In addition, 

the President also appoints 4 public member positions, no more than 2 of whom can be from the same political 

party.

BOARD APPOINTS NEXT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Janice Munsterman, SJI Executive Director, will be retiring effective July 3, 2010. She has had a truly 

distinguished career, and the Board is very grateful for her commitment to SJI’s mission and advocacy for the 

state courts. She joined SJI as Deputy Director in 2006, after working for the Department of Justice (DOJ), 

National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for eight years. While at NIJ, she was responsible for the research portfolio 

on sentencing and adjudication issues, including all state court-related activities. Prior to her work at NIJ, she 

served for six years as a Program Manager for SJI. Earlier in her career, she served as a Senior Research 

Associate at the National Center for State Courts, conducting research projects and providing technical 

assistance in court administration. 

The Board has appointed Jonathan Mattiello, SJI Deputy Director, as the next Executive Director. During his 

time at SJI, he has worked to: develop the innovative Strategic Initiatives Grants program; increase awareness 

of the critical federal role SJI plays in supporting the state courts; and enhance SJI’s visibility with key 

stakeholders. He joined SJI in 2007, after previously serving at DOJ as a Program Analyst working on resource 

management issues, which included a detail to the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations. 

Page 2 E-SJI News – Vol. 20, No. 8
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE/BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE 

WORKING WITH SJI ON STATE COURT RE-ENGINEERING

SJI, through its Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) program, has been focusing on supporting state court reengineering in response to the ongoing budget crisis. Recently, BJA has agreed to assist in these efforts, and 

provided $700,000 to SJI to increase the amount available for court re-engineering. This is in addition to the 

SIG funding SJI has already invested in FY 2010 for the program. The BJA funding will allow the National 

Center for State Courts (NCSC) to provide technical assistance to additional states in FY 2010.

Of the amount provided, $200,000 is for a new $400,000 BJA/SJI Partner Grant to NCSC for court workforce 

training. This training will specifically focus on the future of the court workforce, and will address court 

governance issues and essential business components that will enable the state courts to successfully operate 

with limited resources. In addition, this training will result in a set of recommendations for maintaining 

essential court services in times of financial crisis, and how access to justice can be maintained within severe 

resource constraints. 

TEXAS TASK FORCE ON INDIGENT DEFENSE CONCLUDES 

SJI-FUNDED PROJECT WITH SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS

The Texas Office of court Administration/Texas Task Force on Indigent Defense, a standing committee of the 

Texas Judicial Council, was awarded a SJI grant in FY 2008 (SJI-08-N-072) to evaluate strategies for 

promoting diversionary and therapeutic dispositions in appropriate cases where criminal behavior is caused by 

mental illness. The Task Force, in collaboration with the National Center for State Courts, Public Policy 

Research Institute at Texas A&M University, and the Council of State Governments Justice Center, recently 

released the final report showing that criminal offenders with mental impairments who are treated for their 

illnesses, instead of being jailed, are less likely to commit crimes again for up to 18 months. In addition, the 

project showed that offenders suffering from 1 of 3 serious mental illnesses – major depression, bipolar 

disorder, and schizophrenia – were twice as likely to receive probation rather than jail time, if represented by a 

mental health public defender, compared to defendants with similar criminal and mental health backgrounds.

The two-year project examined mental health courts and mental health public defender offices in Tarrant, 

Dallas, and Travis Counties. These programs create a means through which an arrest can be used to address 

therapeutic needs. (continued on page 4) 

Page 3 E-SJI News – Vol. 20, No. 8
The project showed that these specialty interventions offer good alternatives to 

incarceration that save money, and address the underlying problems leading to 

criminal behavior. 

The full project report is available on the Task Force website: 

http://www.courts.state.tx.us/tfid/pdf/MHStudyFinal.pdf

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

 Grant and scholarship application deadlines for the remainder of the 

fiscal year: August 1, 2010 (4th Quarter).

 Grant and scholarship application deadline for the 1st quarter of 

FY 2011: November 1, 2010.

 Current grantees are reminded that Quarterly Status Reports (QSRs) 

and Financial Status Reports (FSRs) should be mailed to SJI. The FSR 

must also include an original signature.

 Current grantees who require grant adjustments to allow more time to 

complete their projects, need budget realignments, other changes to 

their projects that require SJI approval, must submit a letter to SJI 

requesting the adjustment. The letter should clearly describe why the 

change is necessary. 

 Current and future grantees and scholarship recipients can choose to 

receive payments via EFT. This is a faster method of receiving 

payment from SJI. To participate in EFT, SJI will need a completed

SF 3881-Automated Clearing House (ACH)/Miscellaneous Payment 

Enrollment Form, which is available on the SJI website under the 

Forms tab.

Board of Directors

Chairman

Robert A. Miller

Chief Justice (Ret.)

Supreme Court of South Dakota

Pierre, SD

Vice Chairman

Joseph F. Baca

Chief Justice (Ret.)

New Mexico Supreme Court

Santa Fe, NM

Secretary

Sandra A. O’Connor

States Attorney of Baltimore 

County (Ret.)

Towson, MD

Executive Committee Member

Keith McNamara, Esq.

McNamara & McNamara

Columbus, OH

Terrence B. Adamson, Esq.

Executive Vice-President

The National Geographic Society

Robert N. Baldwin

Executive Vice President and

General Counsel

National Center for State Courts

Sophia H. Hall

Administrative Presiding Judge

Circuit Court of Cook County

Chicago, IL

Tommy Jewell

Presiding Children’s Court Judge 

(Ret.)

Second Judicial District Court

Albuquerque, NM

Arthur A. McGiverin

Chief Justice (Ret.)

Supreme Court of Iowa

Des Moines, IA

Janice Munsterman

Executive Director

Jonathan Mattiello

Deputy Director

The State Justice Institute is a 

private, non-profit corporation 

established by Federal law in 1984 

to improve the quality of justice in 

state courts, and foster innovative, 

efficient solutions to common 

issues faced by all courts. SJI is 

governed by a Board of Directors 

appointed by the President and 

confirmed by the Senate.

Page 4 E-SJI News – Vol. 20, No. 8