SJI Newsletter

April 2018 | Volume 28, No. 7

National Judicial Opioid Task Force

Accelerates its Work in the Face of Epidemic

The SJI-supported National Judicial Opioid Task Force recently added more members and, in an 

effort to reach a wider audience, established an Opioids and the Courts website.

Hosted by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), and formed in September 2017 by the 

Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), the 

Task Force recently added 20 new members from all areas of the criminal justice system, including 

attorneys, judges, probation officers, and children and family services representatives.

In addition to the new members of the Task Force, an online resource center has expanded on the 

previous work and developed cutting-edge resources that are specific to the opioid epidemics 

ongoing impact on the justice system and its partners. The web page includes:
Reports Recommendations, News and Literature on the Opioid Epidemic;

Geographic Representation of Overdoses and Impacts from the CDC; Court 

Management Considerations;

Round-Up of the Latest Opioid-Related News;

Medication Assisted Treatment; and,

Child Welfare System Issues.

The work of the Task Force and resource center aims to treat the epidemic from a total justice 

system perspective, including criminal, civil, and child welfare court issues, as well as sentencing, 

probation, and rehabilitative result-driven strategies. With most U.S. communities impacted by the 

far reaches of this impact, the Task Force will continue is work so that courts can play an active role 

in solving the epidemic in collaboration with community partners, state plans, and federal agencies.

Trends In States Courts Monthly

Articles and Close Up Features

State courts and court support organizations across the country utilize the annual publication of 

Trends in State Courts to identify emerging challenges, and inform planning efforts with knowledge 

shared by peers, researchers, and consultants. The annual publication is one part of the overall 

Trends in State Court series, developed by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), which 

provides new and updated information all year long via the Monthly Trends Articles and Trends: 

Close Up features.

Recent Monthly Trends articles that that highlight existing work supported by SJI include: 

Supporting Judicial Excellence by Jennifer K. Elek, Senior Court Research Associate at the NCSC; 

and High Performance Court Leadership by Janet G. Cornell, a Court Consultant and retired Court 

Administrator.

Some of the Trends: Close Up features include current and previously-supported SJI projects 

include:

Civil Justice Myths

Five years ago, the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) convened a Civil Justice Improvements 

Committee to make recommendations for best practices in state court civil justice cases.

Reports Recommendations, News and Literature on the Opioid Epidemic;
The Rise and Fall of State Court Caseloads

Since the Great Recession in 2008, caseloads in the state courts have been declining rapidly. This 

trend is applicable across all case categories civil, criminal, juvenile, domestic relations, traffic, in 

every state.

Policy Implications of Body Worn Cameras

Body Worn Cameras, or "BWCs," are increasingly being deployed by law enforcement agencies.

It is important to note that there are a wide variety of contributors to the Trends in State Courts

series, and the opinions expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of SJI or the NCSC. 

The 2018 Trends in State Courts annual publication will be out later this year.

Pretrial Justice and the

State Courts Initiative Publishes

Framework to Prepare Administrators

for Pretrial Program Budgeting

The Pretrial Justice and the State Courts Initiative, through the work of its key leadership from the 

Pretrial Justice Institute (PJI) and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), has published a 

framework for assessing pretrial programs cost with respect to assessment and monitoring services.

The publication serves as a guide for existing and new pretrial program administrators to document 

the importance of, and estimate costs to, administer a pretrial assessment that meets justice system 

standards. It further details factors such as pretrial release, staffing, supporting technology, and 

infrastructure needed to support another core function of pretrial programming, monitoring.

Features of the report include:

A framework based on best practice standards and the latest research;

Ways to establish if enough information to conduct an assessment exists, and how to 

onboard justice system partners during pretrial assessment;

Options for presenting and disseminating information to stakeholders, including 

budgeting(with examples based on cost of pretrial programming versus jail bed days 

saved); and,

Special sections devoted to infrastructure planning and technology needs.
The authors also encourage readers to refer to the pretrial release standards of the American Bar

Association (ABA) and the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA), as well 

as the National Institute of Corrections document, A Framework for Pretrial Justice: Essential 

Elements of an Effective Pretrial System and Agency.

New Resource Addresses 

Jurors with Disabilities

The Jurors with Disabilities: Fact Sheet covers essential information that court staff, judges, and 

hearing officers, and others who work with juries should know about the Americans with 

Disabilities Act (ADA).

Uses of the Fact Sheet include:

Identifying who the ADA covers;

Specific exclusions of the ADA;

Reasonable accommodations and exceptions under Title II;

Caselaw guiding when and what not to modify; and,

Best Practices.

For more tools, best practices, and recent research, visit the NCSC Center for Jury Studies.
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

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

Chase T. Rogers

Chief Justice (ret.)

Supreme Court of Connecticut

Hartford, CT

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

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

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.

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.

Share the News

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

information of interest to the entire state court community. If your organizations work

complements ours, let us know and we will share.