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June 2008 Vol. 1

-SJI New

8, No. 9 

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BOARD APPROVES GRANTS FOR THE THIRD QUARTER

The SJI Board of Directors met in Alexandra, Virginia, on June 27, 2008, to review applications for the third 

quarter of Fiscal Year 2008. Four (4) Project Grants, 6 Technical Assistance (TA) Grants, and 1 Curriculum 

Adaptation & Training (CAT) Grant were approved, for a total of $510,811. 

As of the third quarter of FY 2008, SJI has awarded 9 Project Grants totaling $771,812; 3 Partner Grants 

totaling $607,000; 2 Strategic Initiatives Grants totaling $448,168; 16 TA Grants totaling $430,476; and 6 CAT 

Grants totaling $87,997; for a grand total of $2,345,453. Total match as of the third quarter of FY 2008 is 

$1,881,869. SJI has also awarded a grand total of $152,705 for 113 Scholarships as of the third quarter. 

Included in the awarded Project Grants are projects to support court-based training to improve the identification 

of human trafficking victims in New York City, and an evaluation of truancy court models in Maryland. Six (6)

TA applications were approved by the Board, including support for court security training in Arkansas, 

emergency planning in Georgia, and an initiative to improve the diversity of court staff in Minnesota. One (1) 

CAT Grant was approved that will allow the Virginia courts to develop a faculty of judicial education trainers 

using existing staff, thereby saving on outside training costs. 

BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE AND SJI 

PARTNER ON DRUG COURT TRAINING 

SJI recently finalized a Partner Grant with the Department of Justice/Office of Justice Programs/Bureau of 

Justice Assistance (BJA), for the Drug Court Planning Initiative; a BJA-funded training initiative that helps 

communities implement effective drug court programs. The Drug Court Planning Initiative is designed to fulfill 

three interconnected goals for the state or local drug court teams: 1) educate the team on the basic concepts of 

drug courts, including information on building the components of a drug court; 2) provide the team with the 

fundamental skills necessary for the paradigm shift from standard case processing to drug court case processing; 

(continued on page 2) 

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor 

Addresses Civic Education 2, 3

Inside

BJA/SJI Partner on Drug Court 

Training 2

New Curriculum for the Special Announcements 4

Self-Represented 3
and 3) encourage and educate the team to build their program with an emphasis on cultural competency, while 

integrating the court and treatment programs. As in prior years, the National Association of Drug Court 

Professionals (NADCP) will develop and deliver this training to drug court teams seeking to implement a drug 

court in their jurisdictions. 

This Partner Grant will allow BJA and SJI to leverage the funds available for training drug court planning 

teams. These combined resources will enable drug court teams who have limited resources to attend the 

training; and/or enable additional drug court teams, who would not have been included prior to the Partner 

Grant, to receive training. 

BJA and SJI are continuing to work together on various projects impacting the courts. This Partner Grant 

marks the second year BJA and SJI have combined resources to support a project, and SJI is looking forward to 

future efforts. 

JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR ADDRESSES 

CIVIC EDUCATION FOR THE NATION’S YOUTH 

Justice O’Connor has been voicing her concern that young people are not learning what they need to know to 

become knowledgeable and active participants in civic life. Only a little more than one-third of Americans can 

name the three branches of government; two-thirds know as least one of the judges on the Fox television show 

American Idol, but less than one-in-ten can identify the Chief Justice of the United States. To address this issue, 

Justice O’Connor has launched the Our Courts project. Our Courts will be a free, interactive, web-based 

program and eventually a 3D world designed to teach middle-school students in civics and the courts. Our

Courts will allow students to participate in realistic situations, including investigating and arguing actual cases 

using real law. Furthermore, they will view these cases from the perspective of the judicial, legislative, and 

executive branches. 

Experts in education, law, history, and technology from the Georgetown University Law Center and Arizona 

State University were recruited by Justice O’Connor for this project. The Our Courts staff has built a 

curriculum that is problem-oriented and discovery-based, and that addresses issues important to youth. Our 

Courts has two components: 1) classroom – includes a series of activities to be used as a complete civics 

curriculum, or as a supplement to existing curriculums; 2) simulation – hypothetical or actual cases will be 

presented which will allow students to engage in a case from start to finish. The second phase of Our Courts, to 

be rolled out in 2010, will be embedded in a 3D virtual world built on the principles of electronic gaming. This 

component is intended for use in educational venues as well as home computers. Our Courts will maximize 

opportunities for civic learning to prepare youth for civic participation, including participation in the nation’s 

judiciary. 

(continued on page 3)

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The Our Courts website can be found at http://www.ourcourts.org. 

For more information about this project and other topics, please visit the Sandra Day O’Connor Project of the 

State of the Judiciary: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/judiciary. 

SJI is aware that many state and local courts are looking to develop linkages in the schools. Our Courts may 

provide a way for state and local courts to engage in these civic activities using an existing curriculum, thereby 

saving time and funding where there are limited resources. 

NEW CURRICULUM HELPS IMPROVE ACCESS 

FOR THE SELF-REPRESENTED 

Courts and judges are continuing to focus on changing court systems and practices to improve access to justice 

for self-represented litigants. To assist in these efforts, the Self-Represented Litigation Network has developed 

a judicial curriculum and leadership package that is designed to share the latest innovations. The curriculum 

and leadership package was developed with funding from two SJI grants (SJI-05-N-091-C06-1 and SJI-07-N057). They include PowerPoint slides, detailed faculty notes, an activity handbook – which describes activities 

that assist in understanding the underlying issues surrounding self-represented litigants, and a resource 

handbook. 

In 2006 and 2007, the Self-Represented Litigation Network, with support from SJI and the Maryland and 

California AOCs, conducted video-based observations into the effectiveness of communication between judges 

and self-represented litigants. The observations revealed high levels of communications between judges and the 

self-represented litigants. Furthermore, a number of techniques were documented that were effective in making 

sure that self-represented litigants were able to present to the judge the facts needed to decide the case. The 

curriculum includes detailed descriptions of these techniques, as well as an analysis of the need for judicial 

engagement with self-represented litigants. 

The Court Leadership Package (which can also be used as a curriculum), contains 15 modules, each containing 

training on how to use innovation to improve service to the self-represented litigant. Both the curriculum and 

leadership package can be accessed at www.selfhelpsupport.org. The video used for this project, which is 

restricted to judicial education use, can be obtained by courts from the Knowledge and Information Services of 

the National Center for State Courts. 

Page 3 E-SJI News – Vol. 18, No. 9 
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 

Carlos R. Garza, Esq. 

Administrative Judge (Ret.) 

Round Rock, TX 

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, nonprofit 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. 

SPECIAL ANNOUCEMENTS 

3⁄4 Next grant and scholarship application deadline: August 1, 2008. 

3⁄4 The SJI website includes a new link that provides more details about 

grant and scholarship deadlines. More information can be found using 

the following link: http://www.sji.gov/deadlines.php. 

3⁄4 The next Board meeting is September 19, 2008 (4th QTR, FY 2008). 

STATUS OF FY 2009 APPROPRIATIONS 

On June 19, 2008, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the 

Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Bill (S 3182), which includes $5 million for 

SJI in FY 2009. SJI greatly appreciates the Senate’s support, and will have 

more information about the FY 2009 appropriations process, including the 

House Appropriations Committee’s funding level for SJI, in next month’s ESJI News. 

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email esjinews@sji.gov and provide your first and last name. 

SJI E-News is published by the State Justice Institute 

1650 King Street, Suite 600, Alexandria, VA 22314 

(703) 684-6100 Fax: (703) 684-7618 www.sji.gov

 Editors Design/Layout

Janice Munsterman Jonathan Mattiello 

Jonathan Mattiello 

Page 4 E-SJI News – Vol. 18, No. 9