Volume 22, No. 9 June 2012 

E-SJI NEWS SJI NEWS

In this Issue 

3rd Quarter Grant 

Awards 

1 

Update on Immigration 

Issues & the Courts 

2 

Upcoming FY 2012 

Grant Application 

Deadline 

2 

NASJE Competencies 

Project Update 

3 

 

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the Washington Judiciary and Center for Public Policy Studies. 

Two (2) Project Grants were awarded, including one 

to the Minnesota State Court Administrator’s Office 

to develop an online conservator reporting system 

that is based on a pilot system developed in Ramsey 

County, Minnesota. The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) also 

received a grant to assess Colorado Rule 16.1 governing civil procedures and evaluate the existing 

Civil Access Pilot Project (CAPP) in the Denver, 

Colorado, metro area, which was developed to help 

courts expedite business case processing. 

Nine (9) Technical Assistance (TA) Grants were 

approved, including: development of appellate court 

time standards by National Center for State Courts 

(NCSC) in close coordination with the Conference of 

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SJI Board Awards Third Quarter FY 2012 Grants

Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court 

Administrators (COSCA); reengineering of the 

Pierce County District Court in Washington; implementation of a high performance court framework in 

Ottawa County, Michigan; development of an instructional video for self-represented litigants in 

family court matters by the Connecticut Judicial 

Branch; a second phase of the Massachusetts Trial 

Court/AOC language access project for small claims 

proceedings; a process improvement project for probate matters Maricopa County, Arizona; and grants 

to the Arkansas Access to Justice, Minnesota AOC, 

and Colorado Judicial Department for projects addressing self-represented litigants and the state 

courts. The TA Grant to the Minnesota AOC is the 

first phase of a project to create a statewide e-filing 

system for self-represented litigants. 

Two (2) Curriculum Adaptation & Training (CAT) 

Grants were approved, including: delivery of motivational interview training to court staff at the 29th

Judicial District’s Court of Common Pleas in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, and a second phase of 

the Pillars of Service Excellence Program for the 

Connecticut Judicial Branch. 

SJI received 15 grant applications requesting a total of 

$756,684 for the 3rd quarter of 

FY 2012. The Board met on 

June 18, 2012, in Seattle, 

Washington to make decisions 

on those applications, in addition to attending briefings by 
SJI began using the Strategic Initiatives Grants 

(SIG) program in FY 2008 to address immigration issues and the state courts at a national 

impact level. As part of this effort, SJI in 

coordination with the Center for Public Policy 

Studies (CPPS) began working with the state 

courts to determine how immigration issues 

are impacting them. Two overarching themes 

developed out of this work: 1) state court capacity to provide effective service is challenged by the magnitude and intensity of current and anticipated immigration (equal access 

to justice); and 2) the intersection of federal 

immigration law and practice, and state law, 

can result in unintended consequences for 

litigants and state court systems. 

CPPS has been working over the past four 

years with state courts to address this issue, 

and has also produced various products at the 

national level dealing with state courts and 

immigration issues. During the June 18, 

2012, Board meeting, Dr. John Martin from 

CPPS briefed the SJI Board on the four activities completed as part of the project, and the 

two remaining activities which are currently 

underway, including providing direct technical 

assistance to the state courts. 

The following activities are components of 

this multi-year initiative: 1) identify the major 

challenges and opportunities state courts need 

to address when dealing with immigrants in 

the courts and establishing a web-based reAugust 1, 2012 is the last deadline for Fiscal 

Year (FY) 2012 Project, Technical Assistance, 

and Curriculum Adaptation Grant Applications. 

Upcoming Deadline is Final Opportunity for 

FY 2012 Grant Applications 

E-SJI News Volume 22, No. 9 June 2012 

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SJI will begin its new fiscal year on October 1, 

2012, and the SJI Grant Guideline for FY 2013 

will be available beginning in late September. 

Due dates for FY 2013 grant applications are: 

November 1, 2012 (1st quarter); February 1, 

2013 (2nd quarter) ; May 1, 2013 (3rd quarter); and August 1, 2013 (4th quarter). Potential applicants are encouraged to contact SJI in 

advance if there are questions about the grant 

application process. 

Update on Immigration Issues and the State Courts 

source network; 2) work with nine diverse court 

jurisdictions to learn what challenges they face 

in addressing the needs of immigrant populations that use the courts and how to best address 

those challenges; 3) prepare separate electronic, 

interactive bench guides for assisting judges 

and court administrators across the nation address the practical implications of state court 

criminal case processing involving immigrants, 

and addressing the nexus of federal immigration 

status and family, juvenile, and dependency 

case processing; 4) prepare an interactive electronic Guidebook for Addressing the Impacts of 

Immigration in the State Courts that can be used 

in courts across the nation; 5) develop and conduct courses for judges and court personnel for 

addressing the impacts of immigration in the 

state courts and establishing and coordinating a 

nation-wide training network; and 6) establish 

and facilitate an on-going federal/state dialogue 

to promote better collaboration between federal 

agencies and the state courts when addressing 

immigration issues that impact the state 

courts. 

In FY 2012, with SJI assistance, CPPS began 

focusing on human trafficking issues and the 

state courts. Specifically, helping the state 

courts determine the knowledge, expertise, 

processes, and basic infrastructure needed to 

address human trafficking. In addition, 

CPPS is working to develop model protocols, 

tools, and training for judges and court personnel on how to effectively manage cases 

involving immigrant litigants with mental 

health issues. 

These resources are available for download 

free of charge from the CPPS website. 

Please contact the Immigration and the State 

Courts Initiative team at CPPS if there are 

any questions on the content, or for technical 

assistance. 
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SJI Board of Directors

Chairman 

James R. Hannah 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Arkansas 

Little Rock, AR 

Vice Chairman 

Daniel J. Becker 

State Court Administrator 

Utah AOC 

Salt Lake City, UT 

Secretary 

Gayle A. Nachtigal 

Judge 

Washington County Circuit Court 

Hillsboro, OR 

Treasurer 

Hernan D. Vera 

President & CEO 

Public Counsel Law Center 

Los Angeles, CA 

Robert A. Miller 

Chief Justice (Ret.) 

Supreme Court of South Dakota 

Pierre, SD 

Chase T. Rogers 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Connecticut 

Hartford, CT 

David V. Brewer 

Chief Judge 

Oregon Court of Appeals 

Salem, OR 

Wilfredo Martinez 

County Judge 

9th Judicial Circuit of Florida 

Orlando, FL 

Marsha J. Rabiteau 

Policy Consultant 

Rabiteau Consulting 

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. 

E-SJI News Volume 22, No. 9 June 2012 

NASJE Core Competencies Update 

Judicial branch educators, who are responsible 

for designing and delivering education for 

judges and court staff, come from a variety of 

fields, such as the law, court administration, 

and education. This variety in the profession 

enriches the field, but it also contributes to the 

vast array of approaches to the work. 

As a result, in 2004, the National Association 

of State Judicial Educators (NASJE) created 

core competencies to promote uniform standards for the profession, and identify the basic 

knowledge, skills, and abilities/attitudes necessary for judicial branch educators to be successful. With SJI assistance in FY 2010, 

NASJE began developing a comprehensive 

curriculum based on these competencies. To 

date, there have been three phases of this project, of which Phases II and III (SJI-10-T-091 

and SJI-11-T-092) were supported by SJI, and 

a conference educational component designed 

to familiarize judicial branch educators with 

the updated curriculum design and core competencies (SJI-12-E-011). 

Countless volunteer hours of NASJE’s members, to date, have resulted in the following 

accomplishments: 

 Seven of the eleven core competencies 

developed into curriculum designs; 

Resources, classroom activities, and bibliographies created for faculty use; 

 Glossary established to promote a common vocabulary; 

 Electronic version of all the above materials now easily accessible; 

Education based on curriculum delivered 

at NASJE’s annual conferences and webinars are being used by several states; and 

 Educators involved with the NASJE 

process launched similar efforts in their 

own states or organizations. 

By 2013, NASJE will complete the fourth 

phase of the project and finalize the curriculum designs for the remaining four competencies. Additional phases of development will 

include curriculum writing for possible additional competency areas (i.e., ethics, technology, and access, fairness and diversity) not 

fully included in the 2004 competencies, educating NASJE planners and faculty on how to 

use the curriculum, building an interactive 

website for members to exchange resources, 

and monitoring the use of the curriculum.