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July 2008 Vol. 1

-SJI New

8, No. 10 

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HOUSE AND SENATE PROVIDE FUNDING LEVELS 

FOR FY 2009

On June 19, 2008, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Bill 

(S 3182), which includes $5.0 million for SJI in FY 2009; an increase of $1.24 million over FY 2008. On June 

25th the House Appropriations Committee approved the CJS Bill (bill number pending), providing $4.1 million 

for SJI; an increase of $340,000 over FY 2008. SJI greatly appreciates the House and Senate’s continued 

support. 

It is possible there will not be any action on SJI’s final appropriation until after the next administration takes 

office. As in prior fiscal years when the spending bills were not complete prior to the beginning of the federal 

fiscal year (October 1), Congress passes Continuing Resolutions (CRs) funding the government until the final 

appropriation is approved. It is likely that SJI will be funded under a CR(s) for several months into FY 2009. 

While under a CR, SJI will make grant awards contingent upon final appropriations. For example, if a grant 

application is approved by the Board for the 1st Quarter of FY 2009, no grant funding may be drawn down for 

the project until SJI receives its appropriation. Potential applicants for the 1st Quarter are advised to request 

permission in advance to use cash match funds until SJI funding is available, so that the project is not delayed. 

Updates on Efforts to Address 

Immigration in the State Courts 3

Inside

LSC/SJI Partner Grant 

Includes Training 2

New Online Course for SJI Scholarships 4

COOP 3 
LSC/SJI PARTNER GRANT INCLUDES TRAINING 

FOR LEGAL SERVICES PROVIDERS 

LSC and SJI began a Partnership in FY 2006 to tighten the bonds between courts and legal aid providers. SJI 

provides additional funding for LSC to make awards for projects that have a court component in their 

Technology Initiative Grants (TIG) program. LSC and SJI work together to determine appropriate projects for 

joint funding. 

A component of this Partner Grant included a two-day training workshop for grantees. The workshop provided 

training on creating plain English language court forms and instructions for self-represented litigants. Twentyfive people attended the first training session this past year from nineteen jurisdictions, the furthest being from 

Guam. Participants from both the courts and legal services providers attended the training, which was led by 

Maria Mindlin, Chief Executive Officer of the language consulting firm Transcend. Both LSC and SJI are 

considering providing additional training programs in the future. More information about the TIG program can 

be found by visiting the website: http://tig.lsc.gov/. 

LSC/SJI-Sponsored Plain Language Workshop 

Page 2 E-SJI News – Vol. 18, No. 10
UPDATES ON EFFORTS TO ADDRESS 

IMMIGRATION IN THE STATE COURTS 

In May 2008, SJI finalized FY 2008 awards for the Strategic Initiatives Grants (SIG) program. This year, SJI is 

using the SIG Program to focus on the impact of immigration in the state courts. Four priorities will guide these 

efforts: 1) increased understanding and awareness about the impacts of immigration in the state courts; 2) 

development and testing of state and local approaches for addressing the impact of immigration in the state 

courts; 3) enhanced state and local capacity to improve court services affected by immigration; and 4) the 

establishment of effective partnerships for addressing the impact of immigration on court processes. Two 

grants were awarded; one to the Center for Public Policy Studies (CPPS); and another to support a collaborative 

effort between the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the National Judicial College (NJC). 

One of the first steps is to identify the major challenges and opportunities state courts need to address the 

impact of immigration. To date there has been no systematic, comprehensive documentation of the issues. 

There is a substantial body of literature that discusses immigration issues in general, but not how those issues 

affect courts and court services. To address this gap, CPPS is now preparing a comprehensive inventory of 

where and how immigration issues are affecting the courts. This inventory will be used throughout the project 

as CPPS works with specific jurisdictions serving as pilot sites to prepare both lessons learned and suggested 

procedures and programs for the courts. 

In addition to this inventory, CPPS will be working with the selected sites and NJC to develop a bench book to 

help judges address the practical implications of immigration. Among the issues to be included in this bench 

book are: bail decisions; decisions regarding eligibility for and conditions of probation; taking guilty pleas and 

the effect of guilty pleas on immigration status; and other intersections of federal and state laws. 

 As these projects move forward, SJI will continue to provide updates in future editions of the E-SJI News and 

on the SJI website. 

NEW ONLINE COURSE AVAILABLE 

ON CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS FOR COURTS 

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has recently released a self-paced online course that includes 

presentations by court professionals who are experts in emergency management preparedness – many as a result 

of facing their own emergencies. Some of course topics include: the COOP planning process, succession orders 

and delegation of authorities, alternate facilities, vital records and databases, and testing/training exercises. The 

course can be accessed using the following link: http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/coop/curriculum.html. 

The course is designed to augment and reinforce the information provided in the COOP Planning Guide: 

http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/coop/. 

Page 3 E-SJI News – Vol. 18, No. 10 
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: November 1, 2008 

(1st QTR, FY 2009). 

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

ACCEPTABLE EXPENSES FOR 

SJI SCHOLARHIPS 

SJI’s Scholarship program supports the training of State court judges and court 

managers. Scholarships are awarded to individuals to attend out-of-state, 

court-related educational programs within the United States or online courtrelated educational programs. A SJI scholarship may cover the costs of tuition, 

transportation to and from the educational program, and reasonable lodging 

(up to $150 per night, including taxes), up to a maximum total of $1,500 per 

scholarship. Transportation expenses include round-trip coach airfare or train 

fare. Funds to pay tuition, transportation, and lodging expenses in excess of 

$1,500 and other costs of attending the program such as meals, materials, and 

transportation (including rental cars) at the site of the education program, must 

be obtained from other sources or be borne by the scholarship recipient. 

In the past SJI has made scholarship awards based on the amount requested by 

the individual (and subsequently approved by the Board). For example, if the 

total cost to attend an education program was $1,400, SJI would award this 

amount as opposed to the full $1,500. This has led to some issues where the 

approved costs end up being higher once the judge or court manager has 

attended the class. The main reason why this happens is because at the time 

the individual is planning his or her training, the tuition, airfare, transportation, 

and lodging expenses are often estimated. However, once the actual costs are 

known, these estimates could be too low. By making all awards up to $1,500 

for approved costs, this will correct this problem and make it easier for 

individuals to receive appropriate reimbursement for their scholarship costs. 

Should the individual not need the full $1,500, the remaining balance will be 

deobligated at the end of the scholarship award period. The deobligated funds 

will then be made available for future scholarship awards during the fiscal 

year. 

If you would like to be added to the monthly E-SJI News distribution list, please 

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 

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