SJI Newsletter

January 2020 | Volume 30, No. 4

National Initiative Advisory Committee

Shares Resources and Updates

The National Initiative on Mental Illness and the Courts Advisory Committee is committed to 

improving both court and community responses to those with mental illness and cooccurring substance use disorders.

Supported by State Justice Institute (SJI) and the National Center for State Courts

(NCSC), the Committee publishes a bi-monthly Behavioral Health Alert and has compiled a

series of selected readings and resources.

With the continued interest and the leadership of the state courts, this effort is wellpositioned to address the revolving door of jails, involuntary commitments, court cases,

emergency rooms, state hospitals, and homelessness of those with serious mental illness.

Sign up to receive these Behavioral Health Alerts. The Alerts will include updates from the 

National Initiative, Research and Resources, and News from around the nation.

Also, remember the Advisory Committee wants to hear from you. Please send news and 

developments, and/or concerns and challenges by emailing Patti Tobias, NCSC Project 

Coordinator, at ptobias@ncsc.org.
Georgia Good Judge-ment Podcast

With grant support from SJI, technical assistance from the NCSC, and use of the podcast

studio at the University of Georgia School of Law in Athens, the Georgia Superior Courts

have established a thriving podcast.

Centered on Georgia law and issues relevant statewide, judges J. Wade Padgett (Augusta

Circuit) and Tain Kell (Cobb Circuit), enlist guests, experts, and knowledge from their

combined judicial careers to provide continuing education and dialogue on matters of

interest to Georgia judges and the legal community.

At more than 20 episodes, the Good Judge-ment Podcast has found an audience

interested in exploring substantive law and procedure for superior courts. The show also

has had a three-episode foray into the realm of probate courts with special guest Judge

Keith Wood of the Cherokee County Probate Court. First Lady of Georgia, Marty Kemp,

even paid a visit to the studio (pictured above) to discuss her initiative to curb human

trafficking in Georgia.

The hosts welcome feedback and ideas for future podcasts at goodjudgepod@gmail.com.
New Report Available on Pima County, Arizona,

Pilot Program to Address Civil Cases

The Superior Court in Pima County, Arizona implemented the FASTAR Pilot Program in

November 2017. The program was designed to address case management complaints

concerning cases valued at $50,000 or less, which were automatically assigned to

compulsory arbitration. Under the pilot program rules, cases eligible for compulsory

arbitration could be assigned to expedited case management tracks in which the parties

could choose to resolve the case by bench or jury trial (Fast Trial) or by arbitration

(Alternative Resolution). Plaintiffs that failed to choose defaulted to the Alternative

Resolution track. With generous financial support from the State Justice Institute, the

National Center for State Courts evaluated the FASTAR Pilot Program as a technical

assistance project through its Civil Justice Initiative Implementation Plan.

The NCSC found that, in more than one-quarter of FASTAR cases disposed between

November 1, 2017 and September 30, 2019, plaintiffs choose the Fast Trial track. These

cases were less likely to settle than cases in which the plaintiffs choose Alternative

Resolution. A total of 14 cases were ultimately disposed by bench trial (6 cases) or jury

trial (8 cases), thus fulfilling the program expectations that attorneys would gain valuable

trial experience. The NCSC also surveyed attorneys who were listed as counsel of record

in FASTAR cases. The survey response rate was 11.9 percent, and differences between

case and respondent characteristics suggest that self-selection bias may have prompted

lawyers with more negative opinions about the FASTAR Pilot Program to respond. For

example, there was a consistent and strong consensus that the FASTAR Rules were unfair

to plaintiffs. Moreover, attorneys that affirmatively selected the Fast Trial track indicated

that they did so to avoid prohibitions on appeals from arbitration rather than to take

advantage of the opportunity to resolve the case by trial. The evaluation report concludes

with recommendations, including aligning case management rules for FASTAR cases with

those for cases assigned to Tier 1 under the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. 

The full report is available here.
Attaining Judicial Excellence in Australia

In December 2017, The National Center for State Courts (NCSC), with support from SJI,

released the Elements of Judicial Excellence Framework.

The framework was created to support a well-coordinated, evidence-based system of

judicial professional development, and provides information court leaders can use when

deciding how to structure judicial education, performance feedback programs, and

mentoring programs for judges. It also provides judicial professional development program

stakeholders with a common language that can be used in discussions about

developmental objectives and to improve coordination of resources across developmental

programs.

Recently, the National Judicial College of Australia (NJCA) adapted the framework as a

basis for the development of their own judicial excellence framework.
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

David V. Brewer

Justice

Oregon Supreme Court

Salem, OR

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

Partner

Pitney Day, LLP

Hartford, CT

Wilfredo Martinez

Senior Judge

State 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 organization’s work

complements ours, let us know and we will share.