Volume 23, No. 11 August 2013 

E-SJI NEWS SJI NEWS

In this Issue 

Human Trafficking and 

the State Courts 

Collaborative 

1 

National Call to Action 

on Limited English 

Proficiency 

2 

SJI Vice Chairman 

Receives Award 

FY 2014 Grant Application Deadlines 3 

3 

Page 1 

Human Trafficking and the State Courts Collaborative 

Releases New Website 

The SJI-funded Human Trafficking and the State 

Courts Collaborative recently released a new website

that will serve as a portal for all the TA work, education/training, and resources associated with this project. Each member of the Collaborative will provide 

updates on their activities using the website, providing a centralized location for all the information 

available on this critical issue. 

Beginning in FY 2013, SJI supported a Strategic Initiatives Grant (SIG) to the Center for Public Policy 

Studies/The National Judicial College/Center for 

Court Innovation (CPPS/NJC/CCI) to form a Human 

Trafficking and the State Courts Collaborative focused on 4 strategic priorities: 1) increasing understanding and awareness about the challenges faced by 

state courts in dealing with cases involving trafficking 

victims and their families, and traffickers; 2) developing and testing state and local approaches for assessing and addressing the impact of human trafficking 

victims and defendants in the state courts; 3) enhancing state and local court capacity to improve court 

services affected by human trafficking-related case 

processing demands; and 4) building effective national, state, and local partnerships for addressing the 

impacts of human trafficking case processing in the 

state courts. 

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Summary of changes in federal and state trafficking law, policy, and practice that might better serve the interests of the state courts;

A human trafficking and the state courts webbased resource network and clearinghouse for 

judges and court personnel;

A best practices toolkit for jurisdictions interested in establishing a specialized prostitution/

trafficking court;

A series of bench cards targeting human trafficking-related issues;

Best practice guidelines;

Model planning and technical assistance process 

and supporting materials;

Training on human trafficking via 12 courses for 

judges;

Intensive technical assistance in six jurisdictions, and proven nationally applicable technical 

assistance approaches; and

The Collaborative will result in a variety of products 

benefiting the state courts, including: 

A comprehensive resource inventory of background information about the demographics, 

scope, dynamics, and implications for the courts 

and justice system of various forms of human 

trafficking;

Measurement framework that includes measures 

and tools for monitoring the impacts of human 

trafficking case processing in the state courts;

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E-SJI News Volume 23, No. 11 August 2013 

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Published articles in various court periodicals about the project and the issue in 

general. 

In April 2013, theNational Association of 

Women Judges (NAWJ) and Legal Momentum/National Judicial Education Program 

(NJEP) officially joined the Collaborative. NAWJ has made human trafficking a 

priority over the past 2 years, and with SJI 

support, has been able to offer educational 

1. Assist states through COSCA, CCJ, and 

the Language Access Advisory Committee (LAAC) in developing consistent 

national standards for increased ability to 

share resources, including the ability to 

share interpreters, tests, and training opportunities; 

2. Assist in the creation of regional and/or 

national databases of interpreter resources, and increase capacity through 

remote interpreting; 

3. Conduct state and local courts needs assessments; 

4. Assist state and local courts with developing LEP plans, including assistance in 

determining when interpreter resources are 

required, and the necessary resources, as a 

part of case management; 

5. Develop model training for judges and 

court staff on cultural and interpreter use 

issues; 

6. Develop instructions and bench cards for 

judges to explain to courtroom participants 

how interpreters are best used in the courtroom; 

7. Evaluate gaps with meeting DOJ guidelines, and establish a plan of action to address those gaps; and, 

8. Similar to what courts have done with 

Americans with Disabilities (ADA) issues 

and security threats, establish a clearinghouse to collect data on LEP complaints in 

order to assist courts in addressing these 

issues. 

National Call to Action Addresses 

Limited English Proficiency in the State Courts 

programming to their membership on this 

critical issue. With a recent SJI grant (SJI-13-

E-090), NJEP will add a module on human 

trafficking to it popular course, Intimate Partner Sexual Abuse: Adjudicating This Hidden 

Dimension of Domestic Violence Cases. This 

web course has proved to be highly successful, 

and is available free of charge at 

www.njep-ipsacourse.org. 

During the Annual Meeting of the Conference 

of Chief Justices/Conference of State Court 

Administrators (CCJ/COSCA), the National 

Center for State Courts (NCSC) released National Call to Action, Access to Justice for 

Limited English Proficient Litigants: Creating 

Solutions to Language Barriers in State 

Courts. 

The Call to Action represents the culmination 

of a multi-year SJI-funded project aimed at 

addressing limited English proficiency in the 

state courts, which included a National Summit on Language Access in the Courts held in 

2012. The Call to Action presents an overview of important data the NCSC collected 

during the assessment of the courts, which was 

conducted prior to the convening of the Summit. It also provides a summary of the Summit, in addition to action steps that state courts 

can use to implement or improve language 

access programs. 

In addition to the Call to Action, SJI has provided support to the NCSC’s newly established Language Access Services Section to 

provide direct technical assistance to the state 

courts on this critical issue. Specifically, 

NCSC will: 

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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 

Chase T. Rogers 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Connecticut 

Hartford, CT 

Jonathan Lippman 

Chief Judge of the State of New York 

New York Court of Appeals 

New York, NY 

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 

Legal Policy Strategies Group 

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 23, No. 11 August 2013 

Dan Becker Receives Kenneth Palmer 

Distinguished Service Award 

During the Annual Meeting of the Conference 

of Chief Justices/Conference of State Court 

Administrators (CCJ/COSCA), SJI Vice 

Chairman Dan Becker was presented with the 

2013 Kenneth R. Palmer Distinguished Service Award. 

The award is given bi-annually to a current or 

former member of COSCA that has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and excellence 

in judicial administration. In their nomination 

letter, Mr. Becker’s COSCA colleagues called 

him “a perfect fit for this award,” citing his 

extensive work both statewide and nationally 

to promote access to justice and fairness in the 

state courts. 

Deadlines for FY 2014 Grant 

and Education Support Program (ESP) Applications 

1st Quarter - November 1, 2013 

2nd Quarter - February 1, 2014 

3rd Quarter - May 1, 2014 

4th Quarter - August 1, 2014