Volume 22, No. 7 April 2012 

E-SJI NEWS SJI NEWS

In this Issue 

2nd Quarter Grant 

Awards 

1 

SIG Awards - SelfRepresented Litigation 2 

CCE: Courts and the 

Media Series 

2 

Status of FY 2013 

Appropriations 

2 

New Resources for 

Race and Ethnic 

Fairness in the Courts 

3 

Page 1 

SJI received 20 grant applications 

requesting a total of $1,147,684 for 

the 2nd quarter of FY 2012. The 

Board met on April 23, 2012, at 

the National Center for State 

Courts (NCSC) in Williamsburg, 

Virginia, to make decisions on 

those applications. 

In addition, NCSC provided overview briefings about their operations. The Board also had the opportunity to visit the Courtroom 21 

Project, a part of the Center for 

Legal and Court Technology at the 

College of William & Mary School 

of Law. The Courtroom 21 Project is the world's 

most technologically advanced trial and appellate 

courtroom, and is used for testing new court technologies, in addition to providing ongoing education.

During its meeting, the Board awarded 13 grants 

totaling $612,090. One (1) Project Grant was 

awarded to the Missouri Office of the State Court 

Administrator (OSCA) for an Access to Justice Project designed to increase their capacity to meet federal and state-mandated access to justice requirements through an electronic forms hosting and delivery system. 

Eight (8) Technical Assistance (TA) Grants were 

approved, including: Phase III support to develop 

judicial branch educator competencies for the National Association of State Judicial Educators 

(NASJE); implementation of a high performance 

court framework in the Scottsdale City Court, Arizona; a supreme and superior court unification project in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

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For the latest information on 

projects, grant application deadlines, and updates. Connect with 

us on both forums by visiting 

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SJI Board Awards FY 2012 Second Quarter Grants 

Islands; and grants to the Kansas Supreme Court, 

New Mexico AOC, Washington AOC, San Mateo 

Superior Court in California, and Dane County Clerk 

of Courts in Wisconsin for court improvement, 

analysis, and reengineering projects. 

Four (4) Curriculum Adaptation & Training (CAT) 

Grants were approved, including: a grant to the 

Washington AOC for an intensive court interpreter 

training initiative; statewide delivery of case management training for Colorado juvenile probation 

officers on a new risk assessment tool, which builds 

on a previous grant (SJI-11-T-011) to develop the 

new assessment tool; development and the online 

delivery of judicial webcasts for judges (including 

new judges) for the National Judicial College (NJC); 

and support for the in-house certification of a 12-

person team from the Missouri OSCA to deliver the 

NCSC’s Institute for Court Management (ICM) Certified Court Manager (CCM) credential. 
During the 2nd quarter Board meeting, 6 SIG 

grants were awarded totaling $275,158. These 

projects address one of SJI’s new Priority 

Investment Areas: Self-Represented Litigation 

and the State Courts. 

SIG grants were made to the: 1) Judicial 

Council of California to train bilingual JusticeCorps volunteers to provide enhanced serWith support from SJI, the Council for Court 

Excellence (CCE) held the first in a series of 

four programs discussing media-related trends 

and issues in the state courts (SJI-11-E-176). 

The program titled, The Technology and Law 

of Cameras in the Courtroom, was held in 

Washington, D.C. on March 27, 2012, and 

featured several distinguished panelists who 

discussed the legal implications of the media’s 

audiovisual presence in the courtroom. Presenters discussed best practices and personal 

experiences, either serving in, or reporting 

from, courtrooms across the United States. 

CCE will host several other presentations this 

year on other topics that deal with the intersections between courts, media, and the law. For 

CCE Hosts Program for Bench Bar Media Dialogue 

E-SJI News Volume 22, No. 7 April 2012 

Page 2 

more information on the next program in this series, and how you can attend, please contact Peter 

Willner at willner@courtexcellence.org. 

The panel presenters and program moderator for the March 27, 2012 program featured 

(from left to right in the picture): Michael 

Satin, D.C. Public Defender Service; Judge 

Jose Lopez, D.C. Superior Court; Chief 

Judge Royce Lamberth, U.S. District Court 

for the District of Columbia; Fred D’Ambrosi, WUSA9-TV; Kathleen Kirby, Wiley 

Rein LLP; Ronald Machen, U.S. Attorney 

for the District of Columbia; and Lucy Dalglish, Reporters Committee for Freedom of 

the Press. 

Status of FY 2013 Appropriations 

On April 17, 2012, the Senate Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Subcommittee on Appropriations marked up the FY 2013 CJS bill, which included $5,121,000 for SJI—the same level 

provided in FY 2012 and requested in the FY 2013 President’s Budget. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the CJS bill on April 19, 2012. 

Also on April 19th, the House CJS Subcommittee marked up the bill, which included 

$5,121,000 for SJI. The House Appropriations Committee approved the bill on April 26, 

2012. 

SJI greatly appreciates the continued support of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. SJI will provide updates as the appropriations process continues to move forward. 

 SJI Board Awards Strategic Initiative Grants on 

Self-Represented Litigation and the State Courts 

vices for self-represented litigants (SRLs); 

2)Indiana Administrative Office of the Courts 

to train volunteer college and law students to 

serve statewide pro se clinic clients; 3) National 

Center for State Courts (NCSC) to develop a 

standard set of definitions and counting rules 

for cases involving one or more SRLs; 4) SelfRepresented Litigation Network (SRLN) and 

NCSC to develop formal case triage protocols for assistance to SRLs; 5) SRLN to facilitate state court reimbursement under Title 

IV-D, and promote awareness of this resource; and 6) South Carolina Access to Justice Commission for delivery of legal information to SRLs in underserved areas of 

South Carolina. 
Page 3 

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. 7 April 2012

Final Phase of Campaign to Ensure Racial and Ethnic 

Fairness Provides Valuable Court Resources 

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) 

recently announced that the final products 

from the SJI-funded Phase II: A National 

Campaign to Ensure the Racial and Ethnic 

Fairness of America's State Courts (SJI-08-I084) are now available on the NCSC website. 

The project is the final phase of the National 

Campaign to Ensure Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts—a project initiated in collaboration with the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court 

Administrators (COSCA) Access and Public 

Trust Committees in 2006. 

The resources include a report on three pilot 

educational programs on implicit bias and 

shorter excerpts that can be used as standalone pieces for presentations and judicial 

education programs. A summary and accessible links to the resources developed under this 

grant include: 

It also includes appendices with resource materials for programs on implicit bias. 

2. Addressing Implicit Bias in the Courts: 

briefly describes the implicit bias phenomenon 

and outlines potential strategies that court 

professionals can use to combat implicit bias. 

1. Helping Courts Address Implicit Bias: Resources for Education: describes and evaluates 

the three pilot judicial education programs on 

implicit bias and offers lessons learned. 

 

3. Implicit Bias: Frequently Asked Questions: 

addresses some common questions about implicit bias and what contemporary science tells 

us about this cognitive phenomenon. 

4. Strategies to Reduce the Influence 

of Implicit Bias: identifies conditions that may give rise to implicitly 

biased judgment or behavior and 

details seven general approaches to 

address implicit bias in the courts 

based on current scientific research. 

A manuscript submitted to the Justice System 

Journal, and a forthcoming article in the 

UCLA Law Review is also available.