publications

CCJ/COSCA Guidelines for Public Access to Court Records

Guidelines for developing a court rule or policy on public access to court records. Contains actual language for court rules and commentary regarding the language, including alternative policies. Final report of the SJI project on "Developing CCJ/COSCA Guidelines for Public Access to Court Records: A National Project to Assist State Courts."

CCJ-COSCA Access 18Oct2002FinalReport.pdf — PDF document, 1,059 kB (1,085,370 bytes)

Implementing the CCJ/COSCA Guidelines on Public Access to Court Records

Suggestions for implementing the CCJ/COSCA Guidelines on Public Access to Court Records in the areas of 1) educating litigants and the public, 2) family court records, 3) internal court personnel policies on public access, 4) training curriculum for employees, and 4) contract provisions for IT vendors assisting the courts in providing public access to court records.

JMI NCSC Public Access to Court Records Implementing Guidelines - Final Report 15OCT05.pdf — PDF document, 277 kB (284,171 bytes)

Privacy, Civil Rights,and Civil Liberties Policy Templates for Justice Info

Templates for use by individual justice system agencies or information sharing networks in drafting policies protecting privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of those who come in contact with the justcie system. Templates provide actual poilicy language, commentary explaing the languge proposed, and references to laws and existing policies of a related nature.

Privacy_Civil_Rights_and_Civil_Liberties_Policy_Templates.pdf — PDF document, 742 kB (759,851 bytes)

JMI Electronic Filing and Service, An Evolution of Practice November 2004

This report is to describe the new options for the electronic exchange of court documents, point out the significant advantages associated with them and identify the best means of realizing them.

JMI Electronic Filing and Service.pdf — PDF document, 558 kB (571,424 bytes)

Improving Caseflow Management in Fulton Superior Court Oct 2002

From May 1998 until December 2001, The Justice Management Institute (JMI) worked with the Fulton County Superior Court on a multi-phase technical assistance project aimed at improving criminal and civil caseflow management in the Court. This final report of the project provides an overview of JMI’s work with the Court and summarizes accomplishments of the Court in the areas that have been the subject of our attention. It also identifies key issues in the main areas in which JMI has been providing technical assistance and makes recommendations for action in these areas.

Fulton GA CFM final report October 2002.pdf — PDF document, 297 kB (304,424 bytes)

JMI Cuyahoga OH Felony Case Processing Study Final Report MAY 2005

Final report and recommendations of a study of the felony case processing in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The study examines processes, business practices, and governance issues for the entire felony criminal justice system in the county from arrest to sentencing.

JMI Cuyahoga OH Criminal Caseflow Management Final Report MAY05.pdf — PDF document, 443 kB (454,572 bytes)

Managing Caseflow in State Intermediate Appellate Courts AUG 2001

The report presents basic information about workloads, resources, operating procedures, and case processing time in six intermediate appellate courts, and documents a number of difficulties in making crossjurisdictional comparisons of appellate case processing times. The report identifies a number of common problems that impede effective case processing and effective responses to these problems.

JMI Managing Caseflow in Appellate Courts full report AUG2001.pdf — PDF document, 498 kB (510,635 bytes)

National Curriculum for Caseflow Management in Juvenile Dependency Cases

This document describes a caseflow management curriculum developed by JMI for Fostering Results at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work with funding by the Pew Charitable Trusts. It is designed for use with multi-disciplinary, inter-agency teams of practitioners dealing with juvenile dependency cases involving children in foster care. The initial curriculum, exercises, and evaluation instruments were critiqued by a committee of national experts from the field representing many of the organizations active in the improvement of the juvenile dependency justice system. Following the critique, the curriculum was pilot tested in Flagstaff, Arizona, with teams from three Arizona counties. The experts who contributed to the design, and the organizations they represent, are acknowledged in the curriculum document.

National Curriculum.pdf — PDF document, 640 kB (656,049 bytes)

Strengthening Rural Courts

Final report of the SJI funded project involving a prototype seminar to discuss issues and priorities for rural courts. The report also includes curriculum materials that can be adapted for in-state or regional seminars focused on rural court issues.

JMI SJI Strengthening Rural Courts June 2005.pdf — PDF document, 352 kB (361,294 bytes)

Nevada Judicial Branch Funding: Resources and Operations During FY 2003

Final report of the Supreme Court of Nevada's Court Funding Commisison published in March 2005. The purpose of the Commission was to assess the level of funding and resources available to, and the services offered by, each of Nevada's courts. The report provides an estimate of the cost of all courts in FY 2003 and a summary of the services offered by the courts.

NV Court Funding Commission Report MAR 2005.pdf — PDF document, 1,514 kB (1,551,174 bytes)

JMI Adult Drug Court Case Studies final report Dec 2003

This report provides profiles of three adult drug courts: Hennepin County Drug Court in Minneapolis, MN, the South County Drug Court in San Diego, CA, and the St. Mary Parish Drug in St. Mary Parish, LA, which represent different legal and socioeconomic milieus, local politics, and geography. The profiles highlight their efforts to institutionalize their drug courts, innovative aspects of their operations, the challenges they have faced. Specifically, the report: 1) identifies critical community linkages that are valuable in the institutionalization process; 2) highlights how to leveraged scarce resources; 3) shows how the heightened accountability and standards of drug court movement has raised the bar for performance for the judiciary in general; and 4) demonstrates how drug courts have increased the community’s trust and confidence in the judiciary and contributed to public safety.

JMI Adult Drug Court Case Studies Final Report Dec 2003.pdf — PDF document, 536 kB (548,998 bytes)

JMI Institutionalizing Drug Courts Sept 2001

This report outlines the principal themes and ideas that emerged from a focus group meeting on Institutionalizing Drug Courts that was held in Denver, Colorado, in May 2000 to draw on the experience and expertise of 35 participants drawn from a broad range of courts and other institutions and organizations involved in or affected by the work of drug courts. The focus group meeting was convened by The Justice Management Institute in cooperation with the Drug Courts Program Office of the U.S. Department of Justice.

JMI Institutionalizing Drug Courts SEP01.pdf — PDF document, 189 kB (193,915 bytes)

The Seattle Community Court: Start-Up and Implementation

JMI Seattle Community Court - Main Report - 9Oct07.pdf — PDF document, 325 kB (333,369 bytes)

Ensuring a Reliable and Effective Criminal Justice System 2005

The objective of this project was raise consciousness about the problem of wrongful convictions on the part of leading criminal justice policy-makers and practitioners, and to stimulate the development of action plans aimed at addressing the systemic flaws that can lead to wrongful convictions. This report summarizes the work of the project, provide information about initial impacts of the project and making recommendations for further activities.

JMI Ensuring a Reliable and Effective Criminal Justice System July 2005.pdf — PDF document, 308 kB (315,682 bytes)

How to Use Structured Fines as an Intermediate Sanction Nov 1996 NCJ156242

This monograph presents guidelines for policymakers and criminal justice practitioners who are considering using structured fines as part of their overall sentencing system. Written by members of The Justice Management Institute and the Vera Institute of Justice and funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, this publication offers planning and operation instructions applicable to every jurisdiction, such as how to set goals and priorities, develop a unit scale that ranks offenses by severity, calculate fine amounts, and impose the structured fine sentence. Collection methods and techniques, critical to the overall success of a structured fine program, are also discussed.

How to Use Structured Fines as an Intermediate Sanction.pdf — PDF document, 699 kB (716,751 bytes)

JMI Developing Effective Pro Se Assistance Programs October 2001

This project focused on helping state court systems and local trial courts develop programs that will help unrepresented litigants gain meaningful access to justice. The primary activity of the project was the presentation of a prototype workshop on Developing Effective Pro Se Litigation Programs conducted in May 2000 for teams from ten jurisdictions. The report provides information about the workshop, about other project activities, and about the accomplishments of the participating teams in the months that followed the workshop. The project was supported by the State Justice Institute (SJI) and the Open Society Institute (OSI).

JMI Developing Effective Pro Se Assistance Programs final report OCT 2001.pdf — PDF document, 345 kB (353,884 bytes)

OJP Initiative on Courts and the Justice System April 2001

This report outlines key themes and ideas that emerged from discussions at a meeting held in Washington, D.C. in February 2000, to help develop initial plans for a “Courts and the Justice System” initiative. The meeting was jointly sponsored by the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs and the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and was organized by The Justice Management Institute (JMI).

OJP Initiative on Courts and the Justice System final report Apr 2001.pdf — PDF document, 184 kB (188,835 bytes)

Pretrial Services Programs: Responsibilities and Potential March 2001

This report provides a review of issues and practices in the pretrial services field. It describes how pretrial programs operate, discusses key policy issues, and outlines issues and challenges for the future. It pays particular attention to how pretrial services programs obtain and convey information relevant to the pretrial release/detention decision. It also describes how pretrial services agencies, the court, and other criminal justice system agencies can work together to minimize the risks of nonappearance and pretrial crime.

JMI NIJ Pretrial Services - Responsibilities and Potential MAR01 NCJ181939.pdf — PDF document, 1,413 kB (1,447,615 bytes)

Ventura Day Fine Project final report May 1995

This report describes the day fine pilot project operated in Ventura, California. It has three main purposes: (1) to describe the planning process; (2) to examine the reasons why the project was terminated; and (3) to assess what has been learned from this experience and develop recommendations concerning future development of policy with respect to the use of fines as criminal sanctions.

Ventura Day Fine Pilot Project final report w-o Apps MAY1995.pdf — PDF document, 335 kB (343,206 bytes)

Outcome Evaluation of the Seattle Municipal Court

Seattle Municipal Community Court Final Report_October 2009.pdf — PDF document, 384 kB (393,358 bytes)