Author: Lauren Curtis

On June 18th, 2024, President Biden nominated LaKresha Moultrie to the SJI Board of Directors.  Ms. Moultrie has led a career dedicated to service in the Delaware community.  She currently serves as Vice President of Legal Affairs, General Counsel, and Chief Enterprise Risk Officer at Delaware State University, one of America’s leading Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). In this role, she provides legal counsel to the University and its Board of Trustees. She also uses her legal expertise to assess critical issues facing the institution. Recently, she helped guide the University through the acquisition of Wesley College, which gained the University the distinction as the first HBCU to ever acquire a college or university.

Prior to joining Delaware State University, Ms. Moultrie led a successful career at the Delaware Department of Justice where she began as an entry-level prosecutor and progressed to Chief Deputy Attorney General, second-in-command of the office. Her career at the Department included trial and appellate work in all the State courts.  She received her law degree from Delaware Law School of Widener University and her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from Pace University. Moultrie’s professional accomplishments and charitable activities were acknowledged when she was recognized by The Delaware Business Times as part of the Class of 2015 “40 Under 40” and one of the “40 Most Empowering Women in Business” in 2021.

Funded by the State Justice Institute, the National Center for State Courts, in partnership with Rulo Strategies LLC, launched the Rural Justice Collaborative (RJC) to showcase the strengths of rural communities and highlight the cross-sector collaboration that is a hallmark of rural justice systems. These strengths include strong professional networks, deep ties to the communities they serve, resiliency, and ingenuity. The Rural Justice Collaborative is guided by an advisory council of rural practitioners representing the judiciary, public safety, behavioral health, public health, child welfare, victim services and other stakeholder-focused justice systems. The advisory council guides the initiative and has focused initial efforts on advancing innovation, promoting collaboration, and raising awareness of rural justice system needs.

Access the PDF and read more here: https://www.ruraljusticecollaborative.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/101270/RJC-Digest-Jun-2024.pdf

The State Justice Institute‘s Executive Director, Jonathan Mattiello, was honored to be on this recent panel on May 22nd, 2024, during a Congressional briefing on Capitol Hill, joined by U.S. Senator Chris Coons, judges, and other justice partners. This briefing was organized by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and co-hosted by U.S. Senator Chris Coons (DE), U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (TX), and U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (TX). Court leaders discussed the increasing threats and attacks on judges. Delaware Senator Christopher Coons, judges, and other justice partners emphasized the urgency in passing the Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act.

Maryland Judiciary Chief Justice Matthew Fader and Judge Julie Kocurek of the Travis County (TX) District Court shared accounts of how recent attacks have personally impacted them and their courts.

On May 23rd, 2024, President Biden nominated Bethany Pickett Shah to the SJI Board of Directors. She will fill a public member position previously held by Judge John Nalbandian, who resigned after becoming a Circuit Court Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  

Ms. Shah is an attorney with Jackson Walker LLP, where she specializes in complex commercial litigation, government investigations, and white-collar defense. Prior to private practice, she served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas, where she represented the United States in criminal prosecutions and civil litigation. Before becoming a prosecutor, she worked at the White House as Deputy Associate Counsel to the President, and at the Department of Justice as a Counsel in the Civil Rights Division and Counsel in the Office of Legal Policy. She is the recipient of several awards for her service, including the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas’s Dedicated Service Award. She has also been appointed by the judges of the Eastern District of Texas to serve on the district’s Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel. Ms. Shah is a graduate of The King’s College and Northwestern University School of Law. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Edith H. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

#NewResource Trauma-Informed Practices for Criminal Courts: Implementation Opportunities, the Center for Justice Innovation‘s new resource, funded by the State Justice Institute, has been released.

How can criminal courts implement trauma-informed practices? This is the focus of the latest work from the Office of National Initiative’s Recovery and Reform and Gender and Family Justice team’s, whom are providing judges, clerks, bailiffs, and attorneys with guidance on responding to trauma in their courts. Trauma-Informed Practices for Criminal Courts: Implementation Opportunities documents initial lessons learned from a national scan of trauma-informed practices in criminal courts and forms the basis for the Trauma-Informed Practice Strategy Lab’s forthcoming implementation blueprint.

Access the resource here: https://www.innovatingjustice.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2024/CJI_-SJI-Guide-TA-Trauma-Informed-Practices-Criminal-Courts-04302024.pdf