Category: News And Announcements

An estimated 14.4% of Americans are summoned for jury duty, and approximately 11 million individuals report for jury service every year. In their new policy paper, Citizens on Call: Responding to the Needs of 21st Century Jurors, the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) reinforces the importance of jury service by issuing a call to action and urging courts to improve the treatment of jurors.

“COSCA chose this topic because more than 25 years of research by NCSC and others has shown us the value of diversity in juries, the long-term effects of some jury service, and the myriad of reasons why individuals actively avoid jury service,” said Sally Holewa, North Dakota state court administrator and chair of COSCA’s policy committee. “Addressing these issues is well within the reach of court systems. Too often, we treat juries like the nameless panels depicted by sketch artists.”

The paper examines the reasons for juror dissatisfaction and identifies solutions and strategies for courts to address them. Additionally, COSCA outlines steps courts can take to ensure that jurors are treated with respect and appreciation throughout the entire process, starting from the initial contact until the verdict is rendered and beyond.

“It is time for courts to recognize the inherent humanity of those individuals who collectively make up our juries to ensure that the courts are welcoming the service of all individuals while mitigating any harm jury service causes them,” Holewa added.

Ten recommendations and multiple strategies offered in the paper take into consideration a juror’s time, financial circumstances, and the continued stress that may result from performing jury services.

COSCA identifies four causes of juror stress:

• Uncertainty, lack of control and long wait times
• The cost of jury service
• Privacy concerns and fears about personal and family safety
• Post-trial anxiety, guilt and vicarious trauma

COSCA encourages courts to think critically about how to improve the juror experience and offers the following recommendations:

• Ensure that the number of jurors asked to report is based on actual need.
• Shorten the length of jury service.
• Advocate for adequate payment for jury service.
• Educate trial court judges on vicarious trauma in jurors.
• Implement a juror trauma program.
• Address juror safety concerns.
• Protect juror privacy.

For more information on this paper and others, visit the COSCA website.

Chatbots can be an effective tool for improving access to services and efficiency in court operations. In NCSC’s new guide, Court Chatbots: How to Build a Great Chatbot for Your Court’s Website, our team explains how this computer software works and explores ways courts can use them to expand access. 

“We know chatbots can provide great benefits to both the public and the court. However, we want to encourage courts to plan well and adequately support chatbots to ensure they are effective,” said NCSC Court Management Consultant Aubrie Souza, lead author of the new guide.

Today, you can find chatbots helping court users in Arizona, Los Angeles, and Miami answer frequently asked questions and provide information about navigating the court website and finding resources. Users interact with the chatbots via a menu or free text. In some cases, chatbots communicate with users in multiple languages.

The guide breaks down chatbot basics and identifies key areas to address when considering a solution for your court. It also covers important topics such as distinguishing between providing legal advice and legal information (Tiny Chat 26) and addressing digital divide concerns (Tiny Chat 4). The guide emphasizes that while a chatbot can help lessen the workload caused by phone calls, emails, live chats, and in-person visitors, it should supplement, not replace, staff.

Recommendations for building a good chatbot include:

• Secure a vendor contract that addresses responsibilities such as maintenance, updates, security, data ownership and troubleshooting.

• Pay close attention to how the chatbot will appear on your website and the expectations it sets for users.
• Make the chatbot accessible by using plain language and text, colors and cues that can be recognized by users with visual impairments, and screen readers.
• Provide users with transcripts and instructions on how to contact the court or an external resource if needed.
• Recruit real users to test the chatbot prior to launch.

The Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) have created a Rapid Response Team (RRT) of chief justices and state court administrators to examine some of the immediate issues related to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI in courts.

“The growing reliance on AI tools in the legal practice and court proceedings offers opportunities and challenges,” said CCJ President and RRT Co-Chair Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, Chief Judge of the DC Court of Appeals. “I am pleased that this team will begin work soon to assist courts in understanding the current implications of AI’s evolution on the state courts and create model guardrails to protect the integrity of the judicial process.”

RRT Co-Chair Justin Forkner, Chief Administrative Officer of the Indiana Supreme Court, added, “Our shared understanding of these technologies will help us develop model rules for state courts with respect to disclosure, transparency, accuracy, authenticity, and certification of AI use in court pleading and proceedings.”

Supported by NCSC staff, this team will collect and analyze court orders, rules, best practices, and other actions of the state court community related to attorneys and self-represented litigants’ use of AI tools to construct legal pleadings.

Read more here: Response team will assist courts with AI policy and practice | NCSC

SJI received 10 grant applications requesting a total of $1,231,514 for the 1^st quarter of FY 2024. The Board met on December 4, 2023, at SJI Headquarters to make decisions on those applications.

During its meeting, the Board awarded one (1) Strategic Initiatives Grant to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), in partnership with the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators to conduct five regional online and in-person summits, where court leaders will gain a deeper understanding of cybersecurity and technical disaster recovery resources and tools, enabling them to prevent, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity events. 

One (1) Project Grant application was awarded to the National Association for Court Management (NACM) to: 1) develop and deliver nationally significant educational programs, related materials, and curriculum with a continued focus on SJI Priority Investment Areas and the NACM Core©; and 2) continue distant learning opportunities to broaden the scope and delivery of educational content to court managers, judges, administrators, and other judicial branch employees. 

Five (5) Technical Assistance Grant applications were awarded: 1) the Kansas Supreme Court to conduct an organizational assessment of the staffing structure of the Office of Judicial Administration and district court administrators statewide; 2) the NCSC to develop a free, online self-study resource that will educate court staff about the role of courts in American society, and how court staff help fulfill the mission of courts; 3) the Superior Court of Mohave County, Arizona, to conduct a workload assessment of judicial officers; 4) the Alaska Court System to identify the most effective governance model that will result in a cohesive, responsive, efficient, and data-informed administrative system for trial court operations; and 5) the Wyoming Judicial Branch to implement a mental health diversion project with the immediate goal of launching a pilot in Campbell County, and a long-term goal statewide implementation.

Two (2) Curriculum Adaptation and Training Grants were awarded: 1) support to the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ) to develop an advanced domestic violence educational session and toolkit for judges and other court personnel attending the NAWJ meetings; and 2) the Wisconsin Office of Judicial Education to provide a faculty development training program for judicial officers and other court personnel identified as potential future in-house faculty for educational programming in the state.

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has recently started utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping technology to assist state courts in identifying “legal deserts”- areas where people may face challenges accessing legal resources and services.

GIS technology can help courts gain deeper insights into the needs of people living in legal deserts by generating legal desert maps that consider access-to-justice risk factors such as the number of attorneys compared to the population, distance to a courthouse, poverty rates, limited English proficiency, and the absence of internet or broadband connectivity.

“We can integrate external data that we usually would not focus on, such as demographics, population characteristics, transportation routes, bus schedules, or public service provider locations,” said Miriam Hamilton, an NCSC senior court research analyst. “This allows us to identify problems that were not clear before, set priorities based on locations with the greatest need, or even forecast trends.”

NCSC Court Consulting Services Managing Director, Danielle Hirsch, expanded on Hamilton’s comments by saying, “Sometimes internal court data is not enough to help identify the full problem, and GIS data can help us to see other solutions.”

Hirsch recently shared some of these findings during a session at the CCJ/COSCA Midwest Summit. To date, NCSC has created legal desert maps for several states, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Additional states may be added in the future.

GIS analysis has revealed that legal deserts are not always found in rural areas. Urban areas can also experience risk factors and limited resources. Furthermore, GIS mapping can also address other court issues, such as finding solutions for high failure-to-appear rates.

One state that has embraced GIS mapping is Michigan, where courts are using data to guide activities for their Justice For All Commission, Michigan Legal Help program, and MI-Resolve, a free online dispute resolution system.

Learn more by exploring the Mapping Barriers to Accessing Legal Services data.