Rural communities face unique challenges that impact their ability to deliver fair and equitable justice. Despite these challenges, rural communities rely on their many strengths to address the needs of their residents. In 2021, the National Center for State Courts, in partnership with Rulo Strategies, 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. A cross-sector Advisory Council composed of rural judges and stakeholders in the justice, public safety, child welfare, public health, and behavioral health systems guide the work of the RJC. The current Advisory Council is composed of ten rural judges and nine rural justice stakeholders representing diverse disciplines.
The RJC Innovation Sites are the foundation of the RJC’s peer-to-peer training and technical assistance program designed to build rural justice systems’ capacity. RJC Innovation sites showcase work in rural communities that enhances rural justice systems and celebrates the people who make these efforts possible. Through a rolling nomination process, the RJC’s Advisory Council has selected 18 rural innovation sites to date. Rural communities can access the resources and information needed to replicate components of these initiatives through case studies, webinars, and podcasts hosted on RJC’s Online Resource Center.
The RJC Digest is also an important source for information about resources and training opportunities. Subscribe to the RJC Digest here. For more information, contact Michelle Cern (mcern@ncsc.org).
August 1, 2023
Leveling the Scales of Justice: Developing an Action Blueprint to Further Racial Justice in and by the Courts (known as the Blueprint for Racial Justice Initiative) The Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) issued a resolution in 2020 that called on courts to ‘intensify efforts to combat racial prejudice …
July 1, 2023
The National Judicial Network: A Lifeline Helping Judges Better Serve Human Trafficking Victims and Immigrant Victims of Crime and Abuse The National Judicial Network (NJN): Forum on Human Trafficking and Immigration in State Courts offers judges an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning and information sharing. Judges from all over the country who are interested in the …
June 1, 2023
The Good Judge-ment Podcast is an educational, web-based podcast for judges, lawyers, students and nerds of all kinds. The podcast started in 2016 as a supplement to ongoing educational programming for Georgia Superior Court judges. From that beginning, it has grown to a bi-weekly program with hundreds of subscribers and over 125 episodes. The hosts, …
May 1, 2023
With the certification of 64 resource judges and four court resource attorneys’ mid-summer 2022, the National Courts and Sciences Institute (NCSI) completed Phase 1 of a SJI-supported strategic initiative to discover ways to train judges and court personnel to cope with novel, changing, Covid Science in the Courtroom. Judges from 12 jurisdictions in coordinator-facilitated teams …
April 1, 2023
During the past two years, Neighborhood Preservation, Inc. worked with the City of Memphis and Shelby County to launch the local Emergency Rental Assistance program, a $90 million program with a strong eviction prevention and legal services component. The SJI grant supported the development of court data tools to identify ERA applicants facing upcoming court …
March 1, 2023
To improve guardianship case management, the National Center for State Courts is leading two SJI-funded projects to help guide courts through guardianship monitoring. Developing a Judicial Response Protocol to Address Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation in Guardianship Cases features an interactive tool designed to help judges respond to allegations of harm to individuals subject to guardianship. …