Archive for the ‘Announcement’ Category
Four national court organizations released a Procedural Fairness Bench card for trial judges today. The bench card can be found under the new “Bench Card” tab on the front page of our website, ProceduralFairness.org. Or you can just click this link to go directly to the bench card. It’s also being printed as the back cover of the issue of Court Review that’s now in the mail to American Judges Association members.
The bench card is a joint product of the American Judges Association, the Center for Court Innovation, the National Center for State Courts, and the National Judicial College.
The bench card tries to answer the key questions a trial judge might have about procedural fairness (also known as procedural justice):
- What is it? It’s a set of evidence-based practices that lead to better acceptance of court decisions, a more positive view of individual courts and the justice system, and greater compliance with court orders. The bench card begins by explaining six closely connected elements of procedural fairness.
- Why is it important? Rigorous studies have shown that both acceptance of court decisions and overall approval of the court system are much more closely connected to perceptions of procedural fairness than to other factors.
- Can it be measured? Yes, and the bench card provides links to measurement tools that judges and courts can use.
- How do I do it? One full side of the bench card describes specific things trial judges can do to practice procedural fairness in court.
- Where can I get more information? The bench card also provides links to websites that provide more in-depth materials and to six specific publications.
The Center for Court Innovation (CCI) is seeking courts to participate in an assessment of each court’s procedural-fairness practices. CCI is accepting applications until June 12 from local courts with the jurisdiction to hear criminal cases.
The official Request for Proposals gives full details on the project, but CCI says that it hopes to advance procedural-justice goals “by (1) highlighting promising practices for the field at large, (2) helping jurisdictions identify problem areas, and (3) outlining short- and longer-term plans to implement appropriate interventions.”
CCI suggests that this project “is targeted to criminal courts interested in deepening their understanding of procedural justice and examining whether and how their current practice promotes the core elements of procedural justice: voice, respect, understanding, and neutrality.” The selected sites will gain the feedback of outsiders who are familiar with the background research in this area.
The project will focus on four key areas at each site:
· Providing information about court procedures to court users and to the community;
· Fostering a user-friendly courthouse environment;
· Developing mechanisms to solicit and respond to feedback from staff and court users; and
· Improving the communication strategies used by judges and other court staff.
Project staff will provide suggestions for improving practices in each court.
The Procedural Fairness website has started a new service, providing a quarterly summary of recent research. Found under the “Resources” tab on our website (click on “Resources” and then choose “Quarterly Research Report” from there), the report is edited by Justine Greve (M.A., American Studies), a staff member at the Kansas Court of Appeals, and Shelley Spacek Miller (J.D.), a staff member at the National Center for State Courts.
They have scoured a variety of academic and other sources to find new books, articles, and events related to procedural fairness. We will note the posting of each quarterly report here on the Procedural Fairness Blog. Wherever possible, Greve and Miller have provided a link either to the full article or a summary.
We hope that this will prove helpful to you. Let us know your thoughts.
The Center for Court Innovation (CCI) has obtained grant funding to provide training to some trial courts on procedural-justice principles. The project is a partnership between CCI, the National Judicial College, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.
The training is explicitly based upon Professor Tom Tyler’s work in procedural fairness, and CCI has dubbed the program “The Improving Courtroom Communication Project.” It will attempt to improve procedural justice in a criminal-court setting. The training curriculum will consist of five modules:
• The Role of Procedural Fairness, covering research findings on the impact of procedural fairness in various justice-system contexts;
• Verbal Communication, including how written and oral communication in the courtroom affects fairness perceptions;
• Nonverbal Communication, including how body language, tone, and other nonverbal cues affect fairness perceptions;
• Considering Special Populations, including how communication can be adapted to meet the needs of various court participants; and
• Implementing Procedural Fairness, including group idea-generation and the development of individualized action plans.
The curriculum was tested in a Milwaukee pilot-training exercise. CCI is now accepting applications and will select three criminal courts to participate in this training program, which will be free of charge to the selected courts. To be eligible, applicant sites must be a local or state court with jurisdiction to hear criminal cases (including multi-jurisdictional courts).
Full information on how to apply for the training can be found at the CCI website. Applications must be received no later than 5 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, June 14, 2013.
Procedural Fairness For Courts and Judges 