Summary of State and Local Justice Initiatives 2000

Citizens Conferences

These are events held by courts or state and local bar associations at which two-way communication is established with non-lawyers on general or specific justice issues as opposed to lectures or other one-way presentations. They can include town hall meetings, community forums, or state-wide conferences.

The survey shows 67 such efforts, with 60 held and 7 under consideration. This is an increase over the 50 reported in 1999. The majority (46) (such as the Oregon Citizens Conference and the Oklahoma Public Trust Conference) were of a general scope in which the views of non-lawyers were sought about the major problems facing the state and local justice system. For the status of specific states see the "Justice Initiatives" table.

Twenty-one were on specific topics such as Iowa’s Juvenile Justice Conference, district focus groups in Minnesota and Wisconsin public trust focus groups. This compares to 17 such efforts in the 1999 report.

For additional information contact the ABA Office of Justice Initiatives, 312/988-6138, fax 312/988-6100, justice@abanet.org.