This section is a new feature of these annual Summary reports. It provides overviews of major categories of state and local justice improvement activities.

First three categories listed are those the ABA calls "Justice Initiatives," which are newer state or local justice improvement efforts in which the non-lawyer community is involved, along with lawyers and judges. These are:

	Commissions on the "Futures" of the Courts
	Justice Commissions
	Citizens Conferences

The remaining categories are "traditional" justice improvement efforts in which courts or bar associations or a combination of both work on their own to improve justice without the active participation of non-lawyers. These are:

	Access Issues: Legal services, pro bono, indigent defense, etc.
	Providing public information and law-related education
	Alternate dispute resolution: mediation, arbitration, etc.
	Bias (racial, gender) in the courts or in the profession
	Family courts, family law/divorce
	Lawyer professionalism, ethics, competency, client relations
	Judicial independence, selection, compensation, evaluation
	Improving juvenile justice, peer mediation in the schools
	Improving jury selection, addressing needs of jurors
	Improving civil laws, practices or procedures
	Seeking adequate funding for the courts
	Serving special needs, e.g. domestic abuse, AIDS, disabled, elderly, homeless
	Conducting surveys of the public, litigants, jurors, etc.
	Other
	Dealing with alcohol or drug abuse
	Self-help for non-represented (pro se) litigants, interactive kiosks
	Improving criminal justice, crime prevention, corrections, etc.
	User-friendly courts, customer service training, expanded hours, etc.

Summary of State and Local Justice Initiatives

Justice Initiatives by State: