Summary of State and Local Justice Initiatives
1999

Improving the justice system is at the forefront of most, if not all bar association activities. Many court administrators and court committees are actively working on judicial reform issues. Both the bench and bar are working with citizens as partners in this goal. Understanding the impact of these activities and learning about innovative solutions to common problems is the key to continued reform progress.

This report consists of the following three files (Microsoft Word) which can be downloaded to your computer. Executive Summary Summary of Categories of Activities State Index

The survey shows that the survey shows that bars and courts conduct a wide variety of justice improvement activities--1,106 in all.

Of these, the report identifies three categories of "Justice Initiatives" involving non-lawyers: Futures commissions anticipating long-term scenarios for the system, with 29 reported, up from 11 in 1995; Justice commissions, on-going general or specific activities developing solutions to justice problems, with 129 reported, up from 11 in 1995; and Citizen conferences, forums generating two-way communication with non-lawyers, now numbering 50, up from 12 in 1995.

View the report online: Executive Summary (Including the Justice Initiative Chart and Table) Summary of Categories of Activities Justice Initiatives by State: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Traditional judicial/bar efforts in a variety of areas such as access for poor and moderate income people, public education, alternative dispute resolution and juvenile justice, for example, are highlighted with listings of state bar and court organizations that have programs and/or projects in these areas.

The report includes a state-by-state summary with contact names that is indexed for easy reference.

This survey was conducted by the ABA Committee on State Justice Initiatives. It provides up to date information and suggestions for developing programs in your area. The American Bar Association, through its Coalition for Justice, is encouraging broad-scale improvements in state and local justice systems, with special emphasis on Justice Initiatives, which are cooperative efforts of the bench the bar and the public.

Office of Justice Initiatives
750 N. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60611-4497
Phone: 312/988-6138
FAX: 312/988-6100
www.abanet.org/justice
E-mail: sweeneyj@staff.abanet.org

Editor: Mary Ann Peter, ABA Office of Justice Initiatives

American Bar Association, May, 1999
The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the ABA.