To aid State and local governments in strengthening and improving their judicial systems through the creation of a State Justice Institute. II IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 5 (legislative day, JANUARY 3), 1980 Mr. HEFLIN (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. DECONCINI, Mr. DOLE, Mr. COCHRAN, and Mr. SIMPSON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To aid State and local governments in strengthening and improving their judicial systems through the creation of a State Justice Institute. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 4 SHORT TITLE SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "State Justice 7 SEC. 2. (a) The Congress finds and declares that— 2 (1) the quality of justice in the Nation is largely determined by the quality of justice in State courts; (2) State courts share with the Federal courts the general responsibility for enforcing the requirements of the Constitution and laws of the United States; (3) in the Federal-State partnership of delivery of justice, the participation of the State courts has been increased by recently enacted Federal legislation; (4) the maintenance of a high quality of justice in Federal courts has led to increasing efforts to divert cases to State courts; (5) the Federal Speedy Trial Act has diverted criminal and civil cases to State courts; (6) an increased responsibility has been placed on State court procedures by the Supreme Court of the United States; (7) consequently, there is a significant Federal interest in maintaining strong and effective State courts; and (8) strong and effective State courts are those which produce understandable, accessible, efficient, and equal justice, which requires (A) qualified judges and other court personnel; 3 (B) high quality education and training programs for judges and other court personnel; (C) appropriate use of qualified nonjudicial personnel to assist in court decisionmaking; (D) structures and procedures which promote communication and coordination among courts and judges and maximize the efficient use of judges and court facilities; (E) resource planning and budgeting which allocate current resources in the most efficient manner and forecast accurately the future de mands for judicial services; (F) sound management systems which take advantage of modern business technology, including records management procedures, data process ing, comprehensive personnel systems, efficient juror utilization and management techniques, and advanced means for recording and transcribing court proceedings; (G) uniform statistics on caseloads, dispositions, and other court-related processes on which to base day-to-day management decisions and long-range planning; 4 (H) sound procedures for managing caseloads and individual cases to assure the speediest possible resolution of litigation; (I) programs which encourage the highest performance of judges and courts to improve their functioning, to insure their accountability to the public, and to facilitate the removal of personnel who are unable to perform satisfactorily; (J) rules and procedures which reconcile the requirements of due process with the need for speedy and certain justice; (K) responsiveness to the need for citizen involvement in court activities through educating citizens to the role and functions of courts, and improving the treatment of witnesses, victims, and jurors; and (L) innovative programs for increasing access to justice by reducing the cost of litigation and by developing alternative mechanisms and techniques for resolving disputes. 21 (b) It is the purpose of this Act to assist the State courts 22 and organizations which support them to obtain the require23 ments specified in subsection (a)(9) for strong and effective 24 courts through a funding mechanism, consistent with doc25 trines of separation of powers and federalism, and thereby to 5 1 improve the quality of justice available to the American 2 people. 3 4 DEFINITIONS SEC. 3. As used in this Act, the term (1) "Institute" means the State Justice Institute; (2) "Board" means the Board of Directors of the Institute; (3) "Director" means the Executive Director of the Institute; (4) "Governor" means the Chief Executive Officer of a State; (5) "recipient" means any grantee, contractor, or recipient of financial assistance under this Act; (6) "State" means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the (7) "Supreme Court" means the highest appellate court within a State unless, for the purposes of this Act, a constitutionally or legislatively established judi cial council acts in place of that court. |