Category: From the President

A healthy democracy depends upon a strong judicial branch of government. NASJE works to strengthen the third branch by providing education so that judges have the knowledge, skills and abilities they need to do their jobs and maintain the trust and confidence of the people they serve. Our membership is open to anyone who is interested in judicial branch education.

Hello, NASJE friends and colleagues, I hope you all are having a good start to the summer! Happy Fourth of July, and a belated Happy Memorial Day and Juneteenth! As you may have already noticed, registration for the New Orleans Read more

As many of you know (and the rest know now!), the NASJE Board of Directors meets monthly to guide the overall arc of the organization. At our last meeting immediately following the conference, the Board confirmed the importance of transparency with the membership and wanted to share with our colleagues the highlights of the meeting and the major issues it discussed.

If you were in Denver in 2019 you may have heard me refer to you, my NASJE family, as ‘my fellow unicorns.’ I say unicorns because, by definition we are unusual, rare, and unique. While every day we are lone unicorns, whose position is so rare others in our home organizations have a hard time knowing what we actually do. When I look around this organization, I know I am surrounded by UNICORNS ~ some of the most unusual, rare, unique minds I have had the pleasure to work with. So, after 2 terms as your president I have some advice for our new President and the 2021-2022 Board of Directors.

Reflections on the Last 600 Days By NASJE President Janice Calvi-Ruimerman It’s been about ½ as long as the Korean War; it’s been about ⅖ as long as the first walk around the world, The Civil War, and World War Read more

By NASJE President Janice Calvi-Ruimerman As I reflect upon the past and present years in my role as NASJE’s President, I think of the adage, “we may all be in the same storm, but we do not all have the Read more

By NASJE President Janice Calvi-Ruimerman With change comes new growth As I entered my office today, having been telecommuting since March 13, 2020, I fully expected to find my office plants yearning for water and on the brink of decay, Read more

It has been just about 50 days of the new “normal”! So, what has changed … I now know the precise interval for each news cast in order to move between Lester Holt and Norah O’Donnell to gather the “facts” Read more

My space is not my own. Articles that speak to me are kept close to remind me of my vision and my professional focus. My desk, seemingly large, has become ever so crowded by these professional reminders of what, I feel, are important or timely. On the plus side, these items prompt me daily to stay the course. In 2009, I came across an article about education and visioning for the future of the Courts; this has been my Codex ever since. As so pointedly stated in the article, Courts as a Learning Organization: Towards a Unifying Vision, “A learning organization is intended to be a catalyst for continual change.” That became my vision, my proposed unified vision.

By NASJE President Janice Calvi-Ruimerman. For my first letter from the president, I feel it is important to negate a common misconception about our organization. I heard most recently someone describing me as, “she no longer does judicial education.” Interesting, I thought, then what do I do?

For my final presidential message, I am going to focus on gratitude. Never have I been more aware of the fact that great things do not happen with a single person acting alone. To those who helped me through this year, I bestow upon you my gratitude.

When I took office last year, I was asked repeatedly about my agenda as President of NASJE and what I hoped to accomplish. I struggled to provide an answer. My initial inclination was to say, “Continue the great work and follow the lead of the talented people who came before me.” My second reaction was even shorter and less impressive: “Try not to screw anything up.” But the more I thought about it, the more an answer began to materialize. I wanted to work to ensure that NASJE would continue to be the resource to others that it has been to me.

A few months ago, I asked a roomful of judicial educators whether they considered themselves court leaders. A surprisingly small number of people raised their hands to indicate that they saw themselves in this manner. I think to an extent their response was indicative of their acknowledgement that they did not sit atop the chain of command in their administrative structure. However, if that is to be the determinative factor, then very few of us are court leaders. I prefer to think of being a court leader as being able to have an impact on the direction the court will take and the way the judiciary will achieve its objectives. Seen from this perspective, I think it is undeniable that most of us are court leaders.

For my first written communication with the members of NASJE, I wanted to address a reality I think many of us know deep within, but rarely stop and give it the consideration it deserves. I want to talk about being a judicial educator. More to the point, I want to share my thoughts on what a special profession we are a part of. In Austin I talked with the Fundamentals class about these topics. I wanted to extend my observations to a broader audience.