Latest Posts

The Divide
Aug 28

BOOK REVIEW – The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap

In his compelling book, The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap, Rolling Stone editor Matt Taibbi builds a compelling case about inequality in the American criminal justice system, charging that one’s wealth or lack thereof largely affects how one fares in it. Mr. Taibbi demonstrates convincingly how and why Wall Street bankers, traders and hedge fund operators have never been convicted of crimes for their roles in the 2008 recession — and it isn’t pretty.

AZ Leadership Pipeline
Aug 25

Arizona’s Leadership Model

Judicial educators create opportunities for transformative education that strengthens the administration of justice. One of the most important and valuable transformations we can facilitate is that from new hire to supervisor, manager, executive and beyond. It is just this sort of defined career pathway that attracts bright and justice-oriented individuals to a career in the courts.

Nancy Smith
Jul 14

NASJE Member Kudos

The National Center for State Courts just published the 2015 installment of “Trends in State Courts.”  Several of the national court leaders published in the 2015 Trends in State Courts have connections to NASJE: The full NCSC 2015 Trends in Read more

Jun 17

From the President (Summer 2015)

There’s a lot going on in our organization. We’re happy to let you know there’s an opportunity for NASJE to get small donations at no cost to you if you shop on Amazon.com. The AmazonSmile program was developed as a way for Amazon to support their customers’ favorite charitable organizations.

Joseph Sawyer
Jun 11

Joseph Sawyer: Navigating Judicial Education in Great Change

If you don’t understand the technology, buy a book or take a class—don’t allow the fear to take over. Throw yourself into whatever resources are available. In order to be successful in our roles, we all must be lifelong learners and experience the merge of technology with education and understand how to turn a classroom training into an online model, while tailoring it to the nuances of the judicial branch.

Dr. Maureen Conner
May 15

Creating Presence in the Age of Continual Change: Judicial Educators Leading the Edge

In 1995, I wrote an article for NASJE News titled “Creating Presence”. I heard from many colleagues about how helpful the concepts were in establishing the importance of education in the courts. Now, two decades later, creating presence is even more important. External forces that will not abate increasingly drive contemporary change. Directly meeting the challenges of change with a clear vision and unified voice is required to thrive in what will likely be a very exciting and frustrating time.

Diane Cowdrey
May 15

Diane Cowdrey: Navigating Judicial Education in Great Change

The NASJE Communications Committee will endeavor to periodically feature a spotlight on a NASJE member who has demonstrated tremendous efforts while “Navigating Judicial Education in Great Change.” The Committee members have voted to highlight NASJE member Diane Cowdrey (CA) who led the restructuring of the Center for Judiciary Education and Research (CJER) during the meltdown of the economy and the fiscal crisis for California’s judicial branch beginning in early 2008. Diane is the Director of CJER, in the Operations and Programs Division, Judicial Council of California.

Apr 29

From the President (Spring 2015)

A lot has been going on with the Board and many of our committees. One very recent change is that we have a new Board member. Cynthia Davis, our Southeastern Region Director, has stepped down due to some family priorities. I have appointed Dan Rettig, Senior Attorney in the Florida OSCA Court Education office, as the new Southeastern Region Director. Members of the Southeastern Region will be hearing from Dan soon.