Contact:
Lorri Montgomery
Director of Communications
National Center for State Courts
757.259.1525
lmontgomery@ncsc.dni.us
National Center Names Recipient of First
G. Thomas Munsterman Award for Jury Innovation
 Williamsburg, VA (March 31, 2008) – The National Center for State Courts has selected the California Judicial Branch and its Task Force on Jury Instructions as recipient of the first G. Thomas Munsterman Award for Jury Innovation. The award is named for G. Thomas Munsterman, founder and former director of NCSC’s Center for Jury Studies and an internationally renowned innovator in jury systems and research. The Munsterman Award recognizes states, local courts, organizations, or individuals who have made significant improvements or innovations in jury procedures, operations, and practices.
“In making its decision, the NCSC Center for Jury Studies wanted to recognize that one of California’s most unique contributions to the area of jury improvement is its attention to the importance of understandable jury instructions,” said Paula Hannaford-Agor, director of the Center for Jury Studies. “Having understandable jury instructions is a critical prerequisite for jurors to be able to fulfill their legitimate role in the justice system.”
Chaired by Justices Carol Corrigan and James Ward (ret.), California’s Task Force on Jury Instructions included appellate justices, trial judges, attorneys from various segments of the bar, lay persons, and academics. Committee members revised all of the state’s civil and criminal jury instructions, then presented them to the California Judicial Council for consideration. In 2003, the task force’s recommendations for civil instructions were approved, and in 2005 the recommendations for criminal instructions were approved. The revised instructions are on the California Web site, making them freely available to judges, lawyers, and citizens. This level of sustained attention and support for improving the state’s pattern jury instructions attracted the attention of the Center for Jury Studies when considering nominees for the Munsterman Award.
The new award will be presented at the National Conference on Pattern Jury Instructions, which the National Center for State Courts is co-hosting with the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Ohio Judicial Conference April 17-18 in Columbus, Ohio.
The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a non-profit court reform organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. The NCSC, founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, provides education, training, and technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts.
###
National
Center
for State Courts, 300 Newport Avenue, Williamsburg,
VA
23185-4147 |
