The National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence (NJIDV), a partnership of Futures Without Violence and the NCJFCJ, offers hands-on, highly interactive workshops that will provide an essential foundation for new and experienced state, tribal and territorial judges and judicial officers to enhance their skills in handling civil and criminal domestic violence cases. Judicial participants will leave the workshop with greater knowledge and skills for handling cases involving domestic violence.
A judge participant in this workshop will be better able to:
- Evaluate the impact of violence on adult victims and children who witness violence.
- Identify the protection and restoration requirements of domestic violence victims.
- Describe patterns of batterer conduct, assess the dangerousness of specific batterers, and impose effective intervention and accountability mechanisms for batterers.
- Resolve difficult evidentiary issues and apply an understanding of domestic violence to judicial fact-finding.
- Identify administrative and community barriers to accessing/achieving justice in DV cases
- Devise methods of overcoming barriers to justice, become motivated to work to remove barriers, and use information regarding available community resources to assist in removing barriers.
- Recognize and apply ethics rules that govern participation in extrajudicial activities, e.g., domestic violence councils, legislative proposals, local court rulemaking, and education programs of non-judge providers.
- Define culture and cultural competence, enhance respect for the dynamics of difference, and identify ways in which culture is relevant in the courtroom.
- Recognize cultural misinformation and avoid assumptions about a person or facts of a situation based on misinformation.
- Identify and evaluate potential biases that might influence courtroom demeanor or interpretation of facts and making of decisions in DV cases.
- Identify common decision-making points where understanding DV might affect how you make decisions and what you decide.
- Draft and issue effective orders that (a) stop violence, (b) protect adult victims & children, (c) require appropriate batterer treatment in criminal and civil DV cases, and (d) facilitate enforcement in DV cases.
- Assess the impact of domestic violence on cases involving sentencing, custody and visitation issues.
- Evaluate batterer intervention programming and information regarding appropriate treatment/intervention options.
- Identify the potential benefits of conducting review hearings (in conjunction w/ probation services) to monitor batterer conduct in DV cases.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Participation is open to new and experienced state, tribal and territorial judges and judicial officers wishing to enhance their skills in handling civil and criminal domestic violence cases. Participation is limited to 50 judges and judicial officers. Applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.
REGISTRATION
To apply for this workshop or for more information on the workshop, please visit njidv.org or contact the registrar. Please note that you are not accepted into this workshop until you have received a confirmation packet via email from the registrar. If accepted, hotel reservation information will be provided at that time.
There is no charge for the educational portion of the workshop. Participants are responsible for their own lodging, travel arrangements, and costs. Limited Scholarship funding is available on a first-come, first-serve basis to assist with travel costs (airfare and/or lodging). Please complete the scholarship application here and send to the registrar, Amber Bolz, at abolz@ncjfcj.org.
If you have questions you may contact the registrar, Amber Bolz, at (775) 507-4784 or abolz@ncjfcj.org.