ASTAR's National Resource Judge Program is a training curriculum and technical assistance service to enhance the capacities of the nation's courts. This web site is supported by Grants No. 2006-DD-BX-K378, 2009-D1-BX-K018, and 2010-DD-BX-K018 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the SMART Office, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author, and do not represent the official position or policies of the United States Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse this web site (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided).
1. The steering committee for the Judges' Science School on Energy Science and Radiation Technologies, chaired by Hon. Edward L. Chavez, Supreme Court of New Mexico, ASTAR 2011 Fellow, will meet in Albuquerque on July 26. This program is scheduled for Santa Fe, NM, April 25-28 2012. It will be the final on-site program for judges enrolled in the current training cycles. The Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Sandia National Laboratories joined the steering committee and will provide science advice. This program replaces the original at NOAA scheduled in Silver Spring MD for June 2011. Watch for details in next month's Update.
2. Dr. Franklin M. Zweig retired as director of the national resource judge program, effective June 30th. He expects to consult with ASTAR regarding upcoming programs. Dr. Zweig served as ASTAR's first president from 2004 to 2009, stepping down to become a Senior Fellow. Enrolled ASTAR jurisdictions expanded from an original two to 47 during his term. Scholarship judges increased from 43 in 2006 to 395 today. Prior to ASTAR's founding, he served as president of EINSHAC for a decade beginning in 1994.
Dr. Zweig has been requested by Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, ASTAR’s current chairman and president pro-tempore, to organize an ASTAR foundation for support of each ASTAR jurisdiction’s science and technology training and deployment activities. The first step will be the organization of a National ASTAR Advisory Council this Fall. CJ Bell has written each ASTAR Fellow and current training cycle judge this month about this and other steps being taken to assure ASTAR sustainability following the expiration of current DOJ grants in 2013. Dr. Zweig has sent an accompanying letter that clarifies operational transitions. (The preceding links open each respective letter.)
3. 55 ASTAR Judges registered for the October 26-28 Judges' s Science School at the New York State Judicial Institute, "Technologies for Detection of Envrionmental Crimes," received authorizations to travel on June 30. 21 judges remain on this event's waiting list.
4. 30 ASTAR Judges registered for the September 14-16 Judges' Science School at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "Gene-Environment Interactions in Health and Disease," have received authorizations to travel. An initial preparation advisory also has been distributed and can be downloaded here.
4. The Supreme Court of Washington has been awarded a second sub-grant in support of its annual judicial conference’s science sessions. Court-related implicit cognition and implicit discrimination comprise book-end subjects of wide interest to the judiciary. Congratulations, and thanks for all Washington State Courts are doing to interface with science and technology evidence and issues.
5. ASTAR welcomes Claire Smearman, Esq., newly installed Executive Director of the Maryland Judicial Institute, effective May 7 2011.
6. ASTAR awarded a sub-grant to the New York State Judicial Institute for the October 26-28 2011 program entitled Technologies for the Detection of Environmental Crimes. Hon. Ann Pfau, Chief Administrative Judge for the New York State Court System, accepted the award on May 6 2011.
7. ASTAR awarded a sub-grant to the Supreme Court of Washington on May 9 2011 for the purpose of an ASTAR session at the October 2011 annual Washington Judicial Conference.
8. ASTAR awarded a sub-grant to the Supreme Court of Missouri on May 9 2011 for the purpose of judicial sentinel operations related to the development of LLM programs.
9. ASTAR awarded a sub-grant to the judiciary of Maryland on May 5 2011 in support of a Judges' Science School, "A Five Year Update of Science in the Courtroom," scheduled for October 18-21 2011 at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
10. ASTAR is taking steps to assure that its training and technical assistance functions will be sustainable. See Chairman Robert M. Bell's entire statement.
11. ASTAR announces the first Judges' Science School for 2012. The program title is "Radiation and Energy Science." It is scheduled April 25-28 at the Supreme Court of New Mexico, Santa Fe. The JSS Steering Committee is chaired by Justice Edward L. Chavez, a newly elected New Mexico ASTAR Fellow. Planning updates will be published throughout 2011.
12. ASTAR has postponed its Judges' Science School on "Energy Sciences and Climate Change Technologies," originally scheduled for June 8-10 2011 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Volatile controversies environ this topic and few state cases exist. Judges interested in this topic are advised to consider the April 2012 program noted in Item 11 above.
13. ASTAR announces a registration call for July 2011 initiation of online advanced and continuing judicial science and technology programs produced by third parties and accredited by the ASTAR Committee on Education Policy and Standards. (See link, "New! Online Programs")
14. 2012 Judges Language of the Court-Related Sciences Boot Camp will take place September 14-16 2011 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Please call Dr. Zweig for information, (301) 913-0448.
15. "Technologies for the Detection of Environmental Crimes," an advanced and continuing ASTAR program, will be hosted by the New York State Judicial Institute October 26-28 2011. Registration has been closed.
