Judicial Educators Amplify the Importance of Judicial Family Education

National Association of State Judicial Educators (NASJE) leaders have also served as national leaders in promoting judicial family educational programs and materials.  Thanks go to Kenny Miller (TX), Karen Thorson (CA), Denise Kilwein (KS), Franny Maguire Haney (DE), and Tom Langhorne (VA).

With encouragement from Suzy Veasey and her spouse Delaware Chief Justice Norman Veasey, Franny's foresight and planning in Delaware and for the guests of the Conference of Chief Justices awakened educators, judges, judicial family members, and others to the need for helpful information and support on judicial family topics.  Throughout the country judicial educators are now helping bring authoritative information to light on judicial family ethics, avoiding conflicts of interest, security, parenting in a high-visibility situation, dealing with the media, and other concerns relevant to judges and their households.

Karen Thorson (CA) worked with her spouse John Thorson to design the first website for judicial family information.  It is accessible to judicial educators, judges, spouses, and other family members.  Articles can be downloaded and printed for distribution in the various states.  Tom Langhorne has spearheaded NASJE emphasis on the use of the new judicial family website as a resource for judicial educators, judges, and judicial family members.

Maureen Conner and her staff at the JERITT Communication Services at Michigan State University keep a database of details of judicial education programs.  They have asked judicial educators to report their programs on judicial family topics and mention whether the audience included judges and/or spouses or other family members.  JERITT is supported by the State Justice Institute. 

To learn about programs and materials used in the various states, see the United States map featured on this website at "States and Territories Having Judical Family Programs", and click on states highlighted in red.  Judicial educators are encouraged to add to the map their state contact names and information about their programs and materials on judicial family topics.

Programs for judicial families are often offered under the management of the State Judicial Educator in each respective state. To locate your State Judicial Educator, or others involved in judicial branch education, please visit the database section of the Judicial Education Reference, Information and Technical Transfer project (JERITT) website, housed at Michigan State University:

http://jeritt.msu.edu/Persons_Search.asp

Once connected to the site, you can search the database by selecting your state from the list provided and selecting the "Find" key. You will be provided with a list of individuals in your state who work with judicial branch education.