Press release:
Hon Gary A. Graber, Town Justice, Town of Darien, recently completed the Special Consideration for the Rural Court Judge Course, a six-week Web based course provided by the National Judicial College.
Judges in rural courts throughout our nation share a unique circumstance marked by these issues: isolation, underfunding, lack of collateral social services in the community, and a high public profile.
This faculty-led online course shares techniques and experience from rural judges in meeting these challenges, and provides tools and suggestions to the participants which can be adapted in their courts as circumstances warrant.
This course is tailored to rural court judges in more sparsely populated communities and jurisdictions. This faculty-led online course offers a convenient way to learn skills particular to the special nature of judging within a rural area.
Key topics included:
- Identify areas of professional and personal isolation resulting from your service on a rural bench;
- Analyze the role of a judge on the Adjudicator and Agent-of-Change Continuum;
- Identify and analyze provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct addressing issues of particular challenge to the well-known rural judge;
- Identify the ethics pitfalls in dealing with disruptive defendants and litigants;
- Analyze how the rural judge can remain involved in his or her community within the context of proper judicial conduct;
- Recognize the threats to judicial independence resulting from recent efforts to inject politics and social or economic agendas into court decisions;
- Identify the purpose and limits of the inherent power of the court and how to effectively deal with other branches of government;
- Create a plan to deal with threats and emergencies;
- Recognize the phenomena of implicit bias.
Since its founding more than 50 years ago, The National Judicial College has been the nation’s premier judicial education institution. The NJC pursues its mission of "education | innovation | advancing justice" with the support of individuals and organizations dedicated to preserving and improving the rule of law.
Its supporters include scores of active and retired judges and attorneys along with government agencies and private foundations. Teaching at the NJC is a high honor, and most NJC courses are taught by judges who volunteer their time. The same is true of the members of the NJC’s boards of trustees and visitors.
Justice Graber has served as a NJC faculty member since 2008.
