Judicial Outreach Liaison and Judicial Fellows Program

Judges, particularly those who work in the limited jurisdiction courts of our states, counties and municipalities, are often overlooked in education and communication opportunities. They often lack the ability to gain and to share the knowledge needed to resolve the legal and evidentiary issues that challenge them daily in adjudicating impaired driving and other motor vehicle-related cases.

The ABA Judicial Division and NHTSA have forged a partnership to reach out to these judges. Through the Judicial Fellow program and the Judicial Outreach Liaison program, we have worked to develop a more thorough public understanding of traffic safety issues and the adjudication of motor vehicle cases.  Through these programs, NHTSA and the Judicial Division can focus their outreach efforts on highway safety topics to target one or more regions of the country.

Judicial Fellows

Judicial Fellows serve as teachers, writers, community outreach advocates, consultants, liaisons, reporters, and spokespersons. Their goal is to improve the delivery of justice and improve highway and pedestrian safety through education, collegiality, communication and community outreach activities. The Fellows have the necessary background and skills to perform the important and valued work of the positions.

Regional Judicial Outreach Liaisons (Regional JOL)

The ABA Judicial Division selects judges from NHTSA's ten regions to further the continuing education outreach efforts of the ABA. These efforts are targeted within each region and serve to educate and mobilize support for evidence-based programs and practices that have been proven to be effective in reducing recidivism in impaired driving cases.

State Judicial Outreach Liaison

The American Bar Association has recruited 10 active and retired judges to join a nationwide program that fights impaired driving by educating courts on new, data-driven methods in the law. The 10 new judges – experts in traffic matters and impaired driving – join 10 other regional judicial outreach liaisons and judicial fellows already in the program, and 11 independently managed state judicial outreach liaisons. Together, they provide judicial outreach and education in 42 states.

Resources

Highway to Justice: The ABA Judicial Division and NHTSA produce a quarterly newsletter on traffic safety issues.  

Distracted Driving: NHTSA and DOT launched a new website  that is a terrific resource for anyone wanting to learn more about this deadly practice, and what the Department is doing to address the problem. 

Traffic Court Programming: Traffic Court related programming.

Fellow and JOL Webinars

The judges in the Judicial Fellows and Judicial Outreach Liaison program is known across the country for the tremendous faculty on impaired driving, and the industry best practices for pre-trial and post-adjudication issues of traffic safety cases. Please look at our active webinar library to see some of their recorded programs, which are free and accessible to the public.

Staff Contact

NHTSA Project Manager

Kennedy Breanne Green (she/her/hers/ella)
American Bar Association
321 N Clark Street 18^th Floor
Chicago, IL 60654
T: 312-988-6716
kennedy.green@americanbar.org