Maine Volunteers for Justice

Maine Volunteers for Justice (MVJ): supporting the courts, serving the public.

Maine Volunteers for Justice is a statewide program that engages volunteers within the court system. Our mission is three-fold: to increase public access to justice; to support the efficiency of the courts; and, to promote better public understanding of Maine's judicial system and the judicial process.

Description:
Maine Volunteers for Justice works with many individual volunteers of various backgrounds who step forward to find meaningful activity in service with the Judicial Branch. We also work with such institutions as colleges and federal training programs, collaborating to create service and internship opportunities with specific educational value. Opportunities include skilled and unskilled clerical work; jury management; courtroom assistance; electronic recording using a tape-recorder and standardized log; support for people accessing court-located computers for legal information and forms; and special projects ranging from assistance with media and publications to data analysis. We occasionally enlist service groups for large projects such as archiving closed files. And finally, we recruit service groups, from University Extension Homemakers, to fraternities, sororities, and religious education classes of all denominations, to help us provide local courts with KiddieDittys, which are small gifts of crayons, paper, and toys, to help children waiting in the hallways pass the time more comfortably.
With the exception of KiddieDittys, needs and opportunities vary from court to court.

All potential volunteers must go through an application process and background check through the MVJ office before approaching an individual court. We also work cooperatively with other court programs such as Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Service, and with non-profit legal providers around the state, and can connect volunteers with these agencies if they are interested.

History:
Maine Volunteers for Justice is one of a number of initiatives set into motion in the 1990's by a group of Maine's citizens known as the "Justice Action Group," (JAG) in response to crippling cuts in state and federal funding for Maine's judicial system and larger legal community. This volunteer group includes justices and judges from Maine's court system, lawyers, non-profit agency administrators, and other legal and social service experts. Some of its most significant initiatives include the simplification of legal forms, the development of the Family Division within the District Court, the Equal Justice Partnership, the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court, the Adult Drug Treatment Court, and most recently, the "unbundling" of Maine's legal services, making limited legal representation an option for pro se litigants. Maine Volunteers for Justice was developed with the support of the Libra Foundation.

For more information, click on "View all opportunities."

Contact person: Deb Nowak, Administrative Office of the Courts, (phone)

Main office number: (207) 822-0792
TDD number: (207) 822-0701
Office fax number: 207-822-0781

Address:

P.O. Box 4820 Portland, ME 04112

Web Site: http://www.courts.state.me.us

Directions:

Please call or go to www.courts.state.me.us for directions. For maps or information, please see http://www.portlandmaine.worldweb.com/Transportation/PublicTransit

Miscellaneous Information

What is your TTY phone number?
	207-822-0701
This agency has United Way funded programs
	No
The agency places volunteers in these categories:
	Adults

Last updated on July 27, 2009