We have sad news regarding the passing of access to justice pioneer, Richard Zorza as well as news from the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Orange County/Orlando Florida, more online services announce by the BC Civil Resolution Tribunal, some notes on courtroom technology and the Microsoft Surface Hub 2S.
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We heard earlier this week that our good friend, and access to justice/ court technology pioneer, has passed away. Richard’s website accesstojustice.net will remain online through the end of 2019.
I met Richard in 1993 when he visited and shared that the Vera Institute of Justice was working on the groundbreaking Midtown Manhattan Community Court project which in turn spawned the Center for Court Innovation. And as part of that project he helped to design what we would later name as the first “e-bench” interface for judges. Remember that this was 1993 so it was built with “pre-web” software and ran on huge 21-inch CRT monitors. But it had an imaging interface for documents, a link to mainframe criminal histories and most imaginatively, color-coded to alert the judge about different background information that had been identified during an interview process of the arrested person.
Richard went on to create and champion many initiatives, too numerous to list here, to facilitate access to justice, particularly for the self-represented. His book, "The Self-Help Friendly Court: Designed from the Ground Up to Work for People Without Lawyers” is available for download from the NCSC online library here.
Richard will be greatly missed by myself and our community.
Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida Streaming App
From their website:
“9th Now is our very own free streaming app available on all Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV devices.
You can access all of the court’s programming – instructional videos for jurors, ceremonies, special events, Inside the Courts, and educational recordings, including CLE seminars, workshops, etc. – right on your smart TV. Everything is available on demand, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You can also tune in live. Throughout the year, some of our special and educational events will be live streamed, in real-time. So, if you can’t make it to the courthouse for that seminar you really wanted to attend, you can still earn your CLEs. Just open up 9th Now and attend from the comfort of your home or office.
Consider 9th Now the educational hub for everything you want to know about our courts. Learning about the judicial system, figuring out what you need to do for jury service, or earning a CLE couldn’t be easier.”Congratulations to our friends in Orlando who continue to innovate.
British Columbia Courts Announce Online Court for Motor Vehicle Accident Claims
Another of our innovators. The BC Civil Resolution Tribunal wrote:
"The Province of British Columbia announced this morning that disputes over certain motor vehicle injury claims, including the classification of an injury, will be adjudicated by B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT). The CRT’s jurisdiction over these claims is expected to take effect in April 2019.
The CRT is an independent administrative tribunal that already adjudicates strata and small claims disputes in the province. The CRT is also Canada’s first online tribunal. It resolves disputes by agreement where possible, and makes binding, enforceable decisions when the parties can’t agree. Participants can work on their dispute where and when it works for them, for example from their smartphone in the evening.
The extent of the CRT’s jurisdiction over motor vehicle injury claims is still being finalized. Over the coming months, the CRT will work with government, community advocates, and the public to make sure that the CRT continues to fulfill its mandate to provide fair, accessible, timely, and affordable dispute resolution services, built around the needs of British Columbians. Stay tuned for updates on our work towards implementing this new area of jurisdiction."Smartphone interface… excellent work!
Tech Journalist Goes to Court
Computerworld columnist, Rob Enderle had to go to court and while there faced many challenges with the technology.
He explains his experience in this article: “How AR, the cloud and AI could change the courtroom experience for the better”:
Bottom line. It didn’t go well. But, I think it is very worthwhile to learn from his experience and plan to make things better.
My comments: I don’t think very much of his AI ideas. But I do like his idea that using the cloud to pre-store slides and graphics is fine (they can be easily reviewed there). And, I also think that courts should try to provide test areas in the courthouse for attorneys and the public to try out their devices before they are needed to be used in the courtroom.
More News About Microsoft Surface Hub 2S
ZDNet Columnist Mary Jo Foley updated the news about the new display system that would be nice to have in our courtrooms. She writes that the 50.5-inch version will be available in June 2019 but that the larger version 85-inch version won’t be shipping until 2020.
Many more details are available in her article.
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