Friday, April 16, 2021

April 2021 Court Tech Notes


 

We share some news and notes in this week’s CTB post.  We note a speech-to-text AI demo video, text reminders, an event on transitioning your workforce back to the courthouse,  yet another article on "Zoom courts", an NCSC Tiny Chat regarding court cell phone policy, and the NCSC website on pandemic response webinars that were recorded in 2020.

 

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Our friend Steve Hubbard shared a YouTube video demonstration of the Otter.ai speech to text system transcribing the Office Chauvin trial in Minnesota this week at https://youtu.be/H5EXqR693Ow

Another friend Anne Skove shared the new jury-related use of eCourtDate (https://ecourtdate.com/) via their bulk actions function to send personalized test and emails to remind jurors to come to court (or perhaps even sign into Zoom)?

The NCSC and NAPCO (the National Association for Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers) is presenting a webinar "Transitioning the Workforce Back to the Office: Tackling the Legal and Ethical Issues Facing Court Leaders" on Thursday, April 22, 2021 starting at 3:00 PM (15:00). Click here for the program description and to register.  

Atlantic Magazine published an article, “Zoom Court is Changing How Justice is Served” in their May 2021 issue.  The article humorously begins:

“In July, Michelle Rick, then a circuit court judge in two Michigan counties, tweeted cheerily about a divorce she’d recently finalized. The participants had appeared in court via their smartphones. “He was on the road & parked his car to attend; she video-tx’d from her work breakroom,” the judge wrote. They were done in 15 minutes—faster than the proverbial Reno divorce.”

The NCSC (aka Intergalactic Center) Tiny Chat had a good discussion on Court Cell Phone Policies.  Check it out here along with a sample cell phone policy.  Well done Danielle and Zack!

Looking around on the NCSC website I see that we have posted a number of Pandemic Response Webinars that were recorded in 2020 at https://www.ncsc.org/newsroom/public-health-emergency/webinars

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Image from Williamsburg's Boxwood Inn: http://www.boxwoodinn.com/attractions.htm


2 comments:

  1. I've seen eCourtDate -- it is a really nice product.

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  2. Thank you for the shout out, Jim!

    To address your point -- yes, courts could send jurors a link to a Zoom meeting via eCourtDate's reminders. They can also send the questionnaire, directions to the courthouse, maps, etc.

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