Protecting Judges with Avatars

A computer-generated image of a young woman

Here is the problem.  In some countries, judges face immediate physical danger every day.  Some projects have tried to use video conferencing to physically separate the judges from the criminal defendants to increase safety.  But, the root problem is the actual identity of the judges. Even where defendants are incarcerated in prisons or jails; if they are members of criminal families, or corrupt police, or military, their compatriots can potentially attack and even kill the judge and their families.

There is now a potential technical solution to this threat by using lifelike avatars in the video conference to protect the identity of the judge.  Now we aren’t suggesting cartoon-like avatars such as you find in video games or mobile phone apps.  We are suggesting the use of lifelike avatars that track a person’s facial features, eye movement, and dilation. Not surprising, because of their ownership of Oculus, Facebook is a tech leader here.  For an example of the work they are doing in this area see: https://youtu.be/86-tHA8F-zU

What technology will courts be using in 5 years’ time?

Hon. Judge Andrea Tsalamandris

We are pleased to share the following post from our friend, the Hon. Judge Andrea Tsalamandris from Melbourne, Australia on "how technology can be used by judges and court administration to create efficiencies in our courts, and enhance access to justice.

The Purposes of Court Technology

I thought that I would share a post on the purpose of various court work processes and how technology has (or in some instances has not) changed them.  In other words, why do we do what we do in the legal/court system?

Let’s begin:

This and That in Court Tech - July 2019

http://bit.ly/2O0gxGA

This month’s summer basket of Court Technology news includes the CTC 2019 agenda announcement, Arizona’s new eAccess Online Portal, a note on savings created by the use of the Florida E-Filing Portal, an award for the Pennsylvania Court Guardianship technology program, a report for the England and Wales courts on legal technology, and a tutorial on how to use Microsoft Office 365’s e-discovery tools.

US Federal Judiciary Creates Public User Group for PACER

Via press release on June 26, 2019: The Federal Judiciary has created and is seeking members for a public user group to provide advice and feedback on ways to improve its electronic public access services. The Electronic Public Access (EPA) Public User Group membership will be selected from interested applicants who represent the legal sector, media, academia, government agencies, the public, and other entities that use the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system to access federal court records. The group will allow for the exchange of information about issues experienced by users, and it will recommend ideas for expanding and improving services.

This and That in Court Tech and CTC Announcement – June 2019

We are pleased to share that renowned author Richard Susskind will be the keynote speaker at the CTC 2019 Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 10, 2019.  That and news about the New Mexico OneSource system, an upcoming podcast by my colleagues on blockchain, a “Jury Bot” system, a call for judicial technical competence, and my experience with the latest Windows 10 feature update, are in this month’s compilation of tech news.

New Secure and Technologically Advanced Courthouse Opened

https://goo.gl/5ymTeK

We learned via the US Federal Courts newsletter and video about the new courthouse that opened in Mobile, Alabama.

The newsletter says:

“A new federal courthouse has been formally unveiled in Mobile, Alabama, featuring improved safety and access for the public and improvements in information technology.

This and That in Court Tech – September 2018

eCourts Conference

News on the eCourts 2018 conference, a new ODR pilot for small claims cases in Utah, security problems with the GovPayNow.com website, the IBM Watson AI based closed captioning system, and the UK Metropolitan Police developed mobile fingerprint system.

Automated Decisions Need Supervision

Writing this post I find myself traveling home a day late due to a computer decision.  My "tale of woe" began last night when I presented myself at my connection gate, with 12 minutes prior to the scheduled departure.  I was informed that my reservation had been canceled, by the airline computer.  This was done despite my instructions at my trip originating airport to keep my original reservations/plans and, I was given a printed ticket. What does this have to do with court automation… I will explain below.

Courts Implement New Online Search Systems

We learned this week about two new search systems being implemented by the state courts in Arkansas and Illinois.  More below…

Sponsorship opportunities at CourtHack 2.0

NCSC will be hosting CourtHack 2.0 April 22-23, 2017 at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Participating teams will come together from a variety of sources: universities, not-for-profit development groups, industry, courts, and individuals gathering and forming teams on site. We anticipate around 150 participants, dividing into about 30 teams. Court experts from across the county, including judges, court administrators, and court CIOs, will participate as mentors, providing insight into the issues and the potential benefits to both courts and the communities they serve.

The challenge sets for CourtHack 2.0 include:

1. Fairness in Fees, Fines, and Bail Practices
2. Fairness: Leveling the Playing Field
3. Understanding Customer Experience
4. Translating Legalese to Folksonomy
5. Social Support for Families in Crisis
6. Wildcard! Closing Gaps in the Court System

More details can be found at the CourtHack website: http://courthack.org/.

There are also still a number of great sponsorship opportunities available. Go here for details.

Time is running out - register now for the 2017 Court Industry Summit

If you are a solution provider to courts, you don't want to miss this opportunity to have an open and candid dialog with thought leaders from the judicial branch and your private-sector peers.

This event will be hosted by the NCSC and facilitated by the IJIS Institute's Courts Advisory Committee. Organizations who are members of IJIS receive a registration discount.

Topics will include technology trends, disruptors, and next-generation court technology standards with perspectives from leaders in federal, state and local courts. You and your industry peers will also have the opportunity to share your perspectives on trends and technologies courts should be considering.

The summit will be held April 19-20 at the Princeton Marriott at Forrestal in Princeton, NJ. For more information and to register, go to http://www.ncsc.org/Conferences-and-Events/Industry-Summit-2017.aspx.

Today (March 29) is the last day to get the group rate at the hotel - go here to make your reservations.

CourtHack 2.0 Coming - Spring, 2017

Robot lawyers that help file court appeals and geo-positioning technology that alerts police officers when court orders are being served in their area are just two of the innovative technologies developed at NCSC’s first CourtHack in 2016. It was so successful that CourtHack 2.0 is being held April 22-23, 2017, at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick. CourtHack aims to attract the brightest legal minds, technologists, entrepreneurs, and others to compete in a 30-hour hackathon to develop technologies to improve the administration of justice.  Court experts, including judges, court administrators, and court CIOs from across the country, participate as mentors and advisors.

This and That in Court Technology – October, 2016

Microsoft Surface Studio

It was a busy month in court technology. In this post we share news about judicial decision prediction system, a court rejecting e-signed documents, a new online traffic ticket mediation implementation, several Microsoft related technology announcements, and last call for the Australia legal and court technology conference registration.

Court Case Management Systems Part 18: Decision Support

In the previous post in our series we discussed Court Case Management Systems (CCMS) Dashboards that support case process, management information, and decisions.  In other words, information that makes our “court process factory” more efficient.  And the key purpose of case management is to organize data (and insure completeness) so that it can in turn be converted into information for cases to be adjudicated and decisions rendered.

But what’s next?  We think that one part of the answer is to integrate and extend the judicial decision support functionality into the CCMS itself. We explain below…

Judge John Tanzer and eJudiciary

Our good friend, Sir Henry Brooke posted an excellent post on the impact that fellow jurist John Tanzer had on the adoption of IT in the English courts.

Connecting the E-Filing “Pipes”

Craig VanBrussel, CTO for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida wrote after listening to the recent online Court Tech Futures webinar about how they are closing the loop with their E-filing pipes.

A Response to Texas Criminal E-Filing Mandate Concerns

I received a link to an article in Texas Lawyer from our friend, new PhD Bill Raftery at Gavel to Gavel regarding a public hearing held on April 5, 2016 at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals regarding mandatory criminal case E-filing.  The article notes that the court has already made filing mandatory for their cases.  But they heard additional concerns that I will comment on:

The Digital Paper E-Ink Device from Sony Surprises

Technology surprises appear every day… even when they are over two years old.  Last week I stumbled across the Sony Digital Paper device at the American Bar Association TechShow in Chicago.  In many ways this is the device in my opinion that many judges have been looking for.

In the Matter of the George and Jane Jetson Family Case No. 20??-0000-DM

The Jetsons

The Michigan Bar Journal has given the CTB permission to republish an entertaining but I believe prescient article by the President of the Michigan Bar Association, President Lori A. Buiteweg.