- Court of Appeals Use E-Technology to Deliver Opinions
- Innovative IT Programs Link Automation with Court Business Processes four innovative technology projects funded by the Edwin L. Nelson Local Initiatives Program for fiscal year 2009.
- New Jersey E-Filing Forum Big Draw for Attorneys
- Courts Sign Up to Offer Juror-Friendly Webpage
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
US Federal Courts Highlight Technology Efforts
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Abu Dhabi Introduces New CMS
Friday, April 10, 2009
An Interview with Federal Judge Rosemary M. Collyer
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
E-Ink in the Courts
"millions of tiny microcapsules, about the diameter of a human hair. In one incarnation, each microcapsule contains positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles suspended in a clear fluid. When a negative electric field is applied, the white particles move to the top of the microcapsule where they become visible to the user. "For a picture of what this looks like and the rest of this explanatory article, click here.
So what is so great about this technology? The answer is… persistence. Once the screen image is updated by the tiny computer inside the device, it holds the image. In other words, the image is persistent and doesn’t change. This also means that the reader device uses very little power since it is not continually renewing the display; and thus it can be used for literally days if not weeks before a battery charge is required. Reports are that the devices are both very lightweight, under 1 pound, and are easier on the eyes to read.
Now judges just don’t read documents, they interact with them. The Amazon Kindle 2 has a keyboard and a note taking and bookmark capability. A competitor company, iRex Technologies offers a larger screen device, the Digital Reader 1000S that allows handwritten notes to be added to the documents. In addition, the devices can be linked via WiFi and the Internet to electronic book and newspapers services to download the latest novel or edition.
For one user’s experience using the Kindle click here.
For a good matrix of the available E-Ink readers in the USA click here.
Finally, please let us know your experience with these E-Ink devices and we’ll pass them along on the CTB. Happy E-Reading!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Online Lecture: The Business of Public Access to Court Records
"As government documents are increasingly digitized and put online, two orthogonal approaches to distributing these documents have developed. Under one approach, the documents are made easily and freely accessible. In others, the government retains or introduces barriers to access that are inspired by traditional physical access. When these barriers are fee-based, the government can inadvertently create downstream monopolies or architectures of control over public information."To enjoy the lecture go to:
http://citp.princeton.edu/events/lectures/stephen-schultze-and-shubham-mukherjee/?/
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
NIEM National Training Event Deadline Approaching
Monday, March 9, 2009
Tweeting the Courtroom
COSCA/NACM Joint Technology Committee Solicits Review
On March 9, 2009 the Joint Technology Committee JTC of the Conference of State Court Administrators COSCA and the National Association for Court Management NACM are soliciting review of, and comments on the following standards:
• LegalXML Electronic Court Filing 3.1 ECF 3.1 – This version is conformant with the GJXDM
• LegalXML Electronic Court Filing 4.0 ECF 4.0 – This version is conformant with the NIEM
And additional standards relating to Information Sharing for:
• Drug Court Test Request GJXDM
• Drug Court Test Results GJXDM
• Drug Court Case Folder NIEM
• Drug Court Test Request and Results NIEM
• Child Support Request for Remedy GJXDM
• Child Support Court Order GJXDM
• Child Welfare Dependency Petition NIEM
• Child Welfare Adjudication Order NIEM
• NCSC State Court Statistical Guide Submissions NIEM
For more information please download the Request for Comment and Review document PDF. Comments are due on or before May 15, 2009.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Nevada Supreme Court Expands E-filing
The new process is expected to save time and money for the Supreme Court, as well as for attorneys and their clients. No longer will attorneys with criminal appeal cases have to ship or deliver supporting documents to the Supreme Court.
In preparation for the move to e-filing, Supreme Court staff conducted training sessions this year and late last year for a total of nearly 200 attorneys and support staff at both ends of the state. Training was conducted for three days in Las Vegas, two days in Reno, and one day in Carson City. Training will also be offered at the Family Law Conference in Ely in March and a training DVD that includes information from the earlier presentations is in development.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
10 Cents a Gigabyte
- 424 two-hour DVD-quality movies or-
- 1500 hours of VHS-quality video or
- 880 days of around-the-clock MP3 audio or
- 373,000 vivid digital photos or
- 2132 action-packed games!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Mississippi State Courts Developing E-Filing
Recently, a January 15, 2009 article Judicial System to Launch E-filing in The Mississippi Press states that:
"The project would allow judges and attorneys to file court documents electronically through the Mississippi Electronic Court system. Litigants also would be able to view documents online and the state would control public accessibility to chancery, circuit or county court documents.
Participation by trial courts will be voluntary and a Madison County pilot program will be launched early this year."
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
NIEM Case Study - NYC Health and Human Services
"The parents submit household and income information through the Curam-based application, which is then stored in a relational database. A nightly batch job extracts the data from the database and creates a separate eXtensible Markup Language XML document, using the NIEM-compliant exchange schema, for each submitted application. The XML documents are encrypted and securely transmitted to the DOE Department of Education for processing."
New Tech - iPaper
The technical idea of the iPaper application is that it allows the normal document formats to be converted to Flash format and then embedded in a website.nbsp Since it uses Flash, the user avoids the need to download documents while maintaining all of the graphical presentation features.nbsp The obvious benefit is better control of documents that are posted on ones website. nbsp nbsp
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Texas Creates Child Support Case Management Standards
US Federal Courts Create eJuror System
Correspondingly, the E-Courts Conference 2009 contained a session by Travis County, Texas on their I-Jury system. You can download their presentation in PDF format here.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
E-Courts 2008 Presentations Available
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
NIEM Traning Course Available Online
NIEM and the NIEM educational programs are funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance BJA, the Department of Justice DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security DHS, and the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment PM-ISE. The NIEM Practical Implementers eLearning Course was built with content from the successful traditional classroom version of the course by leveraging existing capabilities at the National Center for State Courts NCSC and with support from the IJIS Institute, SEARCH, and representatives from private industry.
The NIEM Practical Implementers eLearning Course instructs students on how to use NIEM by breaking it down into two distinct parts. The first part covers Extensible Markup Language XML concepts required to understand and work with NIEM. The second part addresses the higher-level implementation concepts and the steps necessary to build an information exchange using NIEM.
The online learning environment enables students to proceed at their own pace. Instructors will be available to answer any questions along the way, as well as to provide technical support in using the eLearning system.
The eLearning format includes the same case study materials and assignments featured in the traditional classroom version of the course, and instructors will accept and review the assignments to help students fully grasp the NIEM concepts taught during the course. Course topics are the same for both the traditional classroom and the eLearning course and include Anatomy of an XML Exchange, Basic XML and Advanced XML Schema for NIEM, Substitution Groups and Extension Schemas, IEPD Concepts and Exchange Content Modeling, Mapping and Subset Schema, and Packaging, Distribution, and Implementation.
To access and register for the NIEM Practical Implementers eLearning Course, visit http://www.niem.gov/elearning.php. Questions about the course can be directed to training@ijis.org.
IE Browser Security Vulnerability
Here is the link to the ComputerWorld magazine article: http://tinyurl.com/6nercd
Saturday, December 6, 2008
CTC 2009 Call for Ideas
Monday, December 1, 2008
NIEM News - November, 2008
US Courts Celebrates 20 Years for PACER System
Thursday, November 13, 2008
E-Discovery Casebook Published
"This casebook is the first in its field on electronic discovery and digital evidence. Judge Scheindlin, the author of the landmark Zubulake opinions, is a leading author on electronic discovery issues in the federal judiciary. Professor Capra is the Reporter to the Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules, a co-author of a five-volume treatise on evidence, and the principal author of Rule 502. Members of The Sedona Conference® Working Group on Electronic Document Retention and Production, which published The Sedona Principles and is cited by courts and litigators on a daily basis, contributed commentary and practical guidance."
For information on ordering the book, go to:
http://www.westacademic.com/Professors/ProductDetails.aspx?productid=147221&tab=1
PC Magazine Solutions Articles
Microsoft Outlook: 9 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do
Customizing Comments and Revisions Tracking in Microsoft Word
Troubleshooting Word Macros
Deal with the Outlook E-Mail Deluge in 4 Steps
And for you Mac users:
Office 2008 for the Mac: 8 Things You Didn't Know
Thursday, November 6, 2008
NCSC Partners with NIEM for Online Course
"The NIEM Practical Implementer’s (PI) course is scheduled to be introduced in an online version later this year. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC), the IJIS Institute, and SEARCH have been working for the past year to make this project a reality. The NCSC has extensive experience in online training and currently offers an array of justice- and court-related classes and certification programs. The IJIS Institute was instrumental in developing the NIEM classroom material." "The online version of the NIEM PI course is a self-paced course powered by WebCT, an online virtual learning environment. Because it is not presented in real time, it allows the flexibility required by many developers, implementers, and business analysts."
Contact training@ijis.org with any questions that you may have about the class.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Federal Courts Opens Decision Support System
Monday, October 20, 2008
E-Courts Agenda Updated
Thursday, October 2, 2008
South Dakota Courts Use Video Conferencing
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
NASCIO releases "Innovative Funding for State IT" publication
"Also intended to update NASCIO’s 2003 publication, “Innovative Funding for Innovative State IT: New Trends and Approaches for State IT Funding,” this report provides state CIOs with information and tools for the facilitation of innovative funding initiatives in their own states that enable delivery of savings, and improved IT services to citizens.
The report is available at www.nascio.org/publications".
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Draft NIEM Conformance Document Posted
The NIEM Conformance document "provides a normative definition for the meaning of NIEM conformance, what it applies to, and what it does not apply to. It also outlines the benefits of conformance, and suggests sources of information, tools, and help for learning about NIEM conformance and its application."
Friday, September 19, 2008
SubTech 2008 Conference Sessions Available Online
The SubTech conference series is dedicated to substantive applications of information technology in law, as they are used or studied in legal education.
The historical application categories covered in the conferences include:
- Computer-aided instruction, broadly conceived
- Artificial intelligence & knowledge management
- Practice technologies like document automation
- Legal research, databases
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
September 2008 NIEM Newsletter Released
Tech Focus: Representing Idiosyncratic Data for NIEM IEPDs
- Statement for the the Record of Charles E. Allen: Information Sharing at the Federal, State, and Local Levels, July 23, 2008
- NIEM Case Study Ideas Needed!
- NIEM Adoption and Use: New York State- Devleopment of NIEM 2.0 Conformant IEPD for the New York Intrastate Criminal History Report (Rap Sheet)
- Featured FAQ: What are NIEM Universal and Common Core components?
- NIEM Clearinghouse Update
- Upcoming NIEM Trainings
Thursday, September 4, 2008
More Utah Justice Court Records Available Online
The Administrative Office of the Courts has announced the addition of 40 justice courts to the state court’s XChange service. XChange is a database of court case information that is available publicly for a monthly fee.
The XChange service provides case information—referred to as the court docket—and includes information such as when and what documents have been filed in the case, when and what hearings have been held or are scheduled in the case, when and what judgments have been entered in the case, and the outcome of completed cases. Justice courts hear primarily class B and C misdemeanors, infractions, and small claims cases.
“With the addition of justice courts to the XChange service, court users have access to case information in one central location,” said Utah State Court Administrator Dan Becker. Prior to the database expansion, accessing Justice Court case information required court users to contact each individual Justice Court.
The XChange database is used daily by government agencies, law enforcement, title companies, law firms, media outlets, and others to track the status of court cases. District Court case information has been available through the XChange service for more than 10 years. During the 2008 Legislative Session, a law was enacted that requires all justice courts to use a common case management system by the year 2011. As each Justice Court converts to the court’s common case management system, the XChange service will automatically add that court’s case information."
For more information, go to www.utcourts.gov.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Request for Comment on Proposed CourTools Standard
CourTools Information Exchanges
CourTools is a set of ten trial court performance measures developed by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to provide court managers a balanced perspective on court operations. The NCSC subsequently developed Global Information Exchange Package Documentation sets (IEPD’s) representing standards for uploading data relating to specific CourTools measures. IEPD’s have been developed for four of the ten CourTools measures. For each CourTools measure, two separate IEPD’s were developed to share data between local courts and a state authority (Stage 1) and between the state authority and a national authority (Stage 2). The CourTools IEPD’s may be downloaded from the NCSC website at:
http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/CourTools/tcmp_courttools.htm
Direct download links for each IEPD (no longer valid - 12/2/10):
- Measure 2 – Clearance Rates, Stage 1
- Measure 2 – Clearance Rates, Stage 2
- Measure 3 – Time to Disposition, Stage 1
- Measure 3 – Time to Disposition, Stage 2
- Measure 4 – Age of Active Pending Caseload, Stage 1
- Measure 4 – Age of Active Pending Caseload, Stage 2
- Measure 5 – Trial Date Certainty, Stage 1
- Measure 5 – Trial Date Certainty, Stage 2
The review period for the above proposed standard(s) will end October 31, 2008. Comments regarding a “proposed standard” must be received by the end of the review period to assure consideration in advance of JTC’s decision on approval as a “recommended standard”.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Access to Justice Training Set
Manager
Center for Access to Justice & Technology
Chicago-Kent College of Law
NIEM Posts Documents for Review
The NIEM User Guide and High-Level Version Architecture (HLVA) document have been posted to the NIEM web site on the "Downloads" page under the "Technical Documents" section. Each document is open for a public review period which ends September 15, 2008.
NIEM User Guide
NIEM High-Level Version Architecture
NIEM is the National Information Exchange Model, is a partnership of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. It is designed to develop, disseminate and support enterprise-wide information exchange standards and processes that can enable jurisdictions to effectively share critical information in emergency situations, as well as support the day-to-day operations of agencies throughout the nation.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Court Generated Documents
Is there an issue as to whether the electronic copy is the original or true copy? If so, then the documents should be printed to PDF.
Is there an issue that either a conforming or judge's signature is not affixed to the document? Then a digital signature and file stamp (or watermark) can be used.
Is there an issue regarding control? If so then digital rights management and encryption should be examined as a possible solution.
The point of this is that I believe a case management system should be focused on what its name says, managing cases. Documents can then be appropriately used, searched, and hopefully tagged to supplement the case management process and in the near future be applied for judicial research and use.
Next time, I'll write about self-docketing documents.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Testing Virtual Machines
I’ve been testing Sun’s virtual machine software called VirtualBox. But of course there are many other options to explore such as industry leader VMware as well as Microsoft’s Virtual PC 2007 software. Apple Mac users have Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion to choose from. An excellent list of different VM software is posted on Wikipedia at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_virtual_machines
I have posted a picture here to show you that I was able to load MSDOS, OpenSUSE Linux, and Vista on top of the installed Windows XP on my laptop. Now to be realistic, I would need more RAM (chip) memory in my machine if I were to run all of these are the same time. But it does seem to do the job quite nicely, and has the advantage of being free to use. I thought you might enjoy the picture.
Now why are VM’s useful? I can think of three reasons off the top of my head. First, the obvious one is if there is a particular piece of software that only available on a particular operating system (OS), one can install that OS (legally licensed of course just like my Vista software) and then install the application.
Second, the ability to run older software programs to retrieve data could be particularly useful. One might notice in the picture, my old CMS from the 80’s in Arizona is running in the MS-DOS window. Therefore, if I had a court’s data from that system, I could run search and run reports without needing to convert the data. It is interesting to note that there is as project is building VMs for older minicomputer systems of the past: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIMH
A third reason is to be able to test software on different applications in “clean” OS environments. One can also emulate client / server networks or browser / server networks within a single machine. Many VM’s have the ability to create “snapshots” of a system that allows a baseline configuration from which new software or configurations can be tested. And if the approach doesn’t work; no problem, delete it and try again. In the near future I am going to build a Linux client working with a Microsoft server to learn the best way to configure such a system.
Using VM? Let us know and we’ll post your story.