In Memory of John Doktor

We are pleased to announce that the attendees at the recent E-Courts Conference donated $743 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in memory of John Doktor. John was director of the Integrated Justice System project in Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona and a long time contributor in advancing court technology. He will be missed.

US Federal Courts Report on Technology

The November, 2006 issue of The Third Branch newsletter published by the US Federal Courts is chock full of articles regarding technology use in their system. Articles include:

• Federal Courts Look to Contain Costs in Lean Times discusses the use and impact of the CM/ECF system
• Payment of Court Fees Via the Internet Grows in Popularity reports on the growing use of credit card payment by attorneys.
• Electronically Stored Information Target of New Rules talks about new amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures.
• Robust IT Program Benefits Courts and Public: An Interview with Judge Thomas Vanaskie who is chair of the Judicial Conference Committee on Information Technology and a speaker at the E-Courts 2006 conference.

E-Courts Presentations Now Online

Over 600 persons attended the most successful E-Courts Conference to date in Las Vegas last week. The presentations that we have received to date are posted at the E-Courts 2006 Presentations web page.

West Virginia Courts Start CMS Project

An article in the West Virginia Record newspaper highlights the new court case management system project for the West Virginia Courts. The Unified Judicial Application will be rolled out over a four year period and will use the state's existing T-1 network as its backbone.

Ohio Supreme Court Announces Imaging and RSS technology

The Supreme Court of Ohio announced on November 30, 2006 that as of December 1st, all case documents filed on and after that date will be available online soon after filing. In addition, the Court also announced a new Case Activity Notification Service using RSS technology. The service will make it easier for interested parties to track developments in cases pending before the Supreme Court.

US Federal Court E-Filing Rules

Attorney Howard J. Bashman, in his regular column for Law.com, discusses new rules for unpublished citations and appellate court E-filing in his article "What Do the Federal Appellate Procedure Rule Changes Mean for You?" (12/2010 update: please note that access to this article requires a subscription to Law.com)

Ohio Courts Technology Survey Released

The Supreme Court of Ohio has recently released a summary of their latest technology survey. Highlights include finding that nearly all courts have Internet access and approximately half have some kind of document imaging technology installed.

Drug Court Online Training Event

"Drug Courts Reexamined," is a free online event November 13, 2006 2:00–4:00 pm (eastern time)

Featuring:

• Michael Rempel, Research Director at the Center for Court Innovation.
• Peter F. Luongo, Ph.D., Director of the Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration.
• Judge Terry D. Terrell, First Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.
• Moderated by Thomas J. Charron, Executive Director of the National District Attorneys Association.

The event is hosted by: Harvard University's Government Innovators Network, the National Institute of Justice of the U.S. Department of Justice, and the online housing resource KnowledgePlex.

US Sentencing Comission Electronic Reporting

In its Fall 2006 Guidelines Newsletter the US Federal Sentencing Commission notes that 70 Federal District Courts are "submitting their case files electronically." The case files include "the five required documents (i.e., judgment and commitment order, statement of reasons form, any plea agreement, the charging document, and the presentence report)" using PDF format.

(Author's note: Now if we can just get them to use the GJXDM. For more information about XML-based charge and sentencing reporting see our National Standards web page )

A Great Domestic Court Judge's Website in Ohio

We have recently become aware of Judge Mike Voris' web site for the Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Division, in Clermont County, Batavia, Ohio: http://www.domesticcourt.org/
He features a lot of court forms, a streaming video interview as well as other information to help litigants navigate their way through the judicial system. Well done!