Court Technology Bulletin

Friday, December 18, 2009

Prison Inmates Can E-File in US Federal Court

The November, 2009 issue of The Third Branch newsletter for the US Federal Courts contains an article describing the E-filing system that has been established by the US District Court for the Central District of Illinois for prison inmates from the Pontiac Correctional Facility. The project allows for scanned PDF documents to be submitted to the court. The article notes:

Judge Harold Baker C.D. Ill. credits pro se law clerk Cynthia Diane Fears with first proposing the project. Baker said he and his pro se law clerks are very satisfied with its implementation. We’re delighted. Our court will accept e-filing with every other institution willing to work with us, he said.

This edition of the newsletter also contains an article: The 7th Circuit Pilot Program Provides a New Approach to E-Discovery. The article begins:

Electronically stored information ESI touches all aspects of our lives, said Chief Judge James F. Holderman, Jr N.D. Ill., which means that, when it comes to discovery, it’s really electronic discovery. Yet we rely on the same paper discovery procedures we’ve used for the last century to work for e-discovery. They’re just outdated. We need a new approach.

Friday, December 11, 2009

NCSC and HHS Collaborate on NIEM Messages

The November, 2009 NIEM Newsletter contains an article on the joint NCSC and US Department of Health and Human services development of data exchange templates for:

Juvenile Petition
Adjudication Order
Service Plan
Court Report

The article notes that:

A field test in Vermont has revealed that the template can accommodate an overwhelming percentage of use cases without modification.

More E-Reader News and Reviews

Because judges in particular spend inordinate amount of their time reading, we are following developments for E-Readers. First, a couple of new tech readers/pads are being released. The first example is the new Barnes and Noble “Nook” reader. Reviews have been posted first at Technologizer.com and later at Engaget.com

A second recent announcement regards the device formerly known as the CrunchPad. It has been renamed the JooJoo magic. Here is an article about the announcement with some pictures. (1/11 note: this device ultimately did not enter the market)

And finally, an October, 2009 run-down of the various e-Reader options by Technologizer.com can be found at:
http://technologizer.com/2009/10/26/the-e-reader-explosion-a-cheat-sheet/

Friday, December 4, 2009

Flash Cookies

Earlier this week I learned of another privacy issue of using your browser on the Internet. They are generically called, Flash Cookies, but technically known as a Local Share Object. These Flash Cookies are not controlled by the browser cookie controls and will continue to build up in ones system.

Bruce Schneier explains:

"Unlike traditional browser cookies, Flash cookies are relatively unknown to web users, and they are not controlled through the cookie privacy controls in a browser. That means even if a user thinks they have cleared their computer of tracking objects, they most likely have not.

What’s even sneakier?

Several services even use the surreptitious data storage to reinstate traditional cookies that a user deleted, which is called re-spawning in homage to video games where zombies come back to life even after being "killed," the report found. So even if a user gets rid of a website’s tracking cookie, that cookie’s unique ID will be assigned back to a new cookie again using the Flash data as the "backup.""

For detailed information see The Electronic Privacy Information Center web page on the subject at:
http://epic.org/privacy/cookies/flash.html

I have been testing a program called, humourously enough, Cookinator. Seems to be doing a lot of cleaning when I use it and so far have not had any resulting system problems.

Information on the free free Cookienator program can be found at: http://codefromthe70s.org/cookienator.aspx

(January, 2011 note - we have had excellent success with the C-Cleaner program for this problem)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

7th Conference on Privacy and Public Access to Court Records Announced

The Center for Legal and Court Technology and the NCSC with assistance from the Administrative Office of the US Courts announces the 7th Conference on Privacy and Public Access to Court Records. The conference will be held on March 4 and 5, 2010 in Williamsburg, Virginia. Announce agenda topics include:

Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going: A Decade of Court Public Access and Privacy Policy Development
Court Public Access Policy Implementation: Recent Developments
Emerging Issues in E-filing and Privacy
Bulk Data: Latest Trends
New Media in the Courtroom and at the Courthouse: Texts, Tweets & Blogs, Oh My!
Privacy and the Public Record: The Big Picture Debate
Public Electronic Access to Federal Court Records “PACER”: New Initiatives, New Challenges

The conference fee is $225.00 with an optional conference dinner priced at $50.

For more information email medalt@wm.edu or ccvaug@wm.edu or phone the CLCT at: 757-221-2494

Thursday, November 19, 2009

More iPods for Bailiffs and Lawyers too

Back on September 10th I posted an article here on the potential for equipping court bailiffs with iPods. This week I received a catalog from the Creston company that supplies control systems used in many courtrooms. I was pleasantly surprised to find an iPod/iPhone Crestron-Mobile-Pro app that lets one create an interface to the control system similar to their custom touch control units. Click on the link to read more about the app and see screen examples.

And while I was on the subject I decided to do a search for iPhone apps for lawyers. I found a great webpage titled Our Favorite iPhone Apps for Lawyers that was written following the Spring 2009 American Bar Association TechShow.

It is said that this is where all the technology action is currently. This is evidence that it is now making an impact on the courts and legal system.

Friday, November 13, 2009

IJIS releases NIEM Conformance guidance for RFPs

On October 30, the IJIS institute announced the NIEM Conformance for RFPs. The document states that:

"It is intended to be a resource for public safety practitioners who are making decisions with regard to procurement for public safety computer systems that have, or may in the future have, information sharing requirements with other systems. The goal is to help ensure RFPs meet federal grant requirements and national best practices for information sharing, and to provide help in understanding the technology standards and how they relate to product selection. The National Information Exchange Model NIEM, which is most often included in U.S. Department of Justice DOJ and U.S. Department of Homeland Security DHS grant requirements, is a national approach and common vocabulary for information exchange."

"NIEM Conformance for RFPs was developed by the IJIS Institute’s Public Safety Technical Standards Committee IPSTSC and is available online:

http://www.ijis.org/docs/NIEM_Conformance_for_RFP_20091028.pdf

Monday, November 9, 2009

Ergonomic Mouse Helps

Since early summer your CTB editor has been experiencing hand pain in the tendon connected to the index finger. After trying different treatment methods including rest, massage, heat, cold, the pain always returned. Finally today I decided that enough was enough and researched various ergonomic mouse options. After some online research I narrowed the choices down to two, the Microsoft Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 and the Logitech Performance Mouse MX Both seemed to do the job of turning the wrist/finger position from a parallel to the table surfact to a more natural tilted position please see the two websites for photos to see what this means. So off to the store to try them out and I came back with the Microsoft version. And I must report that there was immediate pain relief. Of course time will tell if this is a solution, but so far, so good.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Dallas County Texas Courts Moving to Electronic Files

According to an article, Dallas County courts moving to all-electronic filing published on October 11, 2009 on DallasNews.com, that the Dallas County, Texas District Clerks Office is:

"Converting files for the county criminal, family and civil cases to electronic form and destroying the old-fashioned versions."

The article further notes that:

"Seventeen district clerk employees spent a combined 250 hours scanning thousands of documents in Magnis court over an August weekend."

And in the sidebar - Going Paperless: By the Numbers the article states two significant facts:

75 percent: Amount of requested files from the clerks office that are from the last two years

Jan. 1, 2010: The date Dallas County new criminal cases will no longer generate paper files

Thursday, October 22, 2009

US Federal Courts Move Forward on Automation

On October 9, 2009 the US Federal Courts newsroom website noted the many accomplishments achieved by the CM/ECF system. The release states:

The federal judiciary's Case Management/Electronic Case Files CM/ECF project revolutionized the way in which the federal courts manage their cases and documents. This easy-to-use system allows attorneys to file documents directly with the court over the Internet and allows courts to file, store, and manage their case files in an easy-to-access, transparent way.

The September, 2009 edition of The Third Branch Newsletter also contained two articles of interest. The first, Electronic Public Access Program/PACER Assessment Begun, notes:

The Judiciary’s Electronic Public Access Program is looking for user input. The program, which recently celebrated its one-millionth Public Access to Court Electronic Records PACER subscriber, has launched a year-long, comprehensive assessment to identify potential enhancements to existing and new public access services.

The newsletter also contained an article titled: "Reminder to Redact". As most everyone who works with electronic document information is aware, redaction of sensitive private information is critical. The article describes the Federal Courts approach to the issue. It begins:

"Attorneys using the Judiciary’s Case Management/Electronic Case Files CM/ECF system will find they must acknowledge a reminder to redact private information from documents before they access the system. It is part of the Judiciary’s on-going effort to protect privacy in publicly accessible court records by reminding attorneys that it is their responsibility to comply with redaction rules."

"A message is displayed when an attorney logs in to CM/ECF. The attorney is required to check a box on the last line of the reminder to show they have read it. The message also provides links to the Federal Rules regarding redaction. In addition, another reminder message has been added to the screen where the attorney finalizes submission of the filed document. The message asks: 'Have you redacted?'”