E-Courts 2020 Registration is Open

Registration for eCourts 2020 is open. The conference runs December 7–9, 2020, at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. You should register today to book at our lowest block pricing.


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Report on Court Appearances in Criminal Proceedings Through Telepresence

McGlothlin Courtroom - William and Mary Law School

Center for Legal and Court Technology

I had the pleasure of participating, along with many court and academic friends, in the focus group on using Telepresence (video conferencing)for an excellent report released this month from RAND Corporation via their Priority Criminal Justice Needs Program funded by the National Institute of Justice.

More below:

Legislatures Considering Text Notification Statutes

Our fellow NCSC blog, Gavel to Gavel, posted an interesting article today regarding legislatures in Colorado, Tennessee, and Massachusetts to require... yes, require courts to be able to send reminders to court participants. 

Three state legislatures consider programs to require courts notify defendants by text of upcoming court hearings

Bills in three states have been filed in the last month to require state courts (in particular the various administrative offices of the courts) to develop text reminder system.

This and That in Court Tech – January 2020

https://pixabay.com/

Court technology news this month includes the Florida court’s E-Notify system, automatic transcription news, US Federal Courts PACER, and observations on how to make access to justice (A2J) work, and digital documentation using AI.

Singapore Chief Justice Maps Court's Tech Future

The New Singapore Courts Tower

We follow the Judiciary of Singapore closely here at the Court Technology Bulletin.  Being a small country, they can take bold steps in their technology portfolio.  On January 6, 2020 Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon made his annual Opening of the Legal Year address which highlighted many tech programs.

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

Cyber Safety During the Holidays

The holiday season takes many people out of their usual safe Internet connections and on to public WiFi.  The Portland, Oregon division of the US Government FBI posted these following tips to keep you safe from data theft.

https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/portland/news/press-releases/tech-tuesdayholiday-travels

E-Courts 2020 and an AI Warning

A pair of excellent E-Courts presenters

Just two quick notes.  First, the next E-Courts Conference will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from December 7-9, 2020 at the MGM Grand Hotel which is a huge property.  My suggestion is to first mark your calendar and then start shopping and breaking in your walking shoes.  You will need them!

5G Mobile – The Hype and Reality

I have been confused by all the noise regarding the new 5G mobile (cell) communications systems that are being introduced.  There seemed to be so many different and conflicting messages (and hype) about the technology, I thought it was time to try to understand what is going on?  I share my findings below.

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.