Another Technology to Plan For: Blockchain Contracts

As we all know, courts have to deal with contracts between parties.  And courts also very often have to verify the authenticity of information.

There is a lot of work going on using Blockchain database technology.  So it is time to learn about and plan for its use in the justice system.  We discuss below.

Some News Notes

A busy couple of weeks.  But we wanted to share three notes about “The Free Law Project” Judicial Database, Microsoft’s partnership with the Legal Service Corporation and Pro Bono Net, and some recent legal action involving digital evidence.

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:

Criminal Justice Identification in the Cloud

Courts have an unending problem with criminal defendant identification.  If one thinks about this issue for a minute, in many instances it is a benefit to the defendant to not be properly identified.  As most of you know, there have been biometric systems (fingerprint, face recognition for example) available for law enforcement, prosecutors, and courts for many years.  But there has been a significant initial cost barrier.  Last week I saw an interesting possible “cloud based” solution that may help.

Oregon iForms Project Simplifies Public Court Access

Earlier this year we found the following press release from the Oregon Judicial Branch on their OJD iForms project.  They wrote:

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.

“Managing Digital Evidence in Courts”

The COSCA/NACM Joint Technology Committee has issued a new report: “Managing Digital Evidence in Courts”.  The report identifies potential challenges and recommends steps courts should consider when receiving, evaluating, protecting, and presenting digital evidence, including video from body-worn cameras, private citizens, and other sources.

Click here to view and download the report.

This and That in Court Technology – March, 2016

Mecklenburg County Courtroom Tech

Court technology related news from North Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Indiana, Arizona and the UK in this month's edition of This and That.

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.

CourtHack 2016 a Great Success!

This past weekend the NCSC team working with HackerNest held the first ever CourtHack event.  I can say without qualification that it was great!  More...