New JTC paper makes case for judicial tools

Judicial Dashboard screenshot, courtesy Wisconsin Court System

The Joint Technology Committee (JTC) has released a new resource bulletin, “Making the Case for Judicial Tools.”

Standards for Jury Management System Requirements

The Joint Technology Committee has developed a national standard for jury management.functional requirements that serve as a great starting point for courts developing or acquiring a new Jury Management System.

This and That in Court Tech – A Frozen February, 2015 Edition

Our regular compilation of news and notes regarding the world or court technology follows.  In this edition we note the new CTC 2015 topic survey, Pennsylvania online payments, password technology replacement, online dispute resolution recommendations in the UK, more on court related scamming activity, more AmCad fallout, and the ServeCon conference.

Electronic Briefs Explained

Probate Court Judge Don Wilkes,
Ms. Lisa Joyner and Ms. Kristie Pope
Candler Co., Georgia

Attorney Ms. Elizabeth “Ellie” Neiberger wrote a terrific article for the Florida Law Journal (February, 2015 Volume 89, No. 2, page 46) titled “Judge-Friendly Briefs in the Electronic Age”.  She starts the article with the advice “(t)he golden rule for any type of writing is ‘write for the reader’.  Appellate judges read a lot, and how they read is changing.”

2014 CITOC Innovation Award – North Carolina Electronic Protective Order System

The following article provides some of the project details for the CITOC award winner submitted by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts.  In their submission they wrote that:

“On June 24, 2013, Alamance County became the first county in North Carolina to implement the Electronic Protective Order System (EPOS) which greatly increases the safety of domestic violence victims and allows for streamlined, efficient processing of domestic violence orders initiated from a secure, non-public remote location.

CITOC Announces Innovation Awards

The national Court Information Technology Officers Consortium (CITOC) and the Conference of State Court Administrators honored the following courts with awards in December, 2014 during their annual conference.

•  Innovation in Business Process Award 2014: Superior Court of California, Orange County

•  Innovation in Technology Award 2014: North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts

The Hagan Manifesto on PDF's

Used with permission from Ms. Hagan

Our favorite Law Design blogger, Ms. Margaret Hagan, has posted her “short manifesto” on “Law’s PDF Problem”.  I agree with her observations and offer some additional commentary.

Ms. Hagan is doing some excellent work in examining how legal systems have been designed (or not designed) over the past few years.  Her recent post looks at the problem of legal (including court) information being “buried in PDF’s”.  She notes:

The Courtroom Tablet - Microsoft Surface Hub

 

Image from Microsoft

One of the most interesting thing that was announced by Microsoft earlier this week was the Surface Hub 84-inch 4K interactive display (there will be a 55” size also).  Talk about a tablet!  This is one device that has the potential for everyone in the courtroom to see and use. 

This article from Engadget.com describes the systems features.  It includes a the pressure sensitive stylus that allows the user to change colors and line thickness, built-in cameras with Skype for Business video and desktop conferencing, and the ability to wirelessly connect with any “Miracast-enabled device” so that when Windows10 is released, one will be able to download images from the screen to save for archive/evidence.

It was reported that it will be available later in 2015.

This and That in Court Technology - January 2015

A new CTB template and other court technology news is noted in this month's post.

New Court Technology Bulletin Template

You might notice that the CTB looks different.  In celebration of its fifth year as a Google Blogger blog we decided the go with a new cleaner look.  There is a new blog masthead thanks to one of our talented NCSC graphics designers, Elizabeth Maddox.   We have also gathered all of our links and resources together on one page so that there is a “one-stop” place to find things that are useful to the court technologist.  We hope you like it.

2015 – The Year We Can Talk about Using Automation the Way Judges (and People) Actually Work

Lenovo Yoga AnyPen

Apologies for the long title, but it is becoming clear that automation has finally caught up to the way judges actually work, by speaking and writing with a pen.

Internet Access to Court Records Upsets Canadians

According to an article in The Globe and Mail newspaper, “(o)ver the past year, close to 100 people have complained to the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII), after coming across legal decisions that mention their names through Google searches.  The rulings are public information, but most are shocked to see the details of their court cases – often family law, criminal or immigration matters – on the Internet for anyone to read.”

Supreme Court of the US Chief Justice Notes Technology in Year-End Report

In his tenth report, Chief Justice John Roberts focused on information technology in the US Courts (PDF).

Orange County, California E-Filing Benefits Reported

Orange County Courthouse

In response to our earlier Court Technology Bulletin article regarding the difficulty in quantifying the benefits of E-filing, we heard from the Judicial Council of California regarding a recently submitted report to their legislature on the topic.

This and That in Court Technology – December, 2014

Nevada Chief Justice Mark Gibbons

Notes and article links about E-Courts, Wearable Evidence in courts, a settlement about inaccurate court data in a credit bureau, monitor twisting, smartphone driver’s licenses, a “Moneyball” approach to crime prosecution, E-filing at Michigan appellate courts, the Texas Bar online legal education website, Ms. Sharon Nelson, and upcoming conferences in this month's This and That.

A Recommended E-Courts 2014 Session

Having just returned home from the excellent E-Courts 2014 conference, I would like to recommend a particular session on digital preservation.

E-Filing Benefits are Hard to Quantify

With E-courts 2014 coming next week, we share some thoughts on the difficulty in quantifying the benefits of E-filing.

Faster WiFi Coming Soon to a Court Near You

Faster 802.11ac Wireless networks are coming.  Time to start planning.

This and That in Court Technology - November, 2014

Bananas Foster French Toast at E-Courts

Time again for news from the wide, wide world of technology for courts.

Court Case Management Systems Part 16 – Reports and Statistics

Originally, court case management systems were justified based on their ability to produce court management reports and statistics for policy makers.  They have generally achieved these goals but there is more that CCMS should be able to do.

Lucas County, Ohio Releases CMS RFP

The Lucas County Common Pleas Court is looking for a court case management system.  Responses are due by December 30, 2014 with a mandatory pre-proposal conference to be held on November 18, 2014 at the Lucas County Common Pleas Court.  A $10,000 bid bond is required.

The RFP and all relevant information is available at: http://co.lucas.oh.us/bids.aspx?bidID=487