JTC Resource Bulletin - Cybersecurity Basics

In December 2019 the Joint Technology Committee (JTC) established by the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), the National Association for Court Management (NACM) and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) issued a new Resource Bulletinon Cybersecurity Basics for Courts.

This and That in Court Technology – February 2020

Irish Beef Stew

Just like the winter Irish beef stew shown in the picture to the right, we have a mix of great projects/ingredients to share this month.  They include serious security warning for Microsoft Windows, new AI decision reader from ROSS Intelligence, Lex Machina AI expanding into state courts, the PACER fees federal appeals hearing, Alaska Emailing jury summons, and automation program news from England & Wales and a new automation budget commitment for Ireland.

JTC Resource Bulletin - Teleservices for Courts

Teleservices is the delivery of services from a distance using telephony and/or digital technologies. There are a growing number of innovative utilizations with a track record of success in both the public and private sectors. Teleservices can be more widely utilized for some court processes, saving courts and the public time and money, better meeting client needs, reducing security risks to medical and behavioral health providers and the public, and improving the public’s access to justice.

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.

LegalXML E-Filing Standard and A2J/ODR

http://bit.ly/2NW0wPJ

Like the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercial with the tag line “you got chocolate in my peanut butter” there is a great potential synergy between A2J/ODR and court E-filing. Specifically, did you know that the Oasis-Open LegalXML Electronic Court Filing 5.0 standard could be used as an interface into the court’s data by Access to Justice (A2J) and ODR systems?  More below.

2019 ODR International Forum: ‘Online Dispute Resolution is here to stay’

Singapore presentation at ODR 2019

The woman’s last name was called a few times in Collin County Court in North Texas before she finally appeared, 15 minutes late, with a baby in her arms and tears in her eyes. As Ben White, the court’s senior IT manager, watched her rush into the courtroom, he assumed the woman couldn’t find a babysitter and her job didn’t offer paid time off. He wondered if the money she was losing by being in court that day might cause her to go into debt.

“I realized right then that ODR (online dispute resolution) was meant for her,” said White, a panelist at the recent 2019 ODR International Forum.

This and That in Court Technology – Halloween 2019

In this “busy holiday” edition of the CTB we share news about ODR in Yolo County, California, ideas for finding money for justice programs, yet another ransomware attack, a new institute on Speech to Text technology, Alexa voice response for juror information in Orlando, Florida, a report on court digitization in the Dallas, Texas Municipal Court, a new Oasis-Open standard for digital signatures, a “blueprint” report from England and Wales on digital justice, and the Sweden judiciary exploring interactive decisions.

The Purposes of Court Technology

I thought that I would share a post on the purpose of various court work processes and how technology has (or in some instances has not) changed them.  In other words, why do we do what we do in the legal/court system?

Let’s begin:

Tech Interns for Courts: Some Ideas

Over the years I have had some excellent interns that worked for me in Arizona, on international projects, and here at the NCSC.   It seems that, not surprisingly, all of them went on to good careers.  In this week's post, I will share some project ideas for your potential interns and second, some tips to make their experience a rewarding one.

CTC 2019 Session Videos Available Online

The NCSC is happy to share sixteen Court Technology Conference 2019 educational sessions.   The full list of CTC educational sessions is available here so you can see what you missed and start to build your justification to attend either E-Courts 2020 or CTC 2021.

This and That in Court Tech – September 2019

In this month’s compendium, we have a lot of news and comments about electronic documents.  The posts discuss online “phishing” scammers using fake legal documents, an audit report on the UK Court Modernization Program, a PDF standard implementation announcement by Microsoft, another court filer document redaction problem, the new public Texas court document portal, the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act and a personal note on Judge Dorothy Nelson.

Judge Rose Zamora Awarded McMillan Scholarship at CTC-2019

Jim McMillan and Judge Rose Zamora at CTC-2019

We are pleased to share that Judge Rose Zamora from the New Braunfels Texas Municipal Court was awarded the McMillan Scholarship at the CTC 2019 Conference for her innovations.  Much more below:

Some CTC 2019 Highlights

If you weren’t one of the 1,400 or so people who attended CTC 2019 on Sept. 10-12 in New Orleans, you missed a lot of great information, but here’s a summary of a handful of some well-attended sessions. 

We will have additional articles on the conference in the upcoming weeks.

OASIS Litigant Portal Draft Standard Review

OASIS and the OASIS Litigant Portal (LP) TC are pleased to announce that Litigant Portal Exchange Version 1.0 is now available for public review and comment.

The Litigant Portal Exchange 1.0 (LPX 1.0) standard consists of a set of non-proprietary message specifications and data models, along with clarifying explanations, to promote interoperability between litigant portal systems, courts, legal assistance providers and related systems. Portal modules are designed to provide assistance to self-represented litigants.

Criminal Justice System Information – A NoSQL Solution

Cards used in Bletchley Park during WWII

By James E. McMillan, Principal Court Management Consultant, National Center for State Courts

Summary: I think that I have found a solution for one of the most difficult problems in justice systems: the criminal case information data model and coinciding information accuracy.  I understand that this is a bold statement and therefore the following article explains it in some detail.

The problem with tracking criminal case information from inception (incident or indictment), through the process and subsequent consequences and compliance have always been complexity.  Criminal and juvenile case data includes charges, modifications, findings, orders, fines and restitution payment, and behavioral/remediation compliance that change and reconfigure in non-specific ways.  The graphic from a SEARCH Group Report below shows some of the data and workflows involved.

What to know before you go to CTC 2019

This week's CTB post shares all the information you need for the Court Technology Conference (CTC) 2019 next week in New Orleans, Louisiana from September 10-12, 2019.

It is going to be a terrific conference!  See you there.