NCJ Number
10977
Date Published
Unknown
Length
16 pages
Annotation
ILLUSTRATED BOOKLET FEATURING A COMPUTER SYSTEM WHICH UTILIZES DISK STORAGE AND VIDEO RETRIEVAL TO HELP REDUCE THE BACKLOG OF CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES.
Abstract
THE HEART OF THE SYSTEM IS AN AUTOMATED DISK STORAGE WITH BOTH RANDOM AND SEQUENTIAL ACCESS CAPABILITIES. THERE ARE FOUR PROCESSING SYSTEMS - CIVIL AND CRIMINAL FOR THE COMMON PLEAS COURT, AND CIVIL AND CRIMINAL FOR THE MUNICIPAL COURT. ONE PRODUCT OF THE COMPUTER IS A WEEKLY REPORT, SHOWING IN DETAIL EACH OF 6,000 ATTORNEYS CASES, DEFENDANTS, NEXT ACTION DATE AND TYPE, CONFLICTS, AND SIMILAR DATA. THIS PROVIDES A BETTER GRASP OF CURRENT WORKLOADS. ALSO PRODUCED IS A PERIODIC LISTING OF ATTORNEY ACTIVITY WHICH ANALYZES THE NUMBER OF CASES WHICH MUST BE BYPASSED IN ORDER TO PREPARE A CONFLICT FREE CALENDAR. IN ADDITION TO DISCUSSING THE FUNCTIONING OF THE CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CALENDARING SYSTEM, THE PAMPHLET ALSO DESCRIBES THE VARIABLE ACCESS COURT SYSTEM. THIS DEVICE, WHICH LOOKS LIKE A TELEVISION SET, DISPLAYS DATA FROM COMPUTER STORAGE, AND PROVIDES TWO-WAY, OPERATOR-COMPUTER COMMUNICATION THROUGH A TYPEWRITERLIKE KEYBOARD. THE DOCUMENT INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE MACHINES, AS WELL AS SAMPLE CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CALENDAR COMPUTER PRINTOUTS, AND DEFENDANT AND WITNESS SUBPOENAS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)