NCJ Number
56834
Journal
State Court Journal Volume: 3 Issue: 2 Dated: (SPRING 1979) Pages: 9-14,40-43
Date Published
1979
Length
10 pages
Annotation
A SUMMARY IS PROVIDED OF NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN COURT TECHNOLOGY BEING ADOPTED AROUND THE COUNTRY THROUGH THE COURT IMPROVEMENT THROUGH APPLIED TECHNOLOGY PROJECT (CITAT).
Abstract
FUNDED BY LEAA, CITAT AIMS AT PROVIDING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, EDUCATIONAL SEMINARS, AND ADDITIONAL RESEARCH MATERIALS TO ASSIST COURTS IN IMPROVING THEIR OPERATIONS THROUGH THE USE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY. SOME OF THE NEW PRINCIPLES THAT HAVE BEEN ADOPTED BY INDUSTRY THAT ARE SLOWLY BEING ACCEPTED IN THE COURTS INCLUDE DATA AND IMAGE PROCESSING INVOLVING COMPUTER AND MICROFILM TECHNOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTS IN COURT REPORTING, WORD PROCESSING, FILING SYSTEMS, AND FORMS DESIGN. SINCE RECORDS IN PAPER FORM ARE DIFFICULT TO LOCATE AND RETRIEVE, MANY COURTS DEVELOPED COMPUTERIZED DATA PROCESSING CAPABILITIES TO SUMMARIZE CASE-FILE INFORMATION, ASSIST IN RETRIEVING PERTINENT DATA, AND PROVIDE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION. A MORE ADVANCED STEP INVOLVES IMAGE PROCESSING, ESPECIALLY UPDATABLE MICROFICHE WHICH ALLOWS FOR THE FILMING OF VAST AMOUNTS OF PAPER FILES AND FOR THEIR UPDATE WHEN ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS ARE REQUIRED. ROLL FILM 'BLIP' MICROFILM SYSTEMS ARE ALSO BEING USED TO RECORD GENERALLY STATIC DOCUMENTS SUCH AS LAND RECORDS AND OTHER LEGAL INSTRUMENTS. ADDITIONALLY, COMPUTERS ARE SERVING AS MUCH MORE THAN MERE RECORDKEEPING SYSTEMS. THE PROSECUTORS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (PROMIS) WAS RECENTLY REDESIGNED TO SERVE EFFECTIVELY AS A DATA SYSTEM FOR TRIAL COURTS AND THE STATE-LEVEL JUDICIARY, WITH SPECIAL PROGRAMS FOR PARTICULAR COURT DIVISIONS SUCH AS THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM. FOR COURT REPORTING, VENDORS ARE MARKETING AUDIO EQUIPMENT CAPABLE OF FOUR-TRACK RECORDING AND EQUIPPED WITH FAIL-SAFE MECHANISMS TO ENSURE RECORD INTEGRITY. WORD PROCESSING SYSTEMS WITH VIDEO DISPLAYS, HIGH SPEED PRINTERS, AND DISK MEDIA ARE BEING USED TO TYPE AND REVISE OPINIONS, PREPARE MATERIALS FOR PRINTING, AND DEVELOP A DATA BASE OF COURT OPINIONS IN COMPUTER-READABLE FORM FOR AUTOMATED LEGAL RESEARCH. THE USE OF STANDARD FOLDER DESIGNS, AND THE MOVEMENT TOWARD OPEN-SHELF FILING HAVE CONTRIBUTED FURTHER TO COST SAVINGS, AS HAVE EFFORTS TO SIMPLIFY NECESSARY FORMS AND REDUCE THEIR OVERALL NUMBERS. REFERENCES ARE FOOTNOTED.