GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY/Tradition, security stall court technology
Digital record storage, wireless computing and teleconferencing are widely practiced in the private sector, but courts have been slow to adopt the technology because of data security concerns and fear of change. A considerable amount of space in courthouses is consumed by paper storage. Rows of filing cabinets take up expensive courthouse floor space, currently constructed at an average cost of $175 per square foot.
Alternatively, digital records can be stored with compact computer equipment that takes up very little room. In the space needed for just a few file cabinets, the records for an entire court system can be stored. Additionally, the digital documents do not need to be stored in the same building that houses the courtrooms. Because electronic documents can be sent and received anywhere, servers and other equipment can be located in much less expensive space. In some large jurisdictions, clerks can even be dispersed throughout the community to make it easier for citizens to file or retrieve documents.
When paper documents do not need to be tracked down, hard copied, hand delivered or re-filed, employees can get more work done in less time. That applies to clerks and record keepers of all kinds, but it also could speed up the work of prosecutors and their assistants.
While digital record storage can save time, so can the ability to present evidence electronically in jury trials. Current methods of presenting evidence involve showing the exhibits to the witness, the clerk, the judge, the attorneys and the jurors, often passing physical evidence around the jury box until everyone has had a chance to hold it and examine it.
Technology exists, however, to create a system in which the judge has his own computer screen, as do the witnesses, prosecuting and defense attorneys, and members of the jury. The evidence could be exhibited with a PowerPoint presentation run on a laptop computer.
Such a system could reduce the time required for a jury trial. That means fewer courtrooms, judges and prosecutors would be needed to handle the same number of cases.
However, digital documents, for all their speed and efficiency, raise security issues that have not been resolved to the satisfaction of many judges. For example, documents that are available on the Internet are accessible to hackers anywhere in the world. How would someone charged with a crime, but not yet convicted, react if the charges and possibly some of the evidence were leaked to the press or to interested parties? What about the safety of stored juvenile court records, where security is at a premium? The technical answers exist, but the courthouse culture will have to become comfortable with the new systems.
For those and other reasons, judges are taking a conservative stance on the information technology revolution. Although it is technically possible to conduct a trial by teleconference while the defendant remains in jail, most judges feel strongly that the personal interaction that takes place during a trial is too important to sacrifice to efficiency. Judges want to hear testimony first hand, to look witnesses and defendants in the eye, and to maintain the gravity and dignity of the law.
That is not to say that technology is making no inroads. Many courts are charging defendants and setting bail by teleconferences. In addition to increasing efficiency, teleconferencing improves security by keeping defendants in jail until bail has been established and satisfied. Teleconferencing shows that technology has arrived at the courthouse door, and it is certain to lead to greater changes in the way court business is conducted.
The author is director of courts design for Omaha, Neb.-based HDR.
