California Courts In The Midst Of Technololgy Overhaul
California courts have been updating their computer systems in order to provide a number of new services to citizens needing to avail themselves of the courts and improve communications between court systems in different jurisdictions.
The new California Case Management System-v3 will allow Californians to make payments for traffic tickets and other infractions online, reducing the need for paper files of each offense.
Under the new system, court documents could be fed into imaging programs, further reducing paper use, and judges and other court personnel could easily access information from courts in other jurisdictions.
However, it does raise issues of privacy that concern some judges and politicians; rules already exist requiring sensitive personal information to be removed from publicly-accessible documents, but online availability of records may make this task more difficult. In addition, a proposed charge to access online records may be ruled a violation of the First Amendment right to equal access.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Scripps Howard News Service (05/15/06); Hoops, Stephanie.
