Reengineering the Judiciary

The Sequestration that went into effect March 1^st, 2013 in an effort to slow the growth of our national debt is bringing to the forefront the fact that our nation’s judiciary is strained to the limit because of funding cutbacks, and is facing a potential crisis, given projected funding levels for next year. In fact,  “Federal Judiciary leaders have warned that long-term funding cuts could threaten the constitutional mission of the courts, erode the rights of indigent defendants, and create public safety dangers.”

According to a June 2013 report published by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), our state courts aren’t faring much better.  Their budgets are so strained, that over the last four years, 21 states have suffered increased delays and backlog, 22 states have had to reduce their services to the public, 31 states have had to delay filling judicial support positions, and 19 have had to lay off staff.

“Thanks to generous grants from the State Justice Institute (SJI) and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), NCSC is working to re-engineer how it administers justice.”  As courts go about this process, bringing in technology and looking for ways to streamline the delivery of justice, they will see how realtime reporters benefit not just counsel, but everyone involved, as words appear instantly on counsel’s, the judge’s and juror’s screens, reducing the number of sign language interpreters needed in the courts, providing the judge and counsel the opportunity to instantly review each and every exchange, and nearly eliminating the need for court reporters to read back.  Judges utilizing court reporters who have embraced realtime consider it critical in their courts and an effective use of technology.