The Legal System and Technology in the 21st Century
Technology has found its way into almost every facet of human lifestyles. For your edification, this discussion continues, as well as an addition to previous study formats. By offering this informative passage, the legal system is just one more profession that has been conquered by technology.
We are aware of the court reporters and PCs that record and track our legal system, but what about the CGA System? The computer generated animation presentation can be admitted in our American court system. The admissible evidence in criminal trial(s) has been registered as a previous case ruled by the Supreme Court. As reported by Legal Intelligencer’s Asher Hawkins, differing arguments by six Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices concluded that a Lackawana common pleas judge correctly admitted the use of CGA during a 2002 first-degree murder case. CGA He has been portrayed in several television shows. like CSI Investigations and Crime 360.
Justice Sandra Schultz Newman wrote: “Society has become increasingly dependent on computers in business and in our personal lives…” She went on to say: “With each technological advance, the practice of law becomes more sophisticated. and consistent with the need to get rid of any technophobia and be more willing to embrace advances that have the ability to improve the efficiency of the legal system.”
Prosecution teams, including forensic pathologists and crime scene reconstructionists, presented a murder case to the jury; the prosecutor’s version… the accused did not possess and/or did not have access to this tool. An argument against this procedure in court is that a defendant, a poor person, can order an equivalent production. In other words, could the defense match the expenses associated with bringing the indictment to court? Another judge suggested that it would be wise to exclude CGA evidence if an indigent or poor defendant could not afford “equivalent production” costs. The basic cost could be more than $20,000.00. Another legal professional commented on whether the CGA costs were worth it. The judges also took note of the fact that CGAs are becoming less expensive to produce and could be a vital tool in speedily expediting court cases. In any event, pretrial motions that include CGA evidence should be treated with respect. Jury instructions and indigent defendants (lacking food, clothing and other necessities of life due to poverty; needy; poor; impoverished, destitute) are required with the permission of the court for the presentation of such evidence.
The position of the judges was to ensure that the Computer Generated Animation was fair and accurate while allowing defenders the opportunity to challenge its rationale. The magistrates have also pointed this out, to make it clear to the jury that it was not intended to be a re-enactment or simulation, but simply an expression of opinions formed by expert witnesses. Another judge expressed his position… “I think it’s a valuable tool, but a tool that should be used sparingly. I don’t think it’s necessary in every case.” Newman also wrote, “The difference is one of way, the law does not, and should not, prohibit competent professional employment of new technologies in the courtroom. This is the 21st century, after all.”
Each state has its own court system. There is also a federal court system. Decisions made during adjudication by federal administration agencies may be appealed to a federal court. Similarly, decisions made by state administrative agencies can be appealed to a state court. The definition of adjudication (to adjudicate) is to issue a judicial decision. In the administrative process, the procedure in which an administrative law judge hears and decides on the issues that arise when an administrative agency accuses a person or firm of violating the law or the regulations applied by the agency. An administrative agency is an agency of the state or federal government established to perform a specific function. Administrative agencies are authorized by legislative acts to make and enforce the rules for administering and enforcing acts.
Typically, a state court system will include several tiers or tiers of courts: (a) trial courts of limited jurisdiction, (b) trial courts of general jurisdiction, (c) appellate courts, and (d) the state supreme court (often referred to as the State Supreme Court). Anyone who is a party to a lawsuit has the opportunity and/or the right to argue their case in a trial court and then, if they lose, in at least one level of appellate court. In addition, if the decision of the State Supreme Court involves a federal law or a federal constitutional issue, that decision may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Have you ever wondered, with all the jurisprudence (the science or philosophy of law, a body or system of law, a department of law, Civil Law, court decisions, especially of review courts) activities that flood the earth, how could the legal system work without technology?
Monica Bay of Law Technology News reported that small firm attorneys, especially freelancers, have resisted adopting case/practice management software (CMS), though there’s no question it can help firms provide faster, better and cheaper services to its customers. Several observers suggest that the initial threshold of establishing a management system intimidates companies. One software consultant, Tom O’Connor, said, “Everyone loves technology but hates installing it.”
Project management hasn’t been a prominent topic in many schools, according to an independent IT consultant in Minneapolis. Successful project management depends on a large network of people. An effective Electronic Data Discovery (EDD) Project Network includes: clients, partners, IT legal staff, associates, paralegals, internal consultants, service providers, and technical experts. Without a doubt, the use of project management (PM) to mitigate risk while providing consistent and quality results that represent significant benchmarks in the process of maturation of the EDD environment.
Used in many corporations to increase productivity, quality control programs like Sigma Six have been generating interest. Understanding why and where problems occur has a huge impact on reducing errors. The application of these principles and practices in electronic data discovery processes improves a lawyer’s results with higher quality and lower costs. The reasons for the growing interest in project management are the recognition that success depends on effective management.
Mitigating risk and reducing costs by applying “E-Discovery Techniques” offered a host of considerations, for example matching schedules, securing external IT experts, proposing and following “E-Discovery” protocol, hiring a special teacher for compliance monitoring and dispute resolution, use of checklists containing critical steps and reminders for each step in and of a project, working service providers, working with attorneys to find answers to the right questions, since supplier management requires special attention to service level agreements (SLAs ‘possesses).
In the meantime, discover these definitions/legal jargon terms that can help you in your studies of management, business, daily life and technology:
surrogacy – Any claim that a creditor has against a debtor now becomes the security interest. Included are creditors’ rights in bankruptcy, collateral possession rights by the creditor, and rights to judgments guaranteed by the creditor: collateral is now in the shoes of the creditor against the debtor.
Compensation – The right to request reimbursement/guaranteed payment to a director for legal costs, fees and/or lawsuits involved in the defense of corporations – (clients) related lawsuits. It is enough to put the right to compensation for services as directors (representatives/lawyers).
Habeas corpus – held against their will – against their constitutional right(s), an order that requires a person to be brought before a judge or court, esp. for the investigation of a restriction of a person’s liberty, used as protection against unlawful imprisonment, one of a variety of court orders that may be issued to bring a party before a court or judge, having the function of releasing the party of illegal restraint.
write – a legal order, a court document.
Wrong – personal injury, a civil damage that does not arise from a breach of contract… a breach of a legal duty that immediately causes damage or injury to another.
Posterity – the offspring of one parent to the most distant generation; decendents; all future generations; successive or future generations collectively; The judgment of this age must be left to posterity; all descendants of a single person.
HIPA – The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was enacted to ensure that personal information stored, accessed, or processed complies with a set of guidelines, or “security rules.” These rules describe the security measures that must be in place to adequately secure all electronic protected health information (EPHI). LogRhythm directly complies with some HIPAA requirements, reduces the cost of complying with others, and provides out-of-the-box HIPAA reporting packages.
stockings – require public companies to create, monitor and manage controls over many aspects of their financial reporting. Some companies have discovered that such transparency is not easy. The rules require not only new processes, but also new tools that can determine if reporting systems and standards are up to the task. In general, SOX applications can be classified into three main market segments, according to Forrester Research. Those in the enterprise applications space include Oracle and SAP; IBM and Stellent fall under the enterprise content management (ECM) heading; and OpenPages and Paisley Consulting are considered specialists and compete with Certus, HandySoft and other exclusive providers.
Where is that technology has not reached? Are playgrounds really behind in technology? Are they out of the loop like many “non-tech savvy” or poor people are? The “Great Technical Gap”… imagine!
After all, this is the 21st century.
Until next time…
by
Gregory V. Boulware
3.16.10
