Category «Courts»

9th Circuit Orders Delay for California Recall Vote

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ordered a halt to the recall election of California Gov. Gray Davis, scheduled for October 7. The court cited the fact that “fourty-four percent of the electorate will be forced to use a voting system so flawed that the Secretary of State has officially deemed it …

Subjects: Courts

Members of the FISA Court Published

Secrecy News reports on the names of the current eleven members of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA), along with the date each was appointed as well as when their respective appointments expire. The author of this report, Steven Aftergood, also states, “A full profile of the Court today — its members, their views of …

Subjects: Courts, Freedom of Information

Top Ten Court Website Awards

From the Justice Served website, this announcement identifies the top ten court websites chosen from among 900 considered. Two court sites in Washington, D.C. were recognized: the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia and the US District Court for the District of Columbia. [Rory Perry’s Weblog]

Subjects: Courts, Internet, Legal Research

Maryland Establishes Special Court for Business/Tech Cases

Specialized Court for Tech Cases Starts to Operate in Maryland: “Maryland, with the enactment of Rule 16-205, effective on Jan. 1, has become the first state in the country to adopt a specialized court for business and technology cases. This specialized system is an effort to respond to the increased complexity of these cases arising …

Subjects: Courts

Judicial Council of California Adopts plain English Jury Instructions

New Plain-English Jury Instructions Adopted to Assist Jurors in California Courts: “In another jury reform, the Judicial Council of California today officially adopted new civil jury instructions that emphasize plain, straightforward language, to provide an alternative to often confusing legal terminology that has been used in California trial courts for the past 70 years.”

Subjects: Courts

Courts, Public Records and Privacy

Are Public Court Records Too Public in Cyberspace?: “As state court officials across the nation ponder whether and how to make courthouses Internet-friendly, policymakers from California to New York are shielding many otherwise readily available records from cyberspace.” Resources referenced in the article include: New York State Commission on Public Access to Court Records Reporters …

Subjects: Courts, E-Government, Privacy

Philly’s High-Tech Court

Philadelphia’s High-Tech Courtroom: “Courtroom 625, the pride and joy of the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, is equipped with everything the savvy trial attorney could need to present a state-of-the-art, multimedia case to a judge and jury. A video presentation system with plasma screen monitors, document cameras, a DVD and a videotape player, computer connections, and …

Subjects: Courts

Ohio Courts Embrace Technology

“Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer announced that the results of the latest Ohio Supreme Court 2002 Survey on Technology and the Courts shows that Ohio courts are steadily advancing in their use of technology,” according to this article in Govtech.net.

Subjects: Courts