Technology in the Courts: Perspectives From the New York City Judiciary

SUMMARY

With assistance from the New York State Unified Court System’s Office of Court Administration, the Criminal Justice Operations Committee (Risa Gerson, Chair) surveyed members of the judiciary serving in all five counties of the Criminal Term of the New York State Supreme Court and in the New York City Criminal Court to explore their views on the use of everyday technology to improve efficiency in criminal litigation. The survey probed judges’ perspectives by asking whether particular technologies that exist today were utilized in their court parts and, regardless of the answer, whether those technologies were or would be beneficial in their view. The questions focused on five categories of existing technology: email, electronic evidence and jury charges, electronic submissions and records, video conferencing, and electronic filing. In short, the survey revealed that early adopters of technological tools to manage cases strongly favored their use. The survey also revealed ways that the use of technological tools in the courts could be increased and identified where increased use would have the most impact.