County Judiciary

Today would probably be a good day to not be in the Courthouse.   The County's new courts technology  program is launching and it will be remarkable if it goes smoothly. 

In 1998, when the 1/4 cent sales tax for public safety passed, $250,000 per year was allocated to improve the technology in the criminal justice system.  After reviewing a number of options, the County went with New World Systems with a so called "box" solution that would need to tailored to the needs of Champaign County.  Getting this product out of the box and installed and running in Champaign County has taken about 7 or 8 years. 

The system should incorporate the Sheriff's office, Circuit Clerk, Probation, State's Attorney, Public Defender, and Circuit Judges into one system. This will eliminate needing to reenter court records at each stage in the process.  In addition, the system envisions scanning court documents in order to eliminate transferring files to Courtrooms. 

But whenever you involve this many offices in such a large project there are likely to be problems.  While each of the offices works together, each also has it's own way of doing things.  Because so many of these people are elected officials in their own right, they also don't necessarily have to go along with the program.  For example, if a judge still wants the entire paper court record brought to his courtroom, that's what's going to happen. 

I have little doubt that in the end, hopefully within weeks, the system will be running smoothly.  But the transition could give some  heartburn to more than a few people.  From a public perception, Circuit Clerk Linda Frank stands front and center on this project.  It is her staff that is going to have to inform legal secretaries that  their filing which would have sufficed last week may be lacking this week.  Or that someone with a traffic ticket has had their case postponed because the data didn't make it into the new system.  I give a lot of credit to Linda for pushing forward on this in an election year.  It would have been easy to put off this launch for six months to place it outside the political debate.

One positive for the public is that Linda fought for continued free access to the docket sheets as she has been providing for years.  Some enterprising officials apparently would have liked to go to a pay system.  That free system also is in transition, so don't be surprised if your access this week is sporadic.

No doubt some readers will be at the Courthouse this week.  I'd like to hear comments.

Someone pointed this out in today's Open Thread, and while I haven't quite gotten my blogging groove back, I had to post it:

Some people showing up for jury duty at the Champaign County Courthouse in Urbana this morning were sent home, not because there were no trials for them to hear but because construction had displaced them.

"We've got no place to put these jurors," an irritated Presiding Judge Tom Difanis said this morning. "What am I going to do with them? Have them stand in the construction area?"

Tuckpointing on the old courthouse began last week in advance of the renovation of the courthouse bell tower. The work means that the jury assembly room, on the first floor of the old courthouse at the west end of the courthouse complex, will be out of commission for several months.

"They (county administrators) had their timetable, and we just merely suggested that they make a place for us to put our jurors and they haven't," Difanis said this morning. "I've been with Champaign County going on 36 years. It really doesn't surprise me we're this inept."

Emphasis added.

The Gazette article

At Urbana Rotary today, Tina Gunsales (pictured at right) and Steve Beckett gave a presentation about a fascinating program - the UI Law School Courtwatching program.

It is now clear that unwatched courts can lead to poor advocacy, poor decisions and even at the worst, corruption.  For many years the League of Women Voters of Champaign County  (LWVCC) has organized a courtwatching program to assure the citizenry that its courts are functioning properly and with all necessary resources. For over 15 years, the LWVCC has partnered with the University of Illinois College of Law to provide a constant presence in the state and federal courts in Champaign County.

Each of the students enrolled in the Trial Advocacy course at the College of Law (approximately 130 students in the Fall 2004 semester) is required to spend 12 hours courtwatching for educational purposes related to their enrollment in the course, with the League providing training for the law students. This Report on the 2004-2005 Pilot Phase of the Champaign County Courtwatching Project summarizes the primary findings of the pilot phase of this initiative.

They've looked at their data, done some statistical analysis, and compiled some reports about our court system.  (You can download the reports for 2004 and 2005.)

The program has produced some interesting findings, some of which have recieved substantial local publicity:

1. In the sample size observed during the pilot project, the statistical analysis shows no evidence of bias in the selection of jurors from among those available in the jury pool.

2. In the overwhelming majority of observations, our courtrooms were perceived as places where judges and other participants in proceedings observed decorum and treated one another with respect.

3. There is a significant discrepancy between the demographics of Champaign County and the demographics of those citizens reporting for jury service.

For example, while census data indicate an 11% African-American population for Champaign County, and a 15% African-American population for the cities of Champaign and Urbana, the observed African-American representation in the jury pools at the Champaign County Courthouse is about 6%.

This means, for example, of 17 observed jury trials in the pilot observation period in which the defendants were African-American men, only 4 African-American men and 10 African-American women jurors (out of 252 jurors and alternates for each jury) were seated. Nine other African-American potential jurors were excused in the jury selection of those trials.

They're looking for volunteers who are interested in being trained as courtwatchers.  For more information, please contact League of Women Voters Justice Committee Chair Joan A. Miller.

I promoted this from an anonymoust comment:

There are 19 local races that I count - Judge Ford’s race, 3 countywide (clerk, sheriff, treasurer) and 15 county board seats. Of those, the Dems have 7 incumbents that are running for re-election. Outside of their incumbents, they’ve only recruited 4 new people to run. Of those, 1 is a perennial candidate with no chance of winning (Bob Morrison), 1 was recruited at the last minute for an open Dem seat (Melin - CB7), and 2 were recruited to run against Beckett & Wysocki.

That’s hilarious.

I wonder when the News-Gazette is going to write a nasty editorial about the impotence and ineffectiveness of the Champaign County Democratic Party?