Donald Trump asked Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s emails during the 2016 election, and special counsel Robert Mueller alleged Russians began attempting to gain access to Clinton campaign email accounts shortly thereafter. The ultimately successful email hacking was one element of wide-ranging Russian efforts to interfere in the last American presidential race, and the U.S. intelligence community has warned that Russia is reportedly meddling in the current election cycle as well. But national security lawyers say the Kremlin also is using both social and state-sponsored media to spread disinformation about the justice system with the goal of weakening American confidence in the rule of law.
Tyler Technologies, a major provider of software to state and local courts, reported last week that an unknown intruder broke into its phone and information technology systems. Tyler Odyssey Courts & Justice Solutions™ provides web-based, configurable software serving courts in more than 24 states, including 14 statewide implementations in the United States. According to Tyler marketing information, Odyssey software not only focuses on court case and scheduling management concerning such applications as party information, events, warrants, and fees/fines processing but also facilitates e-filing, online dispute resolution, jury selection and access to self-represented litigant processes.
This is the third in a series of webinars on combating systemic racism in trial courts. It was held on September 24, 2020. Part I (July) established an awareness that all U.S. organizations, including trial courts, have baked within their policies, practices, and norms inequities that disadvantage people of color. Part II (August) emphasized the…
Most of the news about the postal service today is related to voting, but the reorganization of the postal service by the federal administration presents potential problems for trial courts, too. Recently, the National Center for State Courts’ Tiny Chat series, an array of bite-sized annotated videos touching on specific access to justice topics and overall court operations, presented a chat on how post office changes can negatively affect trial courts.
Research indicates that most U.S. organizations, including trial courts, have imbedded policies and procedures that produce inequities and disparities for people of color. This insight is not an accusation that all those in a system are racist. It means that regardless of the intentions of those who work within them, organization norms discriminate and cause racially unfair outcomes. This webinar focuses on how to identify, tackle, and remove those problems.
The pandemic has required many people to make difficult judgments. Politicians have had to decide which restrictions to impose on citizens’ behavior and individuals were forced to assess how much personal risk to take. Managers, faced with tough calls like which parts of their operations to close, have not been spared.
Our nation is hurting. Outcries for racial equality are heard and seen around the globe. Institutional racism and discrimination exist throughout our society, including in justice systems and trial courts. Systemic inequalities and injustices can be manifested either directly or indirectly. All are harmful and unfair. Understanding and identifying systemic racism is an essential first step in eliminating these persistent inequalities and injustices.
