Technology and Access to Justice

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• Technology and Access to Justice
• May 6, 2003
• By Christy Brown

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• Technology and Access to Justice Ensuring that
  Legal Service Providers push for technology does
  not disenfranchise the client community from
  access to justice
• The more valuable legal information and
  assistance goes exclusively online, the less
  opportunity for judicial access exist for the
  offline population notwithstanding that
  technology is more efficient, and readily
  accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year but
  this is of no consequence if the targeted
  community cannot get access to the technology

Technology and Access to Justice
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• Paper Subsections
• The technologies employed by legal service
  providers
• The relationship between technology, digital
  divide, and client community
• The adverse affects revamped and increased
  access barriers
• Ways to eliminate access barriers

Technology and Access to Justice
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• Technology
• Electronic Filing
• Standardize court filing process
• Immediate access from any location
• Public Access Kiosks
• Ideal in areas of low population density
• Convenient locations courts, community centers,
  libraries, supermarkets
• Problem cost prohibitive who pays?
• Internet Self-help sites
• Free access to legal information
• Great assistance tool for secondary providers
• Encompasses the largest audience and user traffic

Technology and Access to Justice
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• Public Access Kiosks The Present

Technology and Access to Justice
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• Public Access Kiosks The Future

Technology and Access to Justice
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• Technology, Digital Divide and Client Community
• Digital Divide the expanding gap between the
  digital have and the have-nots
• The Offline Population
• Correlation between income and Internet usage
  75 of low income individuals are non-Internet
  users
• Correlation between education and Internet usage
  60 with high school diploma or equivalent are
  non-Internet users
• Correlation between race and Internet usage
  60.2 of African-Americans, 68.4 of Hispanics
  (85.9 if Spanish only) are non-Internet users

Technology and Access to Justice
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• Technology, Digital Divide, and Client Community
• Client Community
• Demographics female, low-income, high school
  diploma- 34
• Internet usage none in the home or elsewhere-
  44 public libraries- 20 community centers-
  well under 0.6

Technology and Access to Justice
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• Adverse Affects Revamped the old and created
  the new access barriers
• Revamped Barriers
• Physical
• Disabled are online 50 less than the national
  average elderly individuals
• Geographical
• Rural residents are less likely to have Internet
  access in the home
• Lack of available locations and convenient times
  for public access kiosks
• Lingual
• 94 of commerce on web is English-only 85.9
  Spanish-only are offline

Technology and Access to Justice
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• Adverse Affects Revamped the old and created
  the new access barriers contd
• Newly created barriers
• Availability of Internet access in low-income
  communities
• Web content and interfaces do not conform to
  those with limited literacy and language skills
• Lack of convenient access to Internet locations
• Lack of outreach and personal assistance
• Infringe fundamental right of access to justice
  (TBOR)

Technology and Access to Justice
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• Ways to eliminate access barriers
• Evaluation
• Fulfill its overall mission to ensure judicial
  access?
• Client community awareness of available legal
  resources?
• Examine reasons for non-usage?
• Strategic relationships
• Pool resources
• Share in computer lab expenses, labor
• Bookmark legal websites on computers
• Refocus financial resources
• Technology Opportunity Program (TOP)
• Technology Initiative Grants (TIG)

Technology and Access to Justice
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• Imagine what will happen if everyone is
  included.
• Imagine what will happen if everyone has access
  to justice. Imagine what will happen if the
  quality of justice gets better and better.
• - Access to Justice Board, Washington State

Technology and Access to Justice
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• FCC Chairman Powell stated, the digital divide
  is a dangerous phrase because it could be used
  to justify government entitlement programs that
  guaranteed poor people cheaper access to new
  technology, like digital television sets or
  computers. I think there is a Mercedes divide.
  I'd like to have one I can't afford one. I'm not
  meaning to be completely flip about this. I think
  it's an important social issue. But it shouldn't
  be used to justify the notion of essentially the
  socialization of the deployment of the
  infrastructure. - New York Times Feb 7, 2001.

Technology and Access to Justice