Recently, a number of court/justice systems around the country have experienced great difficulties with implementing new computer systems intended to handle justice system data for courts, jails, prosecutors' offices, public defenders' offices, private attorneys' offices, probation, etc. The surprised purchasers thought they were going to get some great new system(s) and then nothing works well. Inmates are not being released from jail when a court orders a release or outright dismisses a case. Bail amount changes are not transmitted to the people who need to know the new information. Changed docket/case index information is not updated in published databases even though changes were made in court. Actions taken in court don't show up in databases. Courtroom clerks find out the new software is so "clunky" (a word used by actual clerks to describe some of the junk foisted on them) that they can't enter data fast enough to keep up with courtroom proceedings. Why is all this happening so much and what can be done to fix these messes?
Well it comes down to several factors. The first problem is basic lack of knowledge by those in charge. They think they understand computers and software but they don't. And they won't accept help from outside sources. They definitely do not understand how to design software. As a result of this broad lack of knowledge, they walk headlong into messes that were entirely avoidable. Then they think that if they just spend some more time training people or tuning something up that everything will be okay. And it won't, of course, because the problems run deep, but they continue to spend millions of dollars of public funds chasing rainbows.
And there is no reason why any of this needs to happen because generally the answers are simple. But the easy solutions are not what those in charge decided on so they stubbornly refuse to acknowledge they made a mistake. And the problems continue, not only for participants in (often victims of) the justice system. There is some old wisdom to the effect that when you find yourself in a deep hole, stop digging.
I'm going to write much more about this in the very near future, including detailed discussions of the common technical problems but for the moment I need to get back to my legal work.
Well it comes down to several factors. The first problem is basic lack of knowledge by those in charge. They think they understand computers and software but they don't. And they won't accept help from outside sources. They definitely do not understand how to design software. As a result of this broad lack of knowledge, they walk headlong into messes that were entirely avoidable. Then they think that if they just spend some more time training people or tuning something up that everything will be okay. And it won't, of course, because the problems run deep, but they continue to spend millions of dollars of public funds chasing rainbows.
And there is no reason why any of this needs to happen because generally the answers are simple. But the easy solutions are not what those in charge decided on so they stubbornly refuse to acknowledge they made a mistake. And the problems continue, not only for participants in (often victims of) the justice system. There is some old wisdom to the effect that when you find yourself in a deep hole, stop digging.
I'm going to write much more about this in the very near future, including detailed discussions of the common technical problems but for the moment I need to get back to my legal work.