WASHINGTON STATE ACCESS TO JUSTICE TECHNOLOGY PRINCIPLES: A PERSPECTIVE FOR JUSTICE SYSTEM PROFESSIONALS, THE

The impact of the Principles and the agencies, groups, and constituencies that created them is already being felt. The state AOC is using the Principles to guide the development, planning, deployment, and use of judicial information system projects across the state. The promising practices subcommittee continues to develop and identify standards, tools and resources consistent with the Principles in the areas of electronic filing, Web sites, and public-access terminals, with more to come. Very importantly, the nature of the process creating and leading to adoption of the Principles set a precedent and established a momentum for collaboration across sectors and institutional and agency lines-specifically, collaboration of the courts with other agencies and aspects of the justice system. Already such collaboration is paying off. One of a number of such examples is the work involving the judicial information system committee, the ATJ board, legal-aid providers, the media, and the Pierce County Clerk's Office to develop an equitable and affordable fee schedule for electronic access to court records. Likewise, the Washington Assistive Technology Alliance and the University of Washington Center for Technology and Disability Studies working with ATJ have created a Web site to improve justice system access for people with disabilities by providing relevant practical information not only to persons with disabilities and their advocates, but also to the judges and court workers who must enable and provide equal and meaningful access for all to judicial services.

The Washington access-to-justice community believes that the Principles and process described in this article offer an important model for how a state can ensure that technology contributes to maintaining an open and equitable judicial system. The Principles and the activities and products developed around them are the results of years of work and the participation of hundreds of individuals and organizations at all levels of the justice system, along with many outside the system who are relevant, committed, and capable. The Principles represent a carefully crafted set of accommodations between an expansive vision of the technological future, the practical needs of those charged with administering and working in a complex system, and needs of the end consumers and potential consumers of justice system services. The key is not to let the Principles languish. It is to persist in finding ways to ensure that the Principles influence the daily activities of the justice system and the daily lives of those it must serve. If the ideas expressed in the Principles are given authority throughout the United States and beyond, professionals in the justice system will have made a major contribution to access, equity, and justice.

REFERENCES

Access to Justice Technology Principles Implementation Strategy Group Final Report (June 30, 2006). www.atjtbor.org

Alteneder, K., M. Genz, M. Hertz, B. Hough, H. Jacobs, and G. Rawdon (2005). "The Role of Technology in the Access Solution," in Future of Self-Represented Litigation: Report from the March 2005 Summit. Williambsurg, VA: National Center for State Courts.