| Justice System Software by RCP Software |
Welcome to the world of RCP Software customized justice system software for judges, lawyers, court
administrators, clerks, law enforcement, prisons, and others associated with the judicial system. And please refer
others in the justice system to this site so they can also take advantage of this resource. We welcome suggestions,
ideas, and your thoughts for justice system software! If there is something specific you want, contact us.
And please also see our business development page if you need case management software, customized forms, or
other customized software for your court system or office.
There will be discussions here of how software can generally work in the justice system and how software
constructed in particular ways could be used beneficially in the justice system. I am hoping that even those who
have dug themselves into defensive positions about overpriced and inept software created for the courts will
backtrack from those entrenched positions and learn.
The author of this Web site has also written freelance technology columns for the Daily Recorder, the legal
newspaper for the greater Sacramento County, California area. You may read archived columns at DR Columns 1-
40, DR Columns 41-80, DR Columns 81-120, and DR Columns 121-160. The intention has been to educate the
justice system about what can be done with modern technology.
RCP Software extends a sincere invitation to all legal professionals and others associated with the legal system,
including law enforcement, probation, court administrators (both local and state level), prison officials, secretaries,
judges, lawyers, clerks, etc. to describe their software needs and request help. In the case of court administration
software, if administrators from different counties would get together and agree on items such as data fields and
desired capabilities for a particular type of software and bring that list of needs to me in plain English non-technical
language, software can be created that will operate in each county in a common fashion and which will contain data
commonly formatted so that it can be easily exchanged between counties and even states. And it can come to far
more than that. Law enforcement agencies that need to exchange data can also be helped and it doesn't need to
cost a mint.
And it would be a rare system that would require more than few months construct.
Prototypes (i.e. demonstration software) can be created quickly based on plain-English descriptions by prospective
users as to what they need. Such prospective users will be able to try out such prototypes hands-on on my laptop
computer and, in some cases, on their own computers. All such demonstrations will be free.
While the creator of this software is a California attorney, the invitation is extended to legal/justice system
professionals, including court administrators, judges, lawyers, legislators, corrections officials, other elected
officials, and law enforcement in every state in the United States. Even if you're in another country.
What is the magnitude of what can be done? It's probably beyond the current comprehension of many in the justice
system. But before being too hard on them, keep in mind that most of them have little knowledge about computers
and particularly about how to write modern software. And they often get bad advice about technology. RCP
Software has produced easy to use and extremely powerful software for handling other types of data and has no
unhappy customers. Some who have purchased software for handling bowling data have been absolutely ecstatic.
My engineering tech friend about fell off his chair when I produced complex calculation software that none of the
engineers around him could produce. No customer has ever found a single bug (code execution error) in any RCP
Software that has been released commercially. Contrast that to state government-purchased software that has
been found to have thousands or even tens of thousands of bugs when delivered to government as being a
finished product.
The justice system currently has a need for software and systems that could facilitate the exchange of data
between law enforcement, the courts, social services agencies, private attorneys, public service attorneys, and other
people associated with the justice/courts system. Current technology can facilitate storing, sorting, and exchange of
mountains of data, even on laptops, tablets, and smartphones. The possibilities are truly astounding and the court
system is many years behind the power curve. It is almost a virtual certainty that any project started more than 2 or
3 years ago, and which is still going and still trying to produce some solution, is based on obsolete technology and
methods. Design methods have speeded up greatly. Design/creation costs have come down dramatically. The
changes are so dramatic that it is a virtual certainty that a project started several years that is struggling should be
scrapped and replaced with a quick turnaround project that will likely cost far less and work well within a very short
time.
Below is just a sampling of what is possible with current technology for case management software for the courts.
All this could be developed in weeks or months at most. And the cost could be so low it would average out to no
more than a few hundred dollars per participant. Many participants would get customized software for free and pay
nothing to use the system with the court system picking up the tab. However, the customized software cost per
large courthouse would rarely exceed a few hundred thousand dollars, which would include all the courtrooms,
clerks, major associated agencies, private counsel. Users would need nothing more than current Windows PC's
outfitted with standard desktop productivity software. Current technology would support case management software
and the accompanying system that could handle all the following and generally produce results as fast as you can
hit the keys:
This is the tip of the iceberg. Implementation of modern technology could save a river of money. If you're wondering
about some other capability, contact us by e-mail and ask.
Certain types of agencies, such as prosecuting agencies, work with data that can be managed by computerized
methods with tremendous efficiency, saving huge amounts of time and money. Data typically brought to them by
law enforcement agencies can be prepared and formatted in such a way that a lot of it can easily be transferred
electronically to prosecuting agency records and to documents to be filed in the court system. Paper can likely be
reduced by well over 99% in most such agencies, becoming a rarity in a modern system. The original reporting data
can be prepared by law enforcement officers in an environment that is virtually paper-free. Time formerly spent on
paperwork back at the station can become a thing of the past.
By using modern programming techniques, case data can easily be carried around by prosecutors. Entire cases
can reside in their records systems in electronic form. The data can be accessed easily in mobile situations.
Documents could even reside on some smartphones currently on the market. Prosecutors not concerned about
indigestion could even take their entire case with them to lunch during a trial, including all the police reports,
scientific evidence reports, and motions filed by that annoying defense lawyer. The cost? Pennies on the dollar
compared to prices commonly quoted just a few years ago.
administrators, clerks, law enforcement, prisons, and others associated with the judicial system. And please refer
others in the justice system to this site so they can also take advantage of this resource. We welcome suggestions,
ideas, and your thoughts for justice system software! If there is something specific you want, contact us.
And please also see our business development page if you need case management software, customized forms, or
other customized software for your court system or office.
There will be discussions here of how software can generally work in the justice system and how software
constructed in particular ways could be used beneficially in the justice system. I am hoping that even those who
have dug themselves into defensive positions about overpriced and inept software created for the courts will
backtrack from those entrenched positions and learn.
The author of this Web site has also written freelance technology columns for the Daily Recorder, the legal
newspaper for the greater Sacramento County, California area. You may read archived columns at DR Columns 1-
40, DR Columns 41-80, DR Columns 81-120, and DR Columns 121-160. The intention has been to educate the
justice system about what can be done with modern technology.
RCP Software extends a sincere invitation to all legal professionals and others associated with the legal system,
including law enforcement, probation, court administrators (both local and state level), prison officials, secretaries,
judges, lawyers, clerks, etc. to describe their software needs and request help. In the case of court administration
software, if administrators from different counties would get together and agree on items such as data fields and
desired capabilities for a particular type of software and bring that list of needs to me in plain English non-technical
language, software can be created that will operate in each county in a common fashion and which will contain data
commonly formatted so that it can be easily exchanged between counties and even states. And it can come to far
more than that. Law enforcement agencies that need to exchange data can also be helped and it doesn't need to
cost a mint.
And it would be a rare system that would require more than few months construct.
Prototypes (i.e. demonstration software) can be created quickly based on plain-English descriptions by prospective
users as to what they need. Such prospective users will be able to try out such prototypes hands-on on my laptop
computer and, in some cases, on their own computers. All such demonstrations will be free.
While the creator of this software is a California attorney, the invitation is extended to legal/justice system
professionals, including court administrators, judges, lawyers, legislators, corrections officials, other elected
officials, and law enforcement in every state in the United States. Even if you're in another country.
What is the magnitude of what can be done? It's probably beyond the current comprehension of many in the justice
system. But before being too hard on them, keep in mind that most of them have little knowledge about computers
and particularly about how to write modern software. And they often get bad advice about technology. RCP
Software has produced easy to use and extremely powerful software for handling other types of data and has no
unhappy customers. Some who have purchased software for handling bowling data have been absolutely ecstatic.
My engineering tech friend about fell off his chair when I produced complex calculation software that none of the
engineers around him could produce. No customer has ever found a single bug (code execution error) in any RCP
Software that has been released commercially. Contrast that to state government-purchased software that has
been found to have thousands or even tens of thousands of bugs when delivered to government as being a
finished product.
The justice system currently has a need for software and systems that could facilitate the exchange of data
between law enforcement, the courts, social services agencies, private attorneys, public service attorneys, and other
people associated with the justice/courts system. Current technology can facilitate storing, sorting, and exchange of
mountains of data, even on laptops, tablets, and smartphones. The possibilities are truly astounding and the court
system is many years behind the power curve. It is almost a virtual certainty that any project started more than 2 or
3 years ago, and which is still going and still trying to produce some solution, is based on obsolete technology and
methods. Design methods have speeded up greatly. Design/creation costs have come down dramatically. The
changes are so dramatic that it is a virtual certainty that a project started several years that is struggling should be
scrapped and replaced with a quick turnaround project that will likely cost far less and work well within a very short
time.
Below is just a sampling of what is possible with current technology for case management software for the courts.
All this could be developed in weeks or months at most. And the cost could be so low it would average out to no
more than a few hundred dollars per participant. Many participants would get customized software for free and pay
nothing to use the system with the court system picking up the tab. However, the customized software cost per
large courthouse would rarely exceed a few hundred thousand dollars, which would include all the courtrooms,
clerks, major associated agencies, private counsel. Users would need nothing more than current Windows PC's
outfitted with standard desktop productivity software. Current technology would support case management software
and the accompanying system that could handle all the following and generally produce results as fast as you can
hit the keys:
- Handle indexes of all cases pending in each county's courts with numerous descriptive fields covering
everything from charges to names, next appearance dates and departments, times, case status, docket
numbers, personal descriptive information, custody status, filing dates, conviction dates, destroy after
dates (automatically computed), case type, and many other pieces of data. - Determine the court calendars 1) for any department on any day, 2) for any department on sequential
days, 3) for any attorney with court appearances on a particular day, 4) for any attorney with appearances
on a series of days, 5) for any litigant on a particular day or on a series of days - Accept data inputs from clerks in active courtrooms as fast as they can hit the keys
- Allow judges & clerks to prepare rulings for display on the Web
- Hold a vast array of documents including pleadings, minutes, judgments, jury instructions etc. These
documents would be quickly accessible. They could be prepared using current standard word processors. - Hold graphics, videos, sound files
- Have software to quickly construct jury instructions which could then be provided to juries electronically
and be scrolled down a large video screen while the judge is reading the instructions - Allow advance electronic exchange of proposed jury instructions between court and counsel
- Access many documents from another county's courts and access their calendars and other general
index information - Find all the cases in a county's courts of a particular type, such as all cases charging rape
- Accept large block filings of cases electronically from large agencies such as the district attorney's office
without the DA's clerks or secretaries even needing to get up from their chairs - Permit attorneys to literally carry their entire cases around with them in laptop computers
- Permit fast electronic discovery with no paper
- Permit law enforcement to prepare and submit reports to courts and to district attorneys electronically
- Provide data which could be displayed on the Web after quick culling of certain confidential data
- Allow many attorneys and agencies to file cases, motions, etc. electronically
- Allow for a totally electronic record which could be transmitted to an appellate court after a trial faster than
the losing lawyer could drive or walk to the appellate court (although a fast run down the street in
Riverside, California might beat the record to the COA!), after the judge hands down the judgment - Allow for all-electronic appellate briefs, opinions, motions, etc.
- Allow courts and corrections to quickly exchange data
- Allow law enforcement to easily access and review court case indexes and results and quickly obtain
more detailed information - Allow probation officers to file and serve reports electronically
- Allow law enforcement to search mutual databases and have quick access to corrections departments
data
This is the tip of the iceberg. Implementation of modern technology could save a river of money. If you're wondering
about some other capability, contact us by e-mail and ask.
Certain types of agencies, such as prosecuting agencies, work with data that can be managed by computerized
methods with tremendous efficiency, saving huge amounts of time and money. Data typically brought to them by
law enforcement agencies can be prepared and formatted in such a way that a lot of it can easily be transferred
electronically to prosecuting agency records and to documents to be filed in the court system. Paper can likely be
reduced by well over 99% in most such agencies, becoming a rarity in a modern system. The original reporting data
can be prepared by law enforcement officers in an environment that is virtually paper-free. Time formerly spent on
paperwork back at the station can become a thing of the past.
By using modern programming techniques, case data can easily be carried around by prosecutors. Entire cases
can reside in their records systems in electronic form. The data can be accessed easily in mobile situations.
Documents could even reside on some smartphones currently on the market. Prosecutors not concerned about
indigestion could even take their entire case with them to lunch during a trial, including all the police reports,
scientific evidence reports, and motions filed by that annoying defense lawyer. The cost? Pennies on the dollar
compared to prices commonly quoted just a few years ago.
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