A Common Information Space in Criminal Courts Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) Ca.pdf

A Common Information Space in Criminal Courts: Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) Case Management Systems Margaret S. Elliott Institute for Software Research Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697 melliott@ John L. King School of Information 550 E. University Ave. 304 West Hall University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1092 jlking@ Abstract The Los Angeles County criminal courts process about 600,000 cases per year, more than any other state court in the United States. This complex task is facilitated by large-scale, distributed case management computer- based systems. This paper presents results of a case study of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) systems in the criminal courts and how their implementation changes work practices. We studied the Trial Court Information System (TCIS), a case management system adopted for Los Angeles Criminal Courts, and computer- aided legal research (CALR) systems. We show how the work culture of judges and court clerks has an impact on attitudes regarding computer usage. Our results indicate that the use of TCIS to generate minute orders and reports has improved efficiency while creating a sense of deskilling for some court clerks. In addition, there is a dichotomy of computer use by judges – some completely integrate computers into work while others reject them. 1. Introduction The Los Angeles County criminal courts process approximately 600,000 cases each year, more than any other county in the United States. Despite this massive undertaking, cases are processed and closed within the required legal guidelines. This is made possible with the help of large-scale, distributed computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) case management systems. Such systems have become institutionalized in the work culture of the criminal courts where lawyers, judges, and