Ask Slashdot: How Can Technology Improve the Judicial System?

An anonymous reader writes One of the cornerstones of any democracy is its judicial system. Fortunately, most of us never have to deal with it. On the other hand, the fact that we so seldom interact with it also means that most of us are not constantly thinking about it. It is possible our judicial system would be much better if most of us had to spend more time thinking about it. I myself had not put much thought into it until I watched a documentary about Aaron Swartz. It is frightening to think that someone could have been left in a position like that. I also hear about so many cases were people end up pleading guilty because they do not have enough money to fight a case in court. Is this really the best we can do? The Marshal Project is also an interesting source of information regarding the shortfalls of our current system.

What do you think about it? How can we improve our judicial system? Is there any interesting way that technology could be used to improve the system?

Comments

Re:It is not about technology

[AK Marc]

All laws should be in a central repository, unique and complete for each jurisdiction. That would be a technical solution to a very real problem. "Ignorance of the law is not a defense" is a lie. The police get to say it. They can arrest you for something legal, then claim ignorance of the law, and their actions are legal.

Since case law is law in the Common Law system, having all the cases indexed and assigned jurisdictionally, that would help the judges and legal professionals make better decisions. Yes, I'm aware that private companies already perform that action for a profit. But I shouldn't be forced to pay profit to a private company just to find the law that applies to me.

The problem with the system is the system. The prosecutor is paid to get convictions. Not to find the truth. A conviction of an innocent person is a win. Finding the guilty person, but being unable to prove it is a loss. For tech to help our system, the system would have to change. Tech is fact-based. Our judicial system is uninterested in fact.

Oh, and plea bargains are torture.