Category Archives: Science

Google Home Hears Domestic Dispute and Calls Cops

Posted on July 8, 2017 by richardzorza

This is the stuff or dream and nightmare.  According to All That Is Interesting Dot Com, As reported by ABC News, New Mexico man Eduardo Barros was house-sitting at a home in Tijeras with his girlfriend and her daughter this … Continue reading →

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Criminal Law, Domestic Violence, Family Law, Mobile Technology, Policing, Remote Services, Science, Security, Technology | 1 Comment

Marc Lauritsen Guest Post on Thinking of Legal Help System as an Ecosystem

Posted on July 3, 2017 by richardzorza

Editor note:  This is a fascinating approach. Legal Knowledge Gardening and Civil Justice Engineering Marc Lauritsen At a recent Justice for All event in Massachusetts I suggested that we consider our sprawl of legal help services as an ecosystem. That … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Justice Generally, Guest Bloggers, Science, Systematic Change | Comments Off on Marc Lauritsen Guest Post on Thinking of Legal Help System as an Ecosystem

Opportunity To Suggest Improvements to Washington State Access to Justice Principles

Posted on June 20, 2017 by richardzorza

I was the consultant to the Washington State Access to Justice Principles back in the early days of this century. Now a process is underway to update and improve those principles, which were issued by the State Supreme Court in … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Remote Services, Research and Evalation, Science, Security, Self-Help Services, Simplification, Systematic Change, Technology, Triage, Usabilty | Comments Off on Opportunity To Suggest Improvements to Washington State Access to Justice Principles

National Academy Report On Need for Strategy to Understand Impact of Technology on Economy and Employment Suggests Need to Go Further

Posted on April 17, 2017 by richardzorza

As reported in the New York Times, and elaborated in Nature, a panel of the National Academies has called for a national approach to data to understand and manage the impact of technology on the economy and jobs.  As Nature … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Court Management, Document Assembly, Non-Lawyer Practice, Research and Evalation, Science, Simplification, Systematic Change, Technology, Triage | Comments Off on National Academy Report On Need for Strategy to Understand Impact of Technology on Economy and Employment Suggests Need to Go Further

Prosecutors Getting Rid of the Independent Commission on Forensic Science is Short-Sighted as well as Incomprehensible.

Posted on April 11, 2017 by richardzorza

I simply offer you this cross examination of every investigator or expert: Q.   Thanks for your testimony, I am sure it will help the jury, but just a few things to clear up.  When did you get your training in … Continue reading →

Posted in Criminal Law, Defender Programs, Dept. of Justice, Policing, Science, Technology, White House | Comments Off on Prosecutors Getting Rid of the Independent Commission on Forensic Science is Short-Sighted as well as Incomprehensible.

On the Need for Uncompromising Reassertions of Neutral Principles Regardless of Inevitable Political Implications

Posted on January 31, 2017 by richardzorza

There is obviously a lot to cheer about today, as different aspects of our complex, flexible, and therefore very resilient system starts to trigger its anti-fascism-antibodies. One of the most important, in the long term, may be the fact that … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Constitution, International Cooperation, Judicial Ethics, Science | Comments Off on On the Need for Uncompromising Reassertions of Neutral Principles Regardless of Inevitable Political Implications

Algorithms and Checklists May Help Deal With Implicit Bias

Posted on January 12, 2017 by richardzorza

While I am an advocate of algorithm driven processes in law, I still have a slightly queasy feeling about the whole idea.  It comes from the fear that outcomes are not going to be “far,” but are going to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Management, Criminal Law, De-Regulation, Domestic Violence, Evictions, Legal Aid, Medical System Comparision, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Science, Simplification, Systematic Change, Tools, Triage | Comments Off on Algorithms and Checklists May Help Deal With Implicit Bias

Council of Economic Advisors Report on Costs and Benefits of Incarceration Versus Other Approaches Incudes Excellent Arguments for Broader Impact of Access to Civil Justice

Posted on April 29, 2016 by richardzorza

When the White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) speaks, the world listens. And, indeed, when the CEA issued Economic Perspectives on Incarceration and the Criminal Justice System, it was a very big deal. What was unusual was that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Budget Issues, Chasm with Communities, Criminal Law, expungement, Family Law, Legal Aid, Outcome Measures, Poverty, Research and Evalation, Science, White House | 3 Comments

Good News Spreads More on Social Media — Implications for Outreach

Posted on March 20, 2013 by richardzorza

A fascinating story in the New York Times reports that while it s generally thought that bad news is more popular in traditional media, “if it bleeds, it leads,” the opposite is the case in social media.  The finding is … Continue reading →

Posted in Research and Evalation, Science, Social Media, Technology | 3 Comments

Pattern Recognition Software Advances — Implications for Outcomes Research and Triage

Posted on November 26, 2012 by richardzorza

Yesterday’s New York Times has a potentially significant article on advances in neural network pattern recognition software: Using an artificial intelligence technique inspired by theories about how the brain recognizes patterns, technology companies are reporting startling gains in fields as … Continue reading →

Posted in Outcome Measures, Research and Evalation, Science | Comments Off on Pattern Recognition Software Advances — Implications for Outcomes Research and Triage

Using Prizes to Engage the Tech Community — A Model for Us

Posted on October 20, 2012 by richardzorza

The Federal Trade Commission is using the lure of a $50,000 prize to incentivise new ideas to deal with robocall problem. Best of all, the agency is making data available to help people think about the problem: As part of … Continue reading →

Posted in Research and Evalation, Science | Comments Off on Using Prizes to Engage the Tech Community — A Model for Us

American Judges Association Adopts White Paper on Implications of Science for Judging

Posted on October 9, 2012 by richardzorza

This White Paper, MINDING THE COURT, should be read by all judges and those who appear in front of, or talk to (professionally or personally), judges. It focuses on the lessons of recent neuroscience and their implications for fair and … Continue reading →

Posted in Judicial Ethics, Science | Comments Off on American Judges Association Adopts White Paper on Implications of Science for Judging

Teaching Doctors Empahty — Some Lessons and Questions for the Legal System

Posted on June 23, 2012 by richardzorza

The Economix blog in the New York Times has a great post on new research that shows that doctors can be taught empathy. In the experiment: Dr. Helen Riess, director of the Empathy and Relational Science Program in the department … Continue reading →

Posted in Judicial Ethics, Medical System Comparision, Research and Evalation, Science | Comments Off on Teaching Doctors Empahty — Some Lessons and Questions for the Legal System

On Apologies — Lessons for Litigants and Administrators

Posted on September 29, 2011 by richardzorza

The Washington Post has an interesting article on the success or failure of apologies. Peter H. Kim, associate professor at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, writes about his research which indicates that whether or … Continue reading →

Posted in Court Management, Judicial Ethics, Science | Comments Off on On Apologies — Lessons for Litigants and Administrators

Is Reason a Tool for Winning, Rather than for Truth?

Posted on June 14, 2011 by richardzorza

This NYT article should give us all some pause.  The core idea is that reasoning developed as a tool to win arguments, rather than to get at truth.  According to this theory, you can not cure people of bias, because … Continue reading →

Posted in Research and Evalation, Science | Tagged | 1 Comment