Jason Tashea, Cofounder of the Judicial Innovation Fellowship at Georgetown University Law Center, discusses the need for court innovation and the challenges faced by the program due to funding uncertainties. He reflects on the successful projects in Kansas, Tennessee, and Utah, emphasizing the importance of improving access to justice through technology.
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Quick takeaways
Collaboration between civil and criminal justice is crucial for improving access to justice.
The Judicial Innovation Fellowship program aims to enhance court processes through technology-based solutions.
Sustainable funding and national support are essential for modernizing court systems and ensuring program success.
Deep dives
The Importance of Bridging Civil and Criminal Justice Needs
Understanding that civil and criminal justice issues often intersect significantly, the podcast discusses the need for collaboration between these two spheres. By highlighting the success of criminal justice reform in the past decade, the episode emphasizes the potential for the civil justice world to learn from these advancements. Such collaboration could lead to improved access to justice and better outcomes for individuals interacting with the court system.
Innovative Approaches to Court Technology
The podcast explores the Judicial Innovation Fellowship, a program aimed at bringing technologists and designers into state, local, and tribal courts to develop technology-based solutions. This initiative, housed within the Institute for Technology, Law, and Policy at Georgetown University Law Center, focuses on improving public access to justice. By placing fellows in courts in Kansas, Tennessee, and Utah, the program aims to enhance court processes and leverage technology to address critical issues.
Diverse Fellowships and Their Impact
The episode delves into the selection process and impact of the fellowship program, highlighting the diverse backgrounds and expertise of the fellows recruited. These individuals, ranging from data scientists to designers, have contributed significantly to projects in courts across the United States. Their work has led to tangible improvements in areas such as user experience design, data infrastructure, and digital access to court services.
Challenges and Funding for Court Innovation
Addressing the financial challenges faced by innovative court programs, the podcast discusses the need for sustainable funding and broader support. While recognizing the success of the fellowship program's first year, the episode underscores the financial constraints and complexities in securing ongoing funding. There is a critical call for national coalitions and increased awareness to drive comprehensive solutions for modernizing court systems.
Future Prospects and Advocacy for Court Modernization
The episode concludes with a reflection on the future of the Judicial Innovation Fellowship program. While uncertain about future funding, there is an emphasis on the potential impact of continuing and expanding such initiatives. Advocating for a national approach to court modernization and highlighting the importance of storytelling in garnering support, the program seeks to address systemic challenges and drive transformative changes in the justice system.
Eighteen months ago, the first-of-its-kind Judicial Innovation Fellowship launched with the mission of embedding experienced technologists and designers within state, local, and tribal courts to develop technology-based solutions to improve the public’s access to justice. Housed within the Institute for Technology Law & Policy at Georgetown University Law Center, the program was designed to be a catalyst for innovation to enable courts to better serve the legal needs of the public.
In August, the program will wrap up its inaugural cohort, which placed three fellows in courts in Kansas, Tennessee and Utah. But even though those three fellowships were successful, our guest today, Jason Tashea, the program’s founding director and cofounder, says its future is uncertain because its continued funding is uncertain. “These programs are expensive, they are hard to fundraise for,” he says.
In today’s episode, Tashea, an entrepreneur, educator, and award-winning journalist, joins host Bob Ambrogi to discuss the need for and genesis of the program, the fellowships it supported this year, and his assessment of the program’s success. He also shares his thoughts more broadly on the need for innovation in the courts to address the gap in access to justice.
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