The Supreme Court is finally moving forward to develop an electronic filing system similar to those used in courts around the country. The announcement was made by Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday in his 10th annual end-of-year report.
Roberts discussed the court’s caution of information technology over the years, which he explained was in part due to the judiciary’s role as neutral arbiters of a justice system that must be open to all.
“Courts will always be prudent whenever it comes to embracing the ‘next big thing,'” Roberts explained.
Roberts did not once mention cameras, which are still currently banned from the court’s proceedings.
Roberts predicted that the court’s new filing system could be up and running as soon as 2016, but parties in the court’s cases will continue to be required to submit paper copies of every brief.
Senator Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat and outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the move too little, too late. He said the court should be doing more to make the proceedings of the Supreme Court more readily accessible to the public.
“Not mentioned in his report, however, is the failure of the Supreme Court to allow even old technology, like photographs of the Supreme Court in session or live streaming of its oral arguments online,” Leahy said.
Under current plans, the court’s website will be modified to allow the public free, clickable access to all documents. The private online legal publication Scotusblog already offers that service at no charge.
However, the environmental benefits of the change remain unclear. Lawyers will still be required to submit up to 40 paper copies of every brief, and it is unclear from the report whether the amount of paperwork will eventually be reduced.
Roberts said the rest of the federal judiciary, which already relies on electronic case filing, also is developing a more advanced system.
