House Journal: Page 73: Wednesday, January 10, 2001
TECH FUNDS
Opportunities of the magnitude I have mentioned require more than careful
planning and hard work; they require reliable and continuous funding sources.
Dependable funding fosters planning, sparks innovation, and speeds deployment of
new technology. You wisely recognized this when you created a dedicated funding
stream for court technology and earmarked those funds solely for that purpose. We
commend you for your foresight. By doing this, you gave us the power to revolutionize
the court system. If we take the steps I have outlined, we can bring the courts closer to
the people.
OTHER STEPS
While it is true that technology has been the driving force for much of our recent
progress and it offers exciting opportunities for progress in the future, we must
remember that it is not an end in itself. It is a useful tool to help the court system
perform its basic function of providing justice.
We have additional steps to take. These steps do not involve the trappings of
technology. They are simple but crucial steps that involve fundamental issues such as
due process, performance, and resources.
INTERPRETER STUDY
Our legal system seems complex and intimidating, even to those who were born
here. Imagine how it must seem to persons who do not speak or understand English.
As a first generation Italian-American, I have some knowledge about the struggles
immigrants face with our language. I witnessed my grandparents and my father
having some of the same struggles.
We must be vigilant to safeguard the rights of, and provide access to, all who come
to the courts regardless of which language they speak. Justice requires that we do so.
That is why the Iowa Supreme Court has established a task force to assess the need for
improvements in interpreter services. If improvements are needed, the task force will
recommend a plan for addressing them. We must remove any barriers to justice.
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS
We work for the public, just as you do. As public servants, we understand that our
performance is directly related to the public’s trust and confidence in us. Believing that
we’re on the right path is not enough. We need to objectively evaluate whether we are.
And we have a plan to do just that. Recently, we adopted a five-part plan for ongoing
reviews to measure Judicial Branch performance. The plan includes doing the
following:
Monthly, each judicial district will conduct a review of court statistics to
determine whether they are meeting our time standards for case processing;
Recently, we surveyed all court employees to find out how they think the
courts perform in key areas such as fairness, integrity, efficiency,
accessibility and communication. We’ll repeat the survey periodically;
© 2001 Cornell College and
League of Women Voters of Iowa
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Last update: Fri Jan 12 13:35:00 CST 2001
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