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A dozen sites
I'm diggin'

*1. Seven key questions about a car company bailout.

*2. Just in time for Thanksgiving, PETA posts a video of turkey abuse on a poultry farm.

*3. The Flip Cam has gone HD with a customizable cover.

4. A fun video to help you with digital conversion.

5. ProPublica's investigation into air marshals gone bad.

6. An awesome storm chaser photo blog.

7. Planet Money is a really good blog about money and finance.

8. ESPN's "The Journey of Richard Jensen" -- the comeback of a wrestler -- is an extra good video.

9. You can lay subtitles or text bubbles on video -- any video. I will be using this to teach about storytelling.

10. I now use Utterz to file audio reports. You can use your computer's mic or any phone. It's simple and would be a great reporter's tool.

11. Kare 11 investigates a local children's transplant hospital.
Sites marked with a * have been added recently.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. We will correct errors and inaccuracies when we become aware of them.

Future Trends for Local Courts

An organization called the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has identified some areas that are worthy of your attention this year.

The group has published its annual report [PDF] (HTML index here) on things to watch out for in state courts. Among them:

Court records and privacy. [PDF] How do courts make information available, especially online, without disclosing sensitive information such as Social Security numbers?

Problem-Solving Courts. [PDF] Rather than the "lock 'em up and throw away the key" approach, courts increasingly are trying to solve the core issues that land people there in the first place. Drug courts, family courts and environmental courts are all examples. The report draws these comparisons to show how things used to be handled and how they are now:

Traditional Process vs. Transformed Process

Dispute resolution vs. Problem-solving dispute avoidance
Legal outcome vs. Therapeutic outcome
Adversarial process vs. Collaborative process
Claim- or case-oriented vs. People-oriented
Rights-based vs. Interest- or needs-based
Emphasis placed on adjudication vs. Emphasis placed on post-adjudication and alternative dispute resolution
Interpretation and application of law vs. Interpretation and application of social science
Judge as arbiter vs. Judge as coach
Backward-looking vs. Forward-looking
Precedent-based vs. Planning-based
Few participants and stakeholders vs. Wide range of participants and stakeholders
Individualistic vs. Interdependent
Legalistic vs. Common-sensical
Formalvs. Informal
Efficient vs. Effective

Interpreters in Civil Cases. [PDF] State courts are extending foreign-language interpreter services beyond the customary criminal cases. More states are adopting court rules and passing legislation that provides interpreting services during critical civil and family proceedings. Courts in Delaware, Florida and New Jersey are recognizing the need for interpreters in civil cases, as well as criminal cases, which are required by law.

State courts will increasingly become involved in immigration issues. [PDF] While Congress wrestles with national immigration policy, state courts must decide for example, if workers who are in the U.S. illegally are covered by state worker's compensation programs. As the NCSC points out:

This would be an important point if even one person were harmed on the job. But the problem is prevalent: it has been said that immigrants take jobs that others in the United States refuse. Immigrants, both legal and illegal, bear the burden of high employment injury and fatality rates. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):

In 2005, 917 Hispanic workers were fatally injured while at work, a new series high.

Hispanic worker fatalities accounted for 16 percent of the 5,702 total fatal work injuries that occurred in the U.S. in 2005.

The rate of 4.9 fatalities per 100,000 workers recorded for Hispanic workers was a 22 percent higher rate than the rate of 4.0 fatalities per 100,000 employed recorded for all workers.

A flood of guardianship monitoring cases is coming. [PDF] These involve the court, or somebody appointed by the court, to look after the welfare of seniors who cannot manage their own affairs. Consider these facts from the report:

The number of people age 65 and older numbered 35.9 million in 2003. As the baby boomers come of age, this older population will more than double, reaching more than 71 million by 2030. The number of people aged 85 and older is expected to triple by 2040 to 15 million.

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are becoming more prevalent. In 2007 there are now more than 5 million people in the United States living with Alzheimer's disease, 4.9 million of whom are over the age of 65. This is a 10 percent increase from the previous nationwide estimate of 4.5 million. In addition, guardianships include an increasing number of younger adults with developmental disabilities and mental illness. Intellectual disabilities affect about one in ten families in the U.S.

At the same time, incidents of elder abuse are rising. Between 1986 and 1996, reports of abuse and neglect of seniors age 60 and older to state adult protective services agencies increased 150 percent, from 117,000 to 293,000.

So judges will be increasingly involved in managing these lives. Courts have never managed as many guardianship cases as they do now -- and many more are on the way. How will courts, especially in retirement communities, handle the flood?

Posted by Al Tompkins 12:14 AM

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