COURTRAN - A MODULAR MANAGEMENT INFORMATION AND RESEARCH SYSTEM FOR COURTS (FROM PROJECT SEARCH - INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION AND STATISTICS SYSTEMS - PROCEEDINGS, 1972, BY G GOOPER - SEE NCJ-09380)

• NCJ Number: 48294
• Author(s): J L EBERSOLE; J A HALL
• Date Published: 1972
• Length: 16 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; Project Search (See Search Group Inc)
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A COMPUTER SOFTWARE SYSTEM DESIGNED TO PROVIDE INFORMATION SUPPORT SERVICES FOR COURT MANAGEMENT AS WELL AS A METHOD FOR STUDY AND EVALUATION OF COURT PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES IS DESCRIBED.

Abstract

THE PROGRAM WAS DESIGNED BY THE FEDERAL JUDICIAL CENTER AND IS BASED ON A USER-ORIENTED PHILOSOPHY AND DESIGN APPROACH. TO ACHIEVE FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTIBILITY, COURTRAN WAS DESIGNED AS A MODULAR SOFTWARE SYSTEM. THE USE OF EXTERNAL DICTIONARIES AND TABLES PERMITS THE PROGRAMMER TO MAKE COURT-SPECIFIC DATA ADAPTATIONS. A TRANSITION MATRIX STRUCTURE FOR DEFINING EVENTS AND THEIR EFFECTS IN THE LIFE OF A CASE PERMITS EACH COURT TO DEFINE ITS OWN STAGES (UP TO 14 RAGNING FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF INDICTMENT THROUGH COMPLETION OF THE PRESENTENCE INVESTIGATION) AND THE MNEMONICS IT WISHES TO USE. THE USE OF MNEMONICS AS A LEARNING TOOL GREATLY REDUCES THE COST OF KEY PUNCHING AND COMPUTER PROCESSING. IN ADDITION TO KEEPING TRACK OF EVENTS, COURTRAN ALSO HAS PROVISIONS FOR SCHEDULING INFORMATION AND MONITORING TIME PERIODS WHICH ARE ESTABLISHED FOR CASE STAGES. THE SOFTWARE ALSO CONTAINS A NUMBER OF VALIDATION AND SELF-CHECKING FUNCTIONS TO ENSURE DATA ACCURACY, COURTRAN CONSISTS OF A SOURCE LANGUAGE FOR HUMAN USE AND A TARGET LANGUAGE FOR COMPUTER USE: THE TRANSLATOR CONVERTS SOURCE TO TARGET STATEMENTS. SOURCE STATEMENTS PROVIDE THE ACTUAL INPUT AND CONSISTS OF SUBJECTS (CASES, IDENTIFIED BY DOCKET NUMBER AND DEFENDANT NAME), PREDICATES OR CASE EVENTS, AND MODIFIERS WHICH SUPPLY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT A CASE, DEFENDANT OR EVENT. MODULAR STRUCTURE, REPORT GENERATION TECHNIQUES, MASTER FILE STRUCTURE, AND SYSTEM MODIFICATION ARE DISCUSSED. BOTH A CRIMINAL AND A CIVIL CASE VERSION OF COURTRAN ARE POSSIBLE. THE SYSTEM OPERATES ON A 64K IBM 360 MODEL 30 WITH THREE 2311 DISK DRIVES, A 9-TRACK TAPE DRIVE, A 1403 PRINTER, AND 2540 CARD READER; AND 360 ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE IS USED FOR ALL PROGRAMS. INFORMATION PRODUCTS DEVELOPED OR BEING DEVELOPED FOR THE SYSTEM INCLUDE INDEXES AND INVENTORIES, CASE STATUS REPORTS, MONITORING REPORTS, STATISTICS, JUDICIAL STATISTICAL REPORTS, AND SPECIAL REPORTS. POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS FOR MAGISTRATES' AND APPELLATE COURTS WILL BE STUDIED. THREE NOTES ARE INCLUDED. (JAP)