Security of court orders

On the last conference call, John Messing insisted that the work of this subcommittee could not proceed further until the issue of the security of judges’ orders was adequately addressed. John is concerned that electronic judicial orders will be forged and criminals will be released from jail or prison as a result.

The federal court efiling system, and most state and local systems, have solved this problem by treating the electronic record contained in the court’s data base to be the official judge’s order. The system can guarantee the authenticity of these electronic orders because it will not accept orders coming from any address except the judge’s chambers. Persons wishing to verify the legitimacy of a purported order can go online, access the court’s electronic data base and view the official order there. The court advises law enforcement and correctional personnel to check orders in that fashion; they should not rely on a transmitted or printed copy of such an order. This process provides security far exceeding anything available in the paper world today. The only way in which to circumvent this system is by bribing a member of the judge’s staff to submit a forged order to the system. That risk is minimal.

I believe that the issue John is so concerned about is adequately addressed by this process.

John M. Greacen

Greacen Associates, LLC

HCR 78, Box 23

Regina, New Mexico 87046

505-289-2164

505-780-1450 (cell)

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