RE: [courtfiling-process] Security of court orders

[jkeane <jik@jkeane.com>]

CAT, cited below is a Committe of the US Judicial Conference. The approved
the Federal CMS/ECF system and judges' use of it in chambers for
electronically file orders.  Two factor came up in my review of the Federal
system for the USDOJ 1) the Judges accepted the use of ID and password as a
"signature"  2) the Officially filed document is a PDF with some sort of
hash total to determine if anyone has tampered with the document, 3) the
National Security Agency approved the AOUSC system for interface with the
highly secure DOJ system.  
 
Hope this helps...
 
JimK
 

James I. Keane 

JKeane.Law.Pro

20 Esworthy Terrace 

North Potomac MD 20878

301-948-4062 F: 301-947-1176 (N.B.: NEW FAX NUMBER)

 <http://www.jkeane.com/> www.jkeane.com  

 

Co-Author and Annual Update Editor of Treatise:
<http://www.westgroup.com/store/product.asp?product_id=16989703&catalog_name
=wgstore> Litigation Support Systems, An Attorney Guide 2nd  Ed. (WestGroup,
1992, updated through 2002) 

-----Original Message-----
From: John Messing [mailto:jmessing@law-on-line.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 6:05 PM
To: jkeane; 'Gilliam, Charles'; 'John Greacen'; 'Efiling Process Models
Subcommittee'
Cc: Michael Greenwood (E-mail); Robert Borochoff (E-mail)
Subject: RE: [courtfiling-process] Security of court orders


I have sent a request for comment to some lists I belong to as well. The
responses are very interesting. I have gotten a few back that request
further information about the nature of the connection between the database
and the judge's chamber; i.e., if it is IP or other. Can this information be
provided? Thanks.

-----Original Message-----
From: jkeane [mailto:jik@jkeane.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 7:35 AM
To: 'Gilliam, Charles'; 'John Greacen'; 'Efiling Process Models
Subcommittee'
Cc: Michael Greenwood (E-mail); Robert Borochoff (E-mail)
Subject: RE: [courtfiling-process] Security of court orders


I recall the Commitee on Automation and Technology considered this issue.
I'm copying some of the AOUSC folks to see if there is any background
material that might help.
 
Jim Keane
 

James I. Keane 

JKeane.Law.Pro

20 Esworthy Terrace 

North Potomac MD 20878

301-948-4062 F: 301-947-1176 (N.B.: NEW FAX NUMBER)

 <http://www.jkeane.com/> www.jkeane.com  

 

Co-Author and Annual Update Editor of Treatise:
<http://www.westgroup.com/store/product.asp?product_id=16989703&catalog_name
=wgstore> Litigation Support Systems, An Attorney Guide 2nd  Ed. (WestGroup,
1992, updated through 2002) 

-----Original Message-----
From: Gilliam, Charles [mailto:Charles.Gilliam@CONTENTGUARD.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 10:06 AM
To: John Greacen; Efiling Process Models Subcommittee
Subject: RE: [courtfiling-process] Security of court orders


"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 statement may be a bit bullish. I have heard of persons entering
systems and placing unauthorized material there.
 
Still, the statement "I believe that the issue John is so concerned about is
adequately addressed by this process" could be true. It is a matter of the
level of risk you want to accept. It seems a fair question to probe the
means employed by the system to prevent unauthorized deposit of information.
Maybe those means are adequate or maybe there is room for improvement. What
is adequate could depend on the type of the order and what was adequate
yesterday may not be adequate tomorrow.
 
--Charles
 
-----Original Message-----
From: John Greacen [mailto:john@greacen.net]
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 00:04 AM
To: Efiling Process Models Subcommittee
Subject: [courtfiling-process] 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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