This
measure involves simulating a request by a litigant or other interested
person for information about the location and time of a court proceeding. A
volunteer observer attempts to obtain information about the specific time
and location of a court proceeding as well as the type of proceeding it is
and its case number. The observer knows only the formal name of the court,
the name of the litigant, and the day on which the proceeding in question is
scheduled. He or she is not knowledgeable about routine court operations.
Planning/Preparation.
Five proceedings from the court events sampled for
Measure 1.1.1, Access to Open Hearings, are selected and the name of the
parties, date, time, and location (i.e., courthouse, floor, and courtroom)
of the scheduled events are recorded. If Measure 1.1.1 has not been
conducted, five scheduled court events will have to be selected from the
court’s calendar.
A
stopwatch or watch with a second hand will be needed during the data
collection phase.
Data
Collection. The
first step is for the observer to attempt to find the court’s general
telephone number from the local telephone directory using the court’s
official name (see Form 1.2.5,
Access to Information by Telephone—Directions and Recording Sheet). If the
number is not readily obtained from the local directory, the observer
contacts the local directory information service. The observer notes the
availability and difficulty of obtaining the court’s telephone number and
records the number(s) obtained on the data collection form.
Using
the telephone number obtained from the directory or directory assistance,
the observer calls the court to obtain the time and location of each of the
five events. To improve the simulation, the telephone contacts with the
court should be distributed so that the frequency of the calls will not be
noteworthy. Court officials should establish this distribution. For each
event, the observer notes the elapsed time before the requested information
is provided, using a standard stopwatch, and notes the number of individuals
with whom he or she comes into contact. This information is recorded on Form
1.2.5. If the required information cannot be obtained within 1 hour (or
if it cannot be obtained at all), the observer records a maximum of 60
minutes and six contacts for each event for purposes of the aggregate
summary. He or she also makes notes as appropriate.
Data
Analysis and Report Preparation. Data
obtained for the five events are aggregated. First, the observer summarizes
the ease or difficulty of obtaining the court’s telephone numbers from the
telephone directories and notes the range of elapsed times for the five
events. The elapsed time and number of contacts to acquire the information
is then averaged across the five events (Telephone Information Accessibility
Score). If the range of results from the calls varies widely, the court
should separately evaluate, if possible, the circumstances of each
simulation. The court may also wish to increase the number of simulations in
order to achieve a more reliable average score and to better diagnose the
patterns that explain extremes.
