Court is in session online

There are several other examples of high-technology courtrooms.

The recently renovated Courtroom 625 in historic Philadelphia City Hall has become the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania's high-tech courtroom.

Among the technologies being used in Courtroom 625:

* A video evidence presentation system with distributed monitors and interactive plasma display.

* Cameras that enable attorneys to display evidence such as documents, photographs, X-rays and slides.

* Computer input connections at the attorneys' podium, attorneys' tables and judge's bench that display computer-generated and scanned materials to the courtroom.

* Touch screens at the witness stand and the podium that allow a witness or attorney to easily mark digitally displayed evidence for everyone in the courtroom to see.

* A videoconferencing system that facilitates witness appearances from anywhere in the state, country or world. Multiple cameras switch to whoever is speaking in the room without requiring any operator control.

* Real-time transcription and digital audio recording of court proceedings.

The Superior Court of Delaware started using the experimental eCourtroom in August 1999, when the Delaware State Bar Association teamed with vendors to design and implement what was purported to be the nation's first actively used electronic courtroom.

The Superior Court went on to establish other high-tech courtrooms:

* In November 2001, Courtroom 2, Delaware's high-tech courtroom in Georgetown, Sussex County, officially went online.

* In May 2002, Courtroom 7 in Dover, Kent County, was opened.

* In September 2002, the Superior Court moved into the newly built New Castle County Courthouse, where cutting-edge technologies are employed throughout the building.