Hawaii Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald discusses the ways that technology helped reshape the Judiciary during the pandemic in his State of the Judiciary speech on Wednesday morning at the State Capitol. Screenshot of Senate YouTube channel

Technology prompted by the pandemic has helped improve court appearance rates, allowed more people to tune in to Supreme Court arguments and overall modernized a court system that’s accustomed to doing business in person, Hawaii’s top Judiciary official said Wednesday.

Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald pointed out that the pandemic pushed the Judiciary to adopt new technologies, allowing people to appear for traffic infraction cases through their phone.

“Since the pandemic began, we have held more than half a million remote hearings, and this number is rapidly climbing,” Recktenwald said during his State of the Judiciary speech at the State Capitol on Wednesday. “We also started an eReminder service and have sent more than 24,000 texts and emails to notify parties of upcoming court dates. Guess what happened? The appearance rate has significantly increased, and is now almost 90 percent in Oahu District Court.”

Recktenwald reflected Wednesday on the changes to the state’s court system during the pandemic, as well as the work ahead and the community outreach efforts on Maui and other islands.

The Judiciary was one of the most tested systems during the pandemic, with crucial in-person appearances interrupted by social distancing requirements and jail outbreaks of COVID-19.

Recktenwald said that in addition to making it easier to attend hearings, new technology also made the Judiciary more transparent. The Supreme Court now livestreams all of its oral arguments, and more than 17,000 people have tuned in.

Last April, the Judiciary also made electronic filing available 24/7 for all courts throughout the system by adding family court civil cases, which Recktenwald described as “a huge milestone.”

“In short, we have created modern courts that use new technologies to meet the needs of a community accustomed to doing business online,” he said.

As the economic effects of the pandemic took hold, the Judiciary also braced for what it believed would be a “tsunami” of eviction cases, but that didn’t happen. Recktenwald credited the Legislature’s passage of Act 57, which was crafted by Maui Rep. Troy Hashimoto and Kauai Rep. Nadine Nakamura and required eviction cases to go to mediation.

“It was a win-win for both landlords and tenants,” Recktenwald said. “It kept people in their homes, while treating landlords fairly. Statewide, over 85 percent of the 1,600 cases mediated were settled without going to court. And here on Oahu, 85 percent of the settlements resulted in the tenants remaining in their homes.”

The Judiciary did not have data Wednesday on how many cases in Maui County resulted in tenants avoiding eviction.

Faced with financial challenges of its own, Recktenwald said the Judiciary is now asking the Legislature for “a modest increase” of 4.4 percent in its operating budget for the coming fiscal year and 4 percent the year after.

“Most critically, we are seeking restoration of funding for more than 30 positions statewide that were defunded early in the pandemic,” he said. “We curtailed our budget requests during the pandemic, and did everything we could to stretch our limited resources. But without restoration of funding, our ability to provide needed services is severely compromised.”

The chief justice said the work ahead involves addressing the challenges of homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse.

“We can keep our community safer by addressing the root causes that bring people into the criminal justice system,” he said. “The rates of serious mental illness and substance use disorders are four to seven times higher for those in jail than the general population, and many inmates suffer from both conditions. Yet these individuals often cycle repeatedly in and out of incarceration without access to needed services and treatment. We must stop that revolving door.”

Recktenwald said that one answer is treatment courts. Building on the success of programs like Girls Court and Drug Court, the Legislature last session approved funding for a Women’s Court that officially went live on Wednesday afternoon.

“It recognizes the simple fact that women experience very different pathways to criminal involvement than men,” Recktenwald said. “Women in prison are 80 to 90 percent more likely to have extensive histories of trauma, such as sexual or physical abuse. In just six months, our Women’s Court team, led by Judge Trish Morikawa, has developed programs tailored to address women’s needs, collaborated with treatment providers and selected participants.”

Community Outreach Court is another way of addressing the root causes of crime by focusing on nonviolent individuals who are houseless or on the verge of becoming houseless and have pending matters for minor offenses. Participants agree to perform community service to resolve those matters and are matched with service providers who help them get housing, mental health and drug treatment and other services.

More than 465 people have completed the program, 7,600 cases have been cleared and 5,600 hours of community service have been completed. The program is held on Maui and Oahu.

Recktenwald said the Judiciary also works to connect with the community by fostering understanding of the court system. Its Courts in the Community program holds Supreme Court oral arguments live at high schools across the state, including at Lahainaluna High School last month in front of more than 300 Maui County students.

The Supreme Court-created PACE Commission also recently hosted a free, three-day academy for high school students on Maui, teaching them about the legal system, community involvement and law-related careers.

“In sum, the Judiciary is moving forward from the pandemic a stronger and more resilient institution, applying the lessons we learned, and building on the partnerships we formed,” Recktenwald said. “We have harnessed new technologies to make us more accessible. We are expanding programs to reach and assist vulnerable children and families. And we are raising awareness of the Judiciary’s critical role in our democracy.”

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.