Do courts serve the 'customer' well? The public deserves better than it's getting, judge writes
Many courts are not cultivating a culture of innovation, and the public deserves more, Minneapolis trial judge Kevin Burke and consultant Babak Armajani wrote in an essay for Governing.
“Abused kids need effective courts. Married couples seeking divorces (and their kids) suffer through the process if it lasts too long,” the essay states. “Commerce is affected routinely and negatively by courts in a myriad of ways. In short, all of us have reasons to want a well-functioning court system.”
The piece cites a study (PDF) about court funding sponsored by the National Center for State Courts and Justice at Stake. It found that out of individuals polled, 43 percent had serious questions about the fairness of the courts.
Co-author Armajani is the chair for the Public Strategies Group. The organization describes its work as “transforming bureaucracies into customer-focused enterprises.”
Courts can measure the speed of their decisions, the authors assert, as well as “customer” experience.
“Where there is measurement, change usually follows,” the essay reads. “In places where such measures are used as tools for learning how to improve rather than to assign credit or blame, we are seeing the beginnings of dramatic changes in the culture and operations of our courts.”
Hat tip to How Appealing.
