Rhode Island's court system wants to hear from you as user survey gets underway
PROVIDENCE – The state judiciary has seen the number of Rhode Islanders representing themselves balloon into the tens of thousands over the last several years. With that in mind, the court is launching an anonymous user survey to gauge how it’s doing in delivering on the bedrock principle of equal access to justice.
“This survey is a significant step in the judiciary’s continuing efforts to provide greater access to justice for all Rhode Islanders,” state Supreme Court Justice Paul A. Suttell said. “Going to court can be a confusing and stressful experience; we are hoping to at least make it more friendly. I encourage all court users to spend the few minutes it will take to complete the survey.”
Tables will be set up in each of the state’s six courthouses and court users will be asked to complete a brief survey about their experience based on a scale of one to five.
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What will the surveys ask?
People will weigh in on issues such as whether the way their case was handled was fair, whether they felt they had a chance to tell their side of the story before a decision was reached and whether they were treated with dignity and respect.
The surveys are to be offered on various days over 12 weeks beginning April 3. They will be offered only to court users physically in courthouses or who are participating in virtual proceedings in “order to preserve the integrity of the survey results,” according to a news release. They will be offered in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French and Simplified Chinese, with paper versions available for people who need accommodations.
Number of Rhode Islanders representing themselves in legal matters is growing
The survey is an initiative of the Access to Justice Office, created in 2021 to oversee the Office of Court Interpreters, services for self-represented litigants and the courts' compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The judiciary has seen growing numbers of people representing themselves in Family Court matters, with evictions, and in small claims cases over the past several years – a subject of interest to Chief Justice Suttell.
In 2019, for example, the state court system saw 36,885 cases in which at least one party was self-represented at some point in the case. Of those, 33,815 cases took place in the District Court, where small claims, housing, employment and other types of civil cases are heard, according to the courts. The Family Court saw nearly 2,300 such cases that same year.
“Court-user feedback plays a critical role in improving the court user experience and ensuring access to justice for all,” Tamera Rocha, director of the Access to Justice Office, said in a news release. “The feedback offered by court users is invaluable and will be used to gain a better understanding of how we can strengthen our commitment to eliminate access to justice barriers and gaps.”
The office is among the initiatives undertaken by the courts in recent years. Suttell launched the Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts in 2020 after the death of George Floyd, the Black man murdered by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
The chief justice vowed to take steps to ensure that equal justice is in reach of all Rhode Islanders regardless of race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI courts user survey underway
