While the information systems and related technology problems on the ISS dominated the news this week, there were several other IS&T problems being reported as well. In Marin County, California, their new $15.8 million computer system called MERIT (Marin Enterprise Resource Integration Technology) continued to cause problems. In January, problems with the MERIT system some 310 employees received their paychecks late. Now it seems the system is not to be able to interface well with the accounting program used by the Marin County Employees Retirement Association.
Then Central Train System commuters in Adelaide, Australia were delayed once again by on-going computer problems. TransAdelaide announced that an audit was already underway to look into recurring instances of computer delays.
In addition, what appears to have been a software problem at the Japanese Social Insurance Agency kept its staff at 130 of its pension insurance offices across Japan from responding to inquiries from people seeking conformation or advice about their accounts. This incident did nothing to enhance the agency's status, which has been struggling to explain why it failed to record properly premium payments into the public pension system, which also seem to be IS&T related.
The most interesting IS&T related incident was took place at court - or more accurately, was debated at court. At the trial of polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs' last August, the judge gave attonery's until 25 June to submit briefs on the legality of the long traffic stop Jeffs had been subjected to.
When Jeffs was pulled over by a Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper because of a partial obscured rear license plate, the trooper was not able to access an information system that links into a national criminal database to check on the validity of licenses and registrations. According to Jeffs' lawyers, if the trooper had been able to access the database, then Jeffs' license and registration would have been shown to have been valid, and Jeffs would likely have been let go probably with only a ticket.
However, the trooper ended up questioning Jeffs for two hours. Another trooper who joined the stop thought that maybe Jeffs was a fugitive wanted by the FBI - which Jeffs admitted to when an FBI agent later joined the scene.
So here we have a situation where the lack of access to a operational and reliable information system might be a benefit to a criminal defendant. I don't know whether this plows new legal grounds, but I have never heard of anything similar. If anyone knows, please let me know.
