Justice Stephanie Stacy and attorney Shaylene Smith highlight the state's cutting-edge courtroom technology upgrades designed to assist individuals with hearing loss.

Attorney Shaylene Smith of Crete, NE, addressed members of the Supreme Court, administrative staff, plus area judges and attorneys from the well of the county courtroom in Saline County.  Her presentation began with, “I will just tell you a little bit about hearing loss, if you're not familiar with it, so that I can place [use of listening devices] in context.”  She described her congenital hearing loss through stories of the lack of specificity in grade school hearing tests, early parenting of young children, and approaching a drugstore audiologist for specific testing where she was diagnosed with a bilateral hearing loss at age 30. Smith showed and demonstrated types of assistive listening equipment, adding personal stories about each type as she showed them.

Key to Smith’s presentation was the discussion of the different types of hearing loss and the equipment that can make sounds clear, contrasted with the equipment that makes “muddy” sounds louder.  She also addressed the progress of technology in improving experiences for impacted individuals.

The equipment now installed in Saline County and in courtrooms across Nebraska, is the type that amplifies the sound and makes it clear. Deputy Administrator for the Court Services Division, Amy Prenda, described the induction loop system, “…where they put wires in the floor or in the ceiling that create an electromagnetic field in the room in which the sound is connected to someone who has a Telecoil in a hearing aid or in a cochlear implant.”

The installation, a partnership between Nebraska Judicial Branch IT Division and the Access to Justice Commission, is part of the courtroom technology upgrade started in late 2022.

According to Justice Stephanie Stacy, co-chair of the Access to Justice Commission, what started as a small pilot project to install telecoil looping systems in a few courtrooms became much larger after experiencing the need for advanced equipment during COVID-19 courtroom zoom experiences.  Joining with IT and the courtroom technology upgrade project, the Commission was able to leverage equipment for all Nebraska courtrooms needing advanced communication and hearing assistance systems.

“Nebraska is, I think, on the leading edge [of installing advanced listening wiring in courtrooms], and we have every reason to be proud of it,” noted Stacy.