As millions face eviction, the digital divide should not become a justice divide

In COVID times, many courts remain closed to in-person proceedings. Hearings continue online. They are streamlined, quick and, for some, convenient. Participants with busy lives can attend on their lunch break at work or at home while caring for their kids. But without greater attention to equal access, remote justice is likely to leave tenants and landlords alike worse off. Many tenants behind on rent also lack the technological resources to participate effectively in virtual proceedings. They may have no internet service or unreliable, spotty service. Those attending by smartphone may have limited data plans, making lengthy hearings, or hearings at the end of a billing cycle, unaffordable. Tenants whose first language is not English, who have limited education, or are unused to navigating online environments might have trouble keeping up. The digital divide should not become a justice divide, especially when help for tenants and landlords alike is already on its way.

[Jason Mazzone is a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law. Robin Fretwell Wilson is the director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois System and a professor at the College of Law.]