Maybe a bit of yesterday’s news, but apparently many of us in the statewide GIS/geospatial circles were asleep at the wheel this past December when Governor Cuomo signed Senate Bill 9061 amending section 4511 of the Civil Laws and Practices Rules (CLPR). In laymen terms, the bill “gives Google Maps and other global imaging websites the presumption of accuracy when they are used as evidence in New York courts. Information taken from similar sites (web mapping services, etc) to Google Maps would be presumed accurate unless “credible and reliable evidence” is presented showing that it is not.” The bill was introduced by Senator Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) earlier in 2018 and approved on June 15, 2018. I reached out to Senator Gianaris’s office to inquire regarding his interest and/or constituent support in this space, but my emails were not answered. If you are so inclined, the full grownup version of the bill can be found here.
This downtown Peekskill, New York Google Maps image is a staple in context of submitting “imagery” as evidence in New York State courts. Though readily available and easy to access by litigants, other government-based web mapping programs across the state often contain more detailed information and are available for increased use in court cases.
The reasons for the lack of notice, or interest for that matter, are probably for a myriad of reasons. Could be there was simply a lack of attention because the statewide geospatial community was still dizzy from excitement by passage of the National Geospatial Data Act of 2018 last fall and its anticipated benefits to government and business GIS programs across the Empire State. (Btw – if you are keeping a GDA scorecard, here is a May 2019 presentation on how the Act is moving forward on behalf of your GIS program.)
Though having received little attention and discussion across the GIS/geospatial communication channels and/or social media, the approved S9061 2018 legislation actually received a fair amount of dialogue in New York State law journals and blogs (i.e., Bleakley & Platt, Neufeld, O’Leary & Giusto, and Sahn Ward Coschignano among others). With no real formal monitoring process or legislative agenda to effectively influence legislation on behalf of the statewide “profession”, legislation such as S9061 may continue to go unnoticed. By comparison in contrast to the legislative agendas and committees of aligned Empire State geospatial professions such as surveying and engineering.
While Google internet mapping content will continue to be a norm, this legislation provides the opportunity for expanded credibility on the value of government and public facing internet web mapping sites to the legal community and in support of the judicial process. And by extension, one of the primary reasons in passage of S9061 – cost savings – as the new law should save litigants significant time and money and speed up trails. In some instances, litigants have had to pay for companies to fly over a desired area and photograph it at a high cost, so that a witness would be available to authenticate the picture. Passage of S9061 also represents yet another way in which New York State legal rules are changing for the better to accommodate new technology. Notes Adam Rodriguez, Esq., attorney at Bleakley & Platt in White Plains, “This is a very practical amendment to the C.P.L.R. that will promote efficiency by saving time”
Using approximately the same Peekskill footprint as the image above, this Westchester County web mapping application renders completely different data including planimetrics, utility poles, and a sanitary sewer network. Increased outreach from government GIS programs to the legal community can illustrate the detail and richness of data which can be obtained from online web mapping programs.
Of course while the legislation gives the legal community more freedom in the use of online mapping content, it still recognizes that it may not be entirely correct and gives relief to opposing parties to challenge admission of the web map content through “credible and reliable evidence that the image, map, location, distance, calculation, or other information” does not “fairly and accurately portray that which it is being offered to prove.” As such, expanded use and access to online web mapping content will increasingly require attorneys to better understand both the accuracy and limitations of the geospatial products (particularly hardcopy products generated from online applications) being submitted as evidence.
Post-World War II (1947) imagery of the same Peekskill footprint. While the Westchester County 1947 photography is of outstanding quality, conversion of such panchromatic photography to digital format can often introduce various types of errors and distortions. As such, not all “online content” is always correct and the legal community will need to continue to be cautious – and educated – about using “as is” online web mapping products.
The bill will make New York State practice consistent with Federal practice, which allows courts to take judicial notice of Google Map images because they “can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned” under Federal Rule of Evidence 201.
Another plus for our tax payer funded geospatial products. Albeit not on a day-to-day basis, but nonetheless, providing cost efficiencies in the judicial system and a little more something for the GIS program return-on-investment (ROI).
Talk to your government attorneys or firms which represent your GIS program about Senate Bill S9061.