In a day of cellphones and emails, snail mail has declined in significance. But it still matters to the courts and to prosecutors. They rely on postal authorities to prove that notice of pending trials has been provided. It is how they notify not only defendants, but also victims and witnesses.

But they had a problem getting ready for February's criminal trials. No addressed and stamped envelopes.

Northampton County Executive John Brown denies there's a hiring freeze, but he's not replacing people as they leave. One of the departments affected by this is the county's printing department, where John Niski worked for many years. He's the man who prepared county stationery and envelopes with the correct return addresses.

When Niski retired, his position remained vacant. Now his absence was hurting the district attorney's office, the rights of criminal defendants facing trial and the rights of victims seeking justice. Secretaries in the district attorney's office have been forced to hand-stamp envelopes for criminal trial notices.

When he saw what was happening, District Attorney John Morganelli fired off a message to Brown.

"This is going to crash the criminal justice system in Northampton County and result in public harm. Quite frankly, this is unprecedented and unacceptable. I cannot stand by and watch you create a mess here. I have informed President Judge Baratta and he is prepared to issue a court order at my request ordering your administration to supply us with our needs immediately."

Director of Administration Luis Campos came down to the DA's office and offered to help stamp envelopes. President Judge Stephen Baratta thought that issuing a court order might be easier for him than manning a typewriter. But there was no need. Brown promised to deliver an "IT based solution" the next day. IT stands for information technology.

That "IT-based solution" was simply to have the county's IT department assume the job that would have been performed by a printer. IT Director Al Jordan had two months' worth of envelopes on hand the next day.