OhioReporter of Columbus, OH Court reporter cost effectiveness vs. digital recording cannot be weighed in salary and purchase price alone. One must consider the cost of mistrials and retrials because of technical glitches in digital-only courtrooms, the cost of testimony lost forever because of inaudible translations, the cost of reconstructing a record due to inaccurate identification of speakers.

Court reporters have academic and skills training in specific areas for producing a verbatim court transcript of proceedings. Court reporters are guided by a professional code of ethics promulgated by the National Court Reporters Association.

Questions to ask before replacing a professional court reporter with a machine...
When will you know there is a problem with the system – when it happens or after the proceeding is over?
Can the recording system discriminate between speech and background noise?
Will it pick up table-tapping, coughing, paper-shuffling, etc.?
Who will be responsible for the accuracy of technical terminology?
Will the system pick up hushed bench conferences?
How will “inaudibles” and “indiscernibles” be handled in transcript production?
Who will certify the accuracy of the record?

Court reporters do not inadvertently record attorney-client conversations.
Court reporters sort and discriminate between testimony and background noise.
Court reporters can clarify inaudible or heavily accented speech.
Court reporters can accurately track multiple speakers who may have similar voice tones.
Court reporters distinguish immediately “who” is speaking.

If you or a loved one is involved in a trial where liberty and freedom can be taken away, do you want to trust a machine to provide the one record needed for appeal? Not I.report abuse

Tricia McLaughlin of Waterville, ME Nonny,
As a proud Court Reporter in Boston, I totally agree with you. Good luck to all those appeals going up to the appellate court with digital recording. Do they really think that a transcriber can do better than a Court Reporter who is trained to record 250-plus words per minute? Can the ER connect to the judge's laptop to give him the testimony simultaneously as it is being said? Nada.

Julie,
Being it was a small claims court hearing, you obviously did not get a transcript from a Court Reporter but from a transcriptionist who transcribed it from a tape recording of the hearing. I have been reporting for 30-plus years in Boston. I have read some of those transcripts typed from a tape. They are horrendous to say the least. The transcriptionists are good, but they can only work with what they've got and are not clairvoyant to know what was said when they were not there.

You think $85,0000 a year for a court reporter's salary is high? Well, you live the life of a court reporter and try and get every word that is being said verbatim; then tell me that they are not worth every penny of it. On top of that, court reporters do NOT leave their jobs when the judge gets off the bench. They are constantly at their computers getting transcripts proofread, edited and then printed.

Also, consider the fact that part of that salary obviously includes health insurance and other benefits.

Good luck to the judicial system of Maine with ER. You have only begun to see what will happen.

Triciareport abuse

Nonny1 of Gainesville, FL Accurate court reporting is ESSENTIAL. When cases go to appeal, it's the court transcript that the appealate court will look at. Since court reporters are paid GOOD money, the State WILL say a boatload of money.
However, there are times when electronic devices malfunction or when a defendant/judge/lawyer/witness does not speak loud enough or clearly enough and an electronic device may not pick up the conversation in its entirety. THEN there will be a problem.
A human being (i.e. court reporter) is unbiased & would ask for clarification during the trial/session so she could transcribe correctly. A recording device (obviously) will not be able to do that. I foresee lots of MAJOR problems with cases if court reporters go bye-bye...report abuse

Julie Chicoine of Skowhegan, ME Court Reporting, human or electronic is absolutely useless as far as I can see. I paid $90. ($3. a page) to get a copy of a court hearing transcript to prove that the plaintiff lied while under oath during a small claims hearing. When I presented it to the court the Judge dismissed it. Waste of my money & taxpayers money!!!!
Secondly, just how much are these reporters paid???? 7 employees gone will save $600,000.???? Whoa... that divides out to $85,174.29 each!!!! Holy crap!!!report abuse