NCJ Number
82509
Date Published
1981
Length
449 pages
Annotation
Testimony is provided on how the court reporting function is performed in the Federal judicial system, with attention to how court reporting may be improved.
Abstract
The testimony, which was presented on June 26, 1981, was provided by Federal judges, a representative of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, other court administrators, and various persons representing the interests of court reporters. Testimony noted that the court reporter is both a Government employee, in the performance of court reporter duties, and a self-employed business person when it comes to producing and selling transcripts. A reporter is said to be responsible for how much time is devoted to transcript preparation. This is viewed as having created significant disparity in the productivity of reporters. There is some confusion about whether more court reporters are needed to do the work or more efficiency needs to be cultivated among present reporters. There appears to be a lack of management supervision of reporters. Other problems mentioned in testimony are reporter overcharging of litigants for transcripts, reporter use of Federal courthouses to conduct private reporting business activities, reporter hiring of substitutes to do their official court work, variations in reporter workload and pay, and the unnecessary hiring of contract reporters. Representatives of court reporters generally supported the effectiveness of current operations and argued against the use of electronic court reporting to replace the court reporter. Written statements and relevant reports are included.