Last month we posted a video of Lisa Michaels’ (President of the Deposition Reporters Association of California) response to Governor Schwarzenneger’s  comments about replacing live court reporters with machines to help save money in order to help reduce the California state debt. This is not a “one state” issue – it’s an issue that affects all of us in the court reporting profession and it’s been spreading to other states.

We owe it to ourselves and our profession to stay on top of this issue and to take action if needed.  Following is another video.  This one is from the official reporters of the Superior Court of King County, WA who are about to become extinct and replaced by machines.  It goes into some very important detail about some of the problems courts are facing with ER (electronic recording) devices, including inaudible and indecipherable transcripts as well as equipment failure, timeliness of transcripts and failed court cases because of inadequate records.

Texas, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Nevada switched from “live” court reporters to electronic recording devices.  Did it work out well for them?  Not at all.  In fact, they are, or already have, switched back to “live” court reporters.

Bottom line is that machines are just machines and sometimes they fail or fall short of expectations.  There is still a lot to be said for having a trained, dedicated, impartial, intelligent person representing the court and being the keeper of the official record.  But then, I’m preaching to the choir, aren’t I!

Please watch this video, and leave a comment!