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Bar News - December 17, 2004 Morning Mail ~ Court Reporter Comments, Thanks to Chief Justice Broderick Court Reporter Comments on Recording Quality As an official court reporter for the state of NH for almost 20 years, I would like to thank the Manchester and Belknap Bar Associations for supporting the retention of the 10 remaining court reporters employed by the superior court. (See Bar News issues of Nov. 5 and July 23.) I feel compelled to offer some insight into the audio recording that is taking place in the superior court and will be replacing the court reporters next June, according to the Supreme Court order issued back in March. It was brought to the attention of the members of the Superior Court Executive Committee meeting on June 29, 2000, that "there were problems discovered with the quality of transcripts being prepared from audio recordings in the superior court." There was an unacceptable amount of "inaudibles" noted in the transcripts. Inaccuracies existed between what was recorded on the tape and what was transcribed. These issues were of great concern to the Executive Committee "as the maintenance of an accurate record of the proceedings is a critical function of the superior court." As a result of these concerns, a committee was appointed to investigate these issues and make recommendations to the Executive Committee. This committee, consisting of a superior court judge, four monitors and the court co-coordinator, made seven recommendations in a report dated 1-22-01 on how they felt transcript production could be improved. A few changes were implemented but transcript production still remains an issue today. Tapes are breaking in the midst of court proceedings and transcribers continue to struggle with transcript production due to acoustic and equipment failures in the courtroom. Forms are now required to be filled out and submitted to the AOC by transcribers when they can’t understand what’s on the tape. This just further evidences the fact that these problems continue to exist. One wonders how much of the spoken word is being lost. North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois and New Jersey are just some of the states that have tried audio recording, found it unacceptable, and have gone back to using court reporters. Numerous instances have been documented from around the country where tapes are blank or missing or the quality of the tapes is so poor that an accurate transcript could not be prepared. It is incomprehensible to me that the Supreme Court is unable or unwilling to accept the shortcomings of audio recording in light of all the published research that overwhelmingly favors court reporting over tapes. Unfortunately, the litigants of this state will be the ones to suffer because of inadequate transcripts when they are trying to recreate their court proceedings. Lorena Patria Editor’s Note: Patria is one of several, all official superior court stenographers, plaintiffs whose lawsuit challenging the order eliminating their positions is on appeal to the NH Supreme Court. The case, 04-E-0153, names the NH Supreme Court and the Administrative Office of the Courts as defendants. A panel of substitute justices including retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Sherman D. Horton, and retired superior court justices George L. Manias, Charles J. Contas, George S. Pappagianis, and Vincent P. Dunn will hear it. In October, David Nixon, attorney for the stenographers, filed a motion for mediation in the case. Thanks to Chief Justice Broderick As the Vice Chair of the House Judiciary Committee during the 2003-2004 term, I believe it is appropriate to send this public letter of thanks to Chief Justice John Broderick. The Chief Justice has offered an open door to me as he certainly has to other legislators, and he has been extremely cordial and helpful in collaborating on legislation. As a result of this cooperation between the legislature and the judicial branch, the citizens and your clients have benefited, and I am confident that this level of cooperation will continue in the coming years. Rep. Robert H. Row Robert H. Rowe, a retired attorney and former district court judge, has been a member of the NH House of Representatives for eight years.
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