Facing a continued shortage of court reporters, the Los Angeles Superior Court's presiding judge announced an order Thursday authorizing the use of electronic recording equipment in some proceedings to ensure litigants can obtain a verbatim record of hearings.
Under the issue by Judge Samantha P. Jessner, electronic recording will be permitted in select family law, probate and civil proceedings, but only when an official court-employed court reporter is unavailable and the litigant is unable to secure the services of a private reporter at their own expense. The judicial officer presiding over the case also must make a determination that "fundamental constitutional rights are at stake."
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"For too long, hundreds of thousands of litigants in family law, probate and civil cases have been denied equal access to justice in violation of their constitutional rights by having no practical ability to exercise their right to appeal -- when fundamental constitutional rights relating to marriage, child custody and individual self-determination and liberty are at stake," Jessner said in a statement. "This is the result of the court being unable to provide a verbatim record of these proceedings because of the chronic court reporter shortage and statutory restrictions on electronic recording.
"For decades, the applicable statute has allowed electronic recording in criminal misdemeanor, limited civil and infraction cases but prohibited electronic recording in family law, probate and unlimited jurisdiction civil cases where court-employed court reporters are unavailable," Jessner said. "Today's General Order recognizes that the applicable statute violates the equal protection and due process clauses of the state and federal constitutions by depriving litigants of a right to a meaningful appeal when fundamental rights are at stake in the specified proceedings."
Court officials said they have been working to recruit and retain more court reporters amid the current shortage, even beginning an in-house training program to teach current court employees to become reporters. The first group of those employees is expected to be eligible for a certification exam by next fall.
According to the court, it has seen a net loss of 117 court reporters since 2018, and more than 70% of its current roster of 315 reporters are already eligible for retirement.
The Los Angeles County Court Reporters Association issued a statement opposing Jessner's move to expand electronic recording or proceedings, calling it a "hasty decision" that will increase the possibility of faulty recordings and inaccurate transcripts.
"As guardians of the record, court reporters who produce accurate, verbatim transcripts are indispensable to the access to justice all litigants deserve," Cindy Tachell, president of the Los Angeles County Court Reporters Association, said in a statement.
"We are dismayed that the Los Angeles Superior Court, after failing to invest in a strong court reporter workforce time and again, is now using the court-created crisis to threaten access to quality transcripts. We agree with the court that access to justice is the backbone of our society, and poor-quality, electronic recording threatens that access. The LA Superior Court needs to start working with us to effectively recruit and retain qualified court reporters instead of actively undermining this vital profession."
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