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Greetings ,
Legal system still needs court reporters
 The official record from Judge Myron Duhart's Lucas County Common Pleas courtroom apparently will be transcribed by another person and not the person monitoring the new equipment ("Electronic device replaces human recorder; Courtroom goes digital," Feb. 7).
In 2010, the Ohio Court Reporters Association retained a court management consulting firm to provide a cost analysis of stenographic court reporting versus digital recording in Ohio courts. It found that the error rate in transcription for a stenographic court reporter is less than 1 percent, whereas for a transcribed digital audio recording, the error rate can be as high as 24 percent.
The Ohio Court Reporters Association and the National Court Reporters Association maintain a database of reported failures of electronic/digital recordings in courts. Last year, in the case State of Ohio vs. Todd Conner, in the state's 6th Appellate District, the appellant's testimony, along with his witness' testimony, were missing from the audio recording.
Judge Duhart said: "We're just trying to move from the dinosaur age to the digital age." Today's stenographic court reporters use state-of-the-art equipment and technology to provide an instantaneous, voice-to-text transcript of proceedings as they are occurring. The written text is then instantly transmitted to the judge and attorneys, providing them access to a written transcript that can be searched and annotated.
Today's stenographic machines are paperless, simultaneously creating three digital copies, which can easily be stored on a server or other medium.
Stenographic court reporters are trained to be the guardian of the record. A stenographic court reporter providing real-time translation of proceedings is the most efficient method of making the record.
Susan Horak, President Ohio Court Reporters Association Columbus
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