I have often said that there really is only one person in
the courtroom that must listen to each and every word that is said. No mind-wandering – strict
concentration. That person is the court
reporter. The court reporter is required
to take down, in machine shorthand, practically everything that is said during
court proceedings. It often can be a
challenging profession.
People in court cannot nod their heads or say “uh-huh” or
“uh-uh” – those terms and body language simply cannot be accurately recorded
for the record. And the record becomes
critical if the case is to be appealed to a higher court.
Other issues are common:
Two people talking at the same time – it’s hard enough to do one at a
time! Witnesses, attorneys and even
judges can talk very fast, challenging even the most talented court reporter to
keep up. (I have been justly accused of
being a real challenge for court reporters, as I can talk pretty fast!) Expert witnesses may often talk in technical
or medical terms that are not familiar and yet the reporter must take the
testimony down and may be required to type it up, accurately, at a later
time.
A court reporter attends school where he or she learns the
machine shorthand and other basics, and then simply works to build up speed to 225
words per minute, the minimum required for graduation. There are 22 keys on the shorthand
machine. Reporters must often strike
multiple keys at the same time for one letter.
For instance, “beyond a reasonable doubt” would look like this on the
paper that comes out of the shorthand machine:
K W RA R D
I have been blessed to work with two terrific court
reporters during my career: Jerry
Goodroad started with me within weeks of my appointment and stayed for 24
years. Paul Lyndgaard is finishing his
career with me – we’ll be retiring the same day.
I occasionally will have school children come in to tour the
courtroom. They learn about what we do,
and I answer questions they may have. I
have learned that I should not introduce the court reporter until the very end
of the session. The children are
fascinated by the machine, and the work the reporter does. Paul has a habit of giving each child some
machine paper with their name on it, in shorthand. He, and Jerry before him, truly is the star
of the show. I’m just the warm-up act!
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Next Week: Oath of
Citizenship
