California courts sued over failure to ensure transcripts in millions of hearings
LA TimesA new lawsuit alleges that courts across California routinely deny people due process by failing to maintain transcripts of many types of proceedings. The suit, filed last week by two San Francisco Bay Area legal advocacy groups against the superior courts of Contra Costa, Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Clara counties, alleges that more than a million litigants are affected statewide each year by a shortage of certified court reporters. The litigation, filed directly in the California Supreme Court in an unusual move, comes as advocates have grown increasingly frustrated by the documented inability of many courts to find and hire enough court reporters. Although the public workforce is still able to handle transcripts for criminal proceedings, some civil matters — including family court cases — can be left without anyone keeping an official word-for-word record. In the superior courts of L.A. and Santa Clara counties, general orders issued this year have cleared the way for judges to allow electronic recording of certain proceedings involving low-income litigants who can’t afford to hire court reporters.
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