Bill proposes allowing recordings if CSR not available

Today's Recorder has Bill Would Allow Electronic Recording in All Civil Cases

• SB 662 would authorize courts to record civil proceedings when a certified shorthand reporter is not available. Labor groups representing court-employed reporters vowed to fight the bill.
• Newly amended legislation would authorize California courts to electronically record all civil proceedings, putting into political play a key Judicial Council priority and setting up a potentially bitter battle with certified shorthand reporters.
• SB 662 is sponsored by the Family Violence Appellate Project. The organization’s director of programs, Jennafer Dorfman Wagner, testified at a legislative hearing earlier this month that litigants’ inability to secure transcripts from proceedings where no court reporter is available can further punish domestic violence victims.