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The following program was produced by the United States Courts.
“Our job is very important because we are the keepers of the record. My name is Deborah Pause, and I’m a Court Reporter
in San Francisco.” “Kathy Jones, Court Reporter.”
“Melinda Setterman, Official Court Reporter.” “Stephen Greenblum. I am a Court Reporter.”
“Tia Wakefield, Court Reporter.” “My name is Scott Wallace, and I’m a Court Reporter.” “Joleen Owen, and I’m a Court Reporter
here for the U.S. District Court in Knoxville, Tennessee.”
A court reporter is a guardian of the record. Using a steno machine, the court reporter will go into
the courtroom and steno graphically record the proceedings.”
“In the courtroom, my job is to report verbatim every word that’s spoken,
either by the attorneys, the judge or the witness.”
“I’m typing phonetically. Say if your name is
Stanfield. They are called strokes. I would write Stan and then second stroke would be the word
field.” “What I also do is connect in with the judge.
So I have my writer. It connects to my computer, which then is connected wireless to the judge,
so he can read instantaneous
transcripts of the proceedings.”
“That’s
really why they like the real time in the courtrooms.
Also, you can scroll back during a trial. You can see the testimony on the screen.
And it’s there, so there’s never any dispute about what was said.”
“It really helps the attorneys as far as
defending their clients. It helps the judge as far as ruling on objections. It has really become an
integral part of the courtroom system.”
“Being a guardian of the record has a big impact. What I'm taking down and the record I’m producing
has a tremendous effect on the lives of others, especially in the criminal cases.”
“I feel very proud when I come into work every morning to know that
I work for such a distinguished part of the legal system.” “Someone orders something on appeal, it goes
to the Court of Appeals, and ours is the only official record.” “It’s kind of cool, I think,
that something someone could argue in front of the Supreme Court,
could be coding from my transcript.”
“It’s very exciting because I feel like I was a part of history. The cases made changes in this
world that are going to resound for years to come.”
“You don't need a legal background.
People here are hardworking,
intelligent,
and maybe a little bit of laughter.”
“Focus is pretty much
a big part of my job.
There have been some pretty surprising things that have happened.
You can watch,
but you have to be writing at the same time.”
“We’re licensed at 250 words per minute.
“I clocked some lawyers the other day, going at 270 words per minute. So it’s challenging
to be able to keep up with them, especially when some of the testimony coming in is
highly technical, medical.”
“What I really like about court reporting is being right in the middle of things, and hearing things
that other people don't get to hear.
Sidebar conferences,
Knowing the intricate details of what makes our Judicial system work.”
“This is a great work environment.
It has a very high degree of professionalism, but at the same time, there's a feeling of friendship
and camaraderie.” “There’s a lot of self-satisfaction at the end of the day when we’re doing a daily
trial,
and we bind
250 pages of transcript, and you’ve got every word that was said.
And, you know, you get an e-mail back from the attorneys that says, “Wow, great job!”
“It’s very interesting. One hour you might be doing a case with a border bust,
transporting drugs,
then the next hour you’ll have a civil case.” “I just like my job. I like court reporting, so I would
encourage people. It’s been a great job for me.”
“I never take it for granted. It’s really a great place to work.”
“I would definitely recommend my job to others. As long as they don't apply for mine.”