SUPREME JUDICIAL
COURT INVITES COMMENTS ON REPORT OF
THE STUDY COMMITTEE ON TRIAL TRANSCRIPTS
Boston--The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court today announced
that they are inviting public comments on the Report of the
Study Committee on Trial Transcripts, which was recently submitted
to the Court following a six-month review by the Study Committee. Comments should be directed to Sandra Lundy, Esq., Supreme Judicial
Court, One Beacon Street, 3rd floor, Boston, Massachusetts
02108, by no later than October 15, 2003.
Chaired
by Appeals Court Justice Mark V. Green, the thirteen-member
Study Committee, composed of judges, attorneys, clerks,
and other court administrators, found that “the problem
of delay in trial transcripts stands as the single greatest
impediment to the progress of cases appealed from the Massachusetts
trial courts.” The
Report states that the process of trial court record making
and transcript preparation is hampered by inadequate resources,
systemic inefficiencies, and a lack of effective management. The
Study Committee also cited the enormous costs to the justice
system and to residents and businesses as a result of the
delay.
According
to the Report, “The process of preparing a trial transcript
in Massachusetts reflects in microcosm many of the problems
described by the report of the Visiting Committee on Management
in the Courts earlier this year. While
the current methods of record making and transcript preparation
do not fully utilize new and emerging technologies, the
essential problems stem at least as much from a lack of
effective management and sufficient resources as from outmoded
technology.”
The
Committee recommends solutions in four broad categories:
a change in management structure; areas for management
attention, including the establishment of formatting standards
and time standards; areas for contractual attention; and
adoption of new technologies.
A
major recommendation is the creation of an Office of Court
Reporting and Transcription Services in the Administrative
Office of the Trial Court that would manage and oversee
all court record making and transcript preparation throughout
the Trial Court. Two committee members, in a minority report,
stated they were not in favor of a centralized office of
court reporting and transcription services, but endorsed
many of the other recommendations.
Last
January the Supreme Judicial Court charged the Committee
to study means by which the timeliness and accuracy of
trial transcripts could be improved. The
Committee undertook a comprehensive review of practices
and policies in Massachusetts, gathered information from
court reporters, transcribers, judges, and court administrators
in the Commonwealth and in other state and federal jurisdictions,
and reviewed new technologies to facilitate court record
making and transcript preparation.
The Report of the Study Committee on Trial Transcripts
can be found at http://www.state.ma.us/courts/trialtransrep.pdf
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