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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