No court reporter? Record the hearing, California Supreme Court rules

The California Supreme Court ruled that courts must allow electronic recordings of hearings when certified court reporters aren't available. The decision addresses a massive shortage—since twenty twenty-three, more than three million proceedings have gone unrecorded. Hiring a private court reporter can cost over three thousand dollars per hearing, pricing out many Californians from accessing transcripts. The ruling opens recordings as an alternative for cases like domestic violence restraining orders, custody disputes, and family law matters where professional reporters are unavailable. Court reporter unions opposed the decision, arguing recordings can't match the quality of certified transcripts, but the court found that any record is better than none. CalMatters reports the median court reporter salary in California exceeds two hundred thousand dollars, yet courts continue struggling to fill positions—Los Angeles alone has ninety-two vacant reporter spots.

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