With computers and recording equipment, why do courts still need court
stenographers?

Hello laineylain,

First let's start with a quick overview of what stenographers do.

"STENOGRAPHERS take dictation in shorthand and then transcribe their
notes
on a typewriter or word processor.  Occasionally they may type
directly from
a dictating machine, using earphones to listen to a recorded voice. 
Dictation may include letters, legal documents, technical or
statistical
data, and other materials.  Stenographers are responsible for correct
format, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.  They are expected
to
distinguish between words or expressions that sound alike but are
spelled
differently and to use the dictionary for reference."
Source: Stenographers
http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/occguide/STENOGRA.HTM

As you can see, Stenographers are responsible for coming up with
accurate court transcripts of everything that was said in the trail
(and permissible on the record). The problem with recording equipment
is that it would be in the audio format, and perhaps different people
would interpret words differently. Stenographers are trained to
understand what is happening and the context words are used in.

In addition, although computers have the ability to convert voice to
text format, the technology for this is in its infancy. There is no
way a courtroom would even consider using this technology to make
transcripts.

I recommend that you try a voice search on Google to see what this
technology is like: http://labs1.google.com/gvs.html

One final point, is that paper copies and computer text documents are
easier to transfer from one place to another, especially across the
internet. Transcripts in text format can be searched, emailed and
posted on the internet, whereas audio format would take more bandwidth
and space.

In summary, stenographers have a pretty secure job because we need
them to accurately record what happens in the courtroom. Sure someone
could take the tape later and write out the transcript, but if they
are present at the court it takes the same amount of time, and they
are able to get a sense of what is really happening.

I hope this was the type of answer you were looking for. If you need
any clarifications, please let me know and I will do my best to
further assist you.

tisme-ga


Search Strategy:

stenographers
://www.google.com/search?q=stenographers

google voice search
://www.google.com/search?q=google+voice+search

Answer was thorough and easy to understand.

For legal stuff, written transcripts are needed.
Computers are not advanced enough to capture many different
peoples' speech and convert it into text. A stenographer,
using a special typewriter can type in a special phonetic or
shorthand way to transcribe words. Later, the stenographer
looks at this shorthand transcription and makes a written
transcript.

Here are some materials by court reporter Gary Robson.

  Speech Recognition Technology
  http://www.robson.org/gary/writing/cr-speechrecognition.html

Court reporters may also be closed captioners.
In the following link, Robson describes a little about how
stenocaptioners/stenographers type.

  How are realtime captions generated?
  http://www.robson.org/capfaq/online.html#RealtimeHow

If there were ever any dispute over whether a trial record was
accurate, the stenographer can stand up in court and testify "I was in
court, those are my shorthand notes, those are my written up notes, I
declare they are complete and accurate". An audio or video recording
may not in itself be evidentially acceptable, it may require to be
"spoken to" by a witness.

Owain