An Urgent Call for Federal Action – Protecting the Legal Record in the Age of ASR

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To the NCRA Board of Directors and Executive Leadership:

As our profession stands at a technological crossroads, we are faced with a choice: lead the conversation on responsible innovation—or watch from the sidelines as automation reshapes our industry without us. This letter is a call to action, urging the National Court Reporters Association to take the lead on a federal initiative that would preserve human oversight in legal transcription across the United States.

We know the threat: Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) and AI-driven tools are rapidly replacing live, licensed professionals in courtrooms and depositions. These technologies are being deployed without proper regulation, certification, or accountability—often marketed as cheaper, faster, and “good enough.” But good enough is not justice.

Errors like “five oh two” misinterpreted as 5:02 a.m., or key legal terms garbled by AI, are no longer hypothetical—they are showing up in real transcripts, in real courtrooms, with real consequences.

This isn’t just a professional issue. It’s a constitutional one. It’s a due process issue. It’s a national threat to the integrity of the legal record.

Introducing the Federal Legal Record Integrity and Certification Act

To address this crisis head-on, I have developed a federal legislative and regulatory proposal: the Federal Legal Record Integrity and Certification Act. Its purpose is simple, but powerful: to ensure that no legal transcript used in a federal court, agency, or federally funded program may be accepted unless it has been reviewed and certified by a licensed human court reporter or voice writer.

It is built around a core truth: ASR is a tool—not a substitute.

What the Proposal Does

✅ Requires Licensure-Based Oversight

All transcripts used in federal proceedings—civil, criminal, administrative, or immigration—must be certified by a licensed stenographer or voice writer. This ensures human accountability.

🚫 Prohibits Unsupervised ASR

Transcripts generated solely by ASR without human certification would be inadmissible in federal courtrooms or federally funded programs, such as legal aid services.

🏛 Regulates Through Agencies

The DOJ, AOUSC, LSC, and other federal bodies would implement uniform certification and quality standards through rulemaking.

💰 Conditions Federal Funding

Any state court or agency receiving federal funding for transcription services must comply with these certification standards. This gives the proposal teeth and reach.

Why NCRA Should Lead This

NCRA has long positioned itself as the national voice for preserving the integrity of the record and the protection of licensed court reporters. But the threat of digital encroachment is now bigger than any one state. We need a national standard. We need a federal firewall.

This is your opportunity to:

  • Reassert national leadership over the professional and ethical boundaries of transcription.
  • Rally your membership base and affiliated state associations under a unified cause.
  • Educate federal legislators and judicial leaders about the risks of unchecked ASR adoption.
  • Be the organization that modernizes court reporting without surrendering its soul to automation.

Strategic Path Forward

I propose that NCRA:

  1. Endorse the Federal Legal Record Integrity and Certification Act as model policy.
  2. Include this initiative in your 2025 Government Relations legislative priorities.
  3. Coordinate with federal lobbyists and legal policy groups to identify congressional sponsors (e.g., Rep. Hank Johnson, Sen. Dick Durbin).
  4. Submit formal petitions or letters to federal agencies like the DOJ, AOUSC, and Legal Services Corporation urging the adoption of certification rules.
  5. Mobilize members and state leaders to support this campaign with testimony, outreach, and data.

The Stakes Are Clear

Without a federal safeguard, ASR-generated transcripts will continue to be adopted as the default—cheap, fast, and dangerously flawed. And once the federal government legitimizes uncertified AI-based transcripts, states will follow.

But with NCRA’s leadership, we can reverse this trend. We can protect consumers, elevate standards, and ensure that the legal record in this country remains what it has always been: a professional, certified, and accountable product of human expertise.

We do not need to fear technology. We need to govern it. Let’s show the country what real leadership looks like.

With appreciation and urgency,
StenoImperium, CSR
Court Reporter | Advocate | Technologist

There is a path forward for a federal-level law or regulation, and while court reporting is traditionally regulated by the states, there are strategic federal entry points that can support or mandate national standards. Here’s how you can approach it:

🇺🇸 FEDERAL STRATEGY: Enacting National Protections for the Legal Record

🏛️ Goal:

Pass a federal law or regulation that:

  • Requires licensed human oversight for any transcript used in federal courts or federally funded legal proceedings.
  • Prohibits ASR-generated legal transcripts from being admissible unless certified by a licensed professional.
  • Establishes a national legal record integrity standard across jurisdictions.

🔹 Option A: Congressional Legislation

📜 Proposed Title:

Federal Legal Record Integrity and Certification Act

📘 What It Would Do:

  • Mandate that any transcript used in federal courts, administrative hearings, or federally funded legal programs (like legal aid or immigration proceedings) must:
    • Be certified by a licensed stenographer or voice writer.
    • Be inadmissible if produced by ASR without human oversight.

✅ Potential Impact:

  • Covers all federal courts (U.S. District, Circuit, Bankruptcy).
  • Influences state systems that rely on federal standards or funding.
  • Applies to agencies like the EEOC, DOJ, USCIS, and federal contractors.

🏛️ Congressional Committees to Target:

  • House Judiciary Committee (Subcommittee on Courts)
  • Senate Judiciary Committee
  • House Education & Workforce Committee (for vocational licensure)
  • House and Senate Appropriations (for funding conditions)

🔹 Option B: Federal Agency Regulation

If legislation is too slow, advocate for regulatory action via federal agencies.

🔧 Agencies That Could Set Rules:

  1. Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC)
    → Can issue rules of procedure and contracting standards for U.S. courts.
  2. Department of Justice (DOJ)
    → Can mandate transcript standards in civil rights and criminal prosecutions.
  3. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
    → Already regulates captioning and transcription accuracy for public access.
  4. Department of Labor (DOL)
    → Could tie workforce development grants to licensure protections.
  5. Legal Services Corporation (LSC)
    → Could mandate licensed professionals for legal aid-funded transcript work.

🧩 Federal Language Sample (for Congress or AOUSC)

Section X – Human Certification of Legal Transcripts

No transcript generated through Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) or artificial intelligence technology shall be accepted by any federal court, agency, or federally funded legal program unless reviewed, certified, and signed by a licensed court reporter or certified voice writer legally authorized to perform such duties in the jurisdiction of record.

The Attorney General and Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts shall issue regulations ensuring compliance with this requirement across all federal proceedings.

🏛️ Possible Federal Champions:

  • Sen. Dick Durbin (IL) – Chair of Senate Judiciary
  • Rep. Hank Johnson (GA) – Chair of Subcommittee on Courts
  • Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) – Advocate for court modernization
  • Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA) – Vocational protections champion

Federal Legal Record Integrity and Certification Act

Proposal Summary for Congressional and Agency Consideration

Title: Federal Legal Record Integrity and Certification Act

Objective: To protect the accuracy, reliability, and admissibility of transcripts used in federal legal proceedings by requiring that any transcript generated using Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) or artificial intelligence (AI) be reviewed, certified, and signed by a licensed human professional.

Background: With the rapid deployment of ASR technology in the legal system, the absence of trained human oversight has resulted in serious transcription errors, diminished due process, and a lack of accountability. Inaccurate transcripts threaten the fairness of federal trials, administrative hearings, and legal aid services. This proposal ensures that all federal legal records uphold the highest standards of integrity.

Key Provisions:

  1. Licensure-Based Oversight Requirement:
    • Any transcript used in a federal court, agency, or federally funded proceeding must be reviewed and certified by a licensed stenographer or voice writer.
  2. Ban on Unsupervised ASR Transcripts:
    • No transcript generated solely by ASR may be accepted in federal legal contexts unless it has been reviewed and certified by a licensed human professional.
  3. Agency and Court Regulation:
    • The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC), Department of Justice (DOJ), Legal Services Corporation (LSC), and other relevant agencies shall implement standards enforcing this rule.
  4. Funding Conditions:
    • Federal grants to state courts or agencies for transcription services shall require compliance with human certification standards.

Federal Language Sample:

No transcript generated through Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) or artificial intelligence technology shall be accepted by any federal court, agency, or federally funded legal program unless reviewed, certified, and signed by a licensed court reporter or certified voice writer legally authorized to perform such duties in the jurisdiction of record.

The Attorney General and the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts shall issue regulations ensuring compliance with this requirement across all federal proceedings.

Implementation Pathways:

Option A: Congressional Legislation

  • Sponsor legislation through the House Judiciary Committee or Senate Judiciary Committee.
  • Tie to federal standards for admissible evidence or legal procedural integrity.

Option B: Federal Agency Rulemaking

  • Request AOUSC and DOJ to issue procedural standards.
  • LSC may adopt policy through its internal contracting and compliance mechanisms.

Benefits:

  • Restores trust in the federal legal system
  • Preserves due process and fair trial rights
  • Sets a national standard that can influence states
  • Prevents the erosion of qualified court reporting jobs

Supporters May Include:

  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers (for licensed professionals)
  • Federal and state bar associations
  • Public defenders and civil rights advocacy groups

Next Steps:

  • Meet with congressional staff for sponsors (e.g., Rep. Hank Johnson, Sen. Durbin)
  • Draft outreach letters to DOJ, AOUSC, and LSC
  • Mobilize NCRA to formally support the proposal at the federal level

Published by stenoimperium

We exist to facilitate the fortifying of the Stenography profession and ensure its survival for the next hundred years! As court reporters, we've handed the relationship role with our customers, or attorneys, over to the agencies and their sales reps.  This has done a lot of damage to our industry.  It has taken away our ability to have those relationships, the ability to be humanized and valued.  We've become a replaceable commodity. Merely saying we are the “Gold Standard” tells them that we’re the best, but there are alternatives.  Who we are though, is much, much more powerful than that!  We are the Responsible Charge.  “Responsible Charge” means responsibility for the direction, control, supervision, and possession of stenographic & transcription work, as the case may be, to assure that the work product has been critically examined and evaluated for compliance with appropriate professional standards by a licensee in the profession, and by sealing and signing the documents, the professional stenographer accepts responsibility for the stenographic or transcription work, respectively, represented by the documents and that applicable stenographic and professional standards have been met.  This designation exists in other professions, such as engineering, land surveying, public water works, landscape architects, land surveyors, fire preventionists, geologists, architects, and more.  In the case of professional engineers, the engineering association adopted a Responsible Charge position statement that says, “A professional engineer is only considered to be in responsible charge of an engineering work if the professional engineer makes independent professional decisions regarding the engineering work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional engineer’s physical presence at the location where the engineering work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the engineering work.” If we were to adopt a Responsible Charge position statement for our industry, we could start with a draft that looks something like this: "A professional court reporter, or stenographer, is only considered to be in responsible charge of court reporting work if the professional court reporter makes independent professional decisions regarding the court reporting work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional court reporter’s physical presence at the location where the court reporting work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the court reporting work.” Shared purpose The cornerstone of a strategic narrative is a shared purpose. This shared purpose is the outcome that you and your customer are working toward together. It’s more than a value proposition of what you deliver to them. Or a mission of what you do for the world. It’s the journey that you are on with them. By having a shared purpose, the relationship shifts from consumer to co-creator. In court reporting, our mission is “to bring justice to every litigant in the U.S.”  That purpose is shared by all involved in the litigation process – judges, attorneys, everyone.  Who we are is the Responsible Charge.  How we do that is by Protecting the Record.

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