Not Optional – Why Stenographers Are Essential to the Constitution and Your Freedom

Posted bystenoimperiumPosted inAI and the Legal System, Court Reporting, Legal ServicesTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When people talk about constitutional rights, they often think of freedom of speech, the right to an attorney, or protections against unlawful search and seizure. But there’s a quieter, often overlooked guardian of those rights—one whose absence could unravel the very foundation of due process: the court reporter.

We don’t just transcribe proceedings. We are the eyes and ears of the Constitution in the courtroom. Without an accurate and impartial record of what took place, there is no way to ensure justice was served, no foundation for appeal, and no check against corruption. A justice system without court reporters is a system dangerously close to tyranny.

Let’s break down exactly how stenographic court reporters safeguard freedom—and why their presence is not a luxury, but a constitutional necessity.

1. Due Process Is Impossible Without a Record

The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution guarantee that no person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”

But what is “due process” without an accurate transcript?

If a criminal defendant is convicted and wants to appeal, the appellate court doesn’t hear witnesses again. It doesn’t re-try the case. It reads the record. The same is true for civil trials, family court, immigration hearings, and more. The transcript is the foundation upon which justice is reviewed.

If the transcript is incomplete, inaccurate, or missing, then the right to appeal—an essential component of due process—is functionally eliminated.

Without court reporters, litigants—especially the poor, the voiceless, and the unrepresented—are left without a way to challenge injustice. That’s not just a procedural failure. It’s a constitutional violation.

2. Court Reporters Are the Human Safeguards in a System Meant to Serve Humans

Technology can be a powerful aid to justice—but it’s not a substitute for human judgment, ethics, or accountability.

Digital recordings don’t stop proceedings when a witness is mumbling.
Automatic speech recognition (ASR) doesn’t flag inaudible testimony.
AI doesn’t interrupt to clarify the record.

A trained stenographer, however, will immediately speak up when something is unclear, when parties are speaking over one another, or when the record is in jeopardy.

We don’t just transcribe. We protect.

In fact, the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) code of ethics requires reporters to produce an impartial, verbatim record and to maintain the confidentiality of all proceedings. This ethical obligation binds us to fairness in a way no algorithm can replicate.

When proceedings are left to machines—or worse, to private contractors with conflicting interests—the system becomes less about truth and more about expediency. That’s the opposite of justice. That’s how tyrannical systems evolve.

3. The Record Is the Shield Against Government Overreach

Imagine a system where people are detained, sentenced, or stripped of their rights—and there’s no permanent record of what was said. No transcript. No way to prove coercion, bias, or error. Just the word of the powerful against the powerless.

This isn’t theoretical. It has happened in authoritarian regimes throughout history. And it happens today in legal systems where reporters are not present.

In contrast, the United States holds itself to a higher standard—because we have a record.

Court reporters ensure that everything said in a courtroom becomes part of the permanent, reviewable record. If a judge acts improperly, if a lawyer behaves unethically, if a witness recants, the record tells the truth.

That is the cornerstone of accountability in a democratic society. That is the protection against tyranny.

4. Stenographers Ensure Access to Justice for All

Justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done. And for that, the record must be accessible.

When stenographers are present, transcripts can be requested, certified, and used in subsequent proceedings. They can be provided to parties who couldn’t afford counsel or who need to prove that they were wronged.

But with digital audio and ASR, access to the record is often limited, unauditable, and controlled by private entities. In some cases, these systems fail to distinguish between speakers, omit testimony, or produce garbled text that is functionally useless.

Even worse, litigants may not realize the record is flawed until it’s too late—at the appellate stage, when errors are irreversible.

Without a trusted human reporter, justice becomes less transparent, less accessible, and more vulnerable to error and manipulation.

5. Freedom Requires Checks and Balances

In the United States, we pride ourselves on a justice system built on checks and balances. But those checks depend on documentation. The courts cannot police themselves without a record of their actions.

  • No one can be held accountable without proof.
  • No ruling can be reversed without context.
  • No injustice can be exposed without the words that were actually said.

Court reporters are the quiet check on the powerful. We don’t argue, advocate, or interfere. We preserve. We observe. And in doing so, we make sure no one rewrites history.

That is how freedom survives. That is how tyranny is kept at bay.

6. Court Reporting Is Under Attack—And So Is Justice

Despite our critical role, stenographers are being phased out in some jurisdictions—replaced with low-paid digital recorders or AI transcription tools, often to “cut costs.” But the savings are an illusion.

What jurisdictions save in hourly wages, they will pay tenfold in:

  • Appeals
  • Mistrials
  • Delays
  • Civil rights lawsuits

And more importantly, they risk losing public trust in the judicial system.

You cannot automate accountability. You cannot delegate due process to a software company. And you cannot preserve freedom with a faulty record.

They’re Constitutional. We Are Constitutional.

So when we say “Save Steno,” we’re not clinging to nostalgia. We’re defending the rule of law.

We are not just court reporters. We are the human infrastructure that upholds the Constitution every single day.

  • We are how due process is protected.
  • We are how rights are preserved.
  • We are how the truth endures.

Take us out of the courtroom, and you don’t just lose a job. You lose justice.
You lose freedom.
You lose the Constitution in action.

Call to Action

If you’re an attorney, judge, legislator, or citizen:

  • Insist on a certified stenographic reporter.
  • Refuse automated substitutes in legal proceedings.
  • Support legislation that protects the human record.
  • Tell your state courts: Justice needs stenographers.

Because without us, there is no justice.

And without justice, freedom is nothing but a word.

Steno Imperium
Court Reporting. Unfiltered. Unafraid.

Disclaimer

The content of this post is intended for informational and discussion purposes only. All opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are based on publicly available information, industry standards, and good-faith concerns about nonprofit governance and professional ethics. No part of this article is intended to defame, accuse, or misrepresent any individual or organization. Readers are encouraged to verify facts independently and to engage constructively in dialogue about leadership, transparency, and accountability in the court reporting profession.

  • The content on this blog represents the personal opinions, observations, and commentary of the author. It is intended for editorial and journalistic purposes and is protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
  • Nothing here constitutes legal advice. Readers are encouraged to review the facts and form independent conclusions.

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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.