Court transcripts are treated as public goods, but the labor that creates them is not. While federal courts quietly preserve a temporary restriction period before transcripts become freely accessible, state court systems operate under very different economic models. Together, these frameworks reveal how control of the legal record has shifted away from court reporters, steadily separating access from fair compensation.
Tag Archives: PublicRecords
The Quiet Exploitation Behind the Federal Court Record
For more than twenty years, federal courts have profited from certified transcripts produced by court reporters—without compensating the professionals who created and certified the official record. PACER refunds may address user overcharges, but they do nothing to resolve the underlying exploitation of court reporters’ labor. Until reporters are paid for their work product, the federal court record rests on an unsustainable imbalance.
STENOIMPERIUM 