In January 2023, the Indiana Supreme Court’s Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure introduced a proposed amendment to the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure. Specifically, the proposed amendment to Rule 74(B) states that “Recording through shorthand or stenography is prohibited.” Since then, the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) has mobilized its members and committees alike to stand united in opposition to this proposed amendment.
The NCRA STRONG Committee, established in March 2019 and chaired by NCRA Past President Sue A. Terry, FAPR, RPR, CRR, CRC, has since mobilized to draft a letter urging the state of Indiana to consider the downfalls of such a proposal. “We are STRONGer together,” said Terry, who led the Committee’s effort. “We are proud of the many hours of work that our Committee contributed and wish to also thank them, as well as our NCRA staff, who have worked tirelessly to disseminate the information for us.”
Since the launch of NCRA’s grassroots effort in January, STRONG held frequent virtual meetings to strategize and draft an articulate response to educate the Indiana Supreme Court on the need for protecting access to an accurate record for all Americans. Ensuring equal access regardless of race, religion, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, or levels of income, as well as the safeguarding of litigants’ personal identifying information and preservation of civil liberties are of paramount importance and remain STRONG’s top priority as NCRA’s committee dedicated to combatting false proclamations that digital and automatic speech recognition (ASR) methods of capturing the spoken word are equal or superior to stenographic means.
Read the Committee’s letter here in its entirety.
Signers of the STRONG Committee’s letter to Indiana regarding Proposed Amendment to Rule 74(B):
NCRA STRONG Committee Co-Chairs:
NCRA Past President Sue A. Terry, FAPR, RPR, CRR, CRC
Lisa Migliore Black
NCRA STRONG Board Liaison:
NCRA Immediate Past President Debbie Dibble, RDR, CRR, CRC
NCRA STRONG Committee members:
Elizabeth A. Harvey, FAPR, RPR
Stacey Raikes, RMR, CRR
Andrea Kreutz, CLVS
Mary E. Pierce
Lin Riffle, RDR, CRR, CRC
Jo Holmgren
Lillian Freiler, FAPR, RMR, CMRS
Susan L. Alford, RPR
Kimberly Falgiani, RDR, CRC, CRR
Sierra Zanghi, RSR
Stefanie Allison, RPR
Mindy Sindiong, CLVS
Elizabeth Tremmel
