OCRA

Home

Calendar

President's Message

Legislative Update

Classified Ads

Photos

Career/Membership

Bylaws

Board/Chairpersons

Discussion Forum

History

Links

What's New

In Brief

 

Annual Reports Archive/History of OCRA

Current Committee Reports

Back to Top

Archived Annual Reports

Back to Top

OREGON COURT REPORTER ASSOCIATION

HISTORY

History, it is said, is written by the victor. When the world looks closely, however, it should be said history is written by the court reporter.

There have been court reporters in one form or another since history has been recorded in the world. In Oregon, the modern-day reporters organized themselves into the Oregon Shorthand Reporters Association (OSRA) in 1949. The first volunteer president to lead the organization was Gordon Griffiths, a pen writer.

In 1949 pen writers dominated the profession and, it should also be noted, men dominated the profession as well. The original shorthand machine was invented in 1877, improved to a more recognizable version in 1914, and was so skillfully designed that, with minor changes, its popularity grew in the post-depression era of the 1930s. As technology progressed court reporters in Oregon embraced the manual shorthand machine over pen writing.

During this era, and until computers came on the scene, most reporters were working in either the courtroom environment as Official Court Reporter, an employee of the court and making a verbatim record of civil, criminal, and municipal court, or they were freelancers, making that same verbatim record in law offices throughout the state.

Court reporters were extremely innovative and proved themselves flexible as the computer age dawned. By 1978 the first pioneers, Charlene Beovich and Pam Rozycki, blazed the trail for the Oregon profession by spending over $100,000 on a computer that performed a single task – transcript production. They knew they were breaking new ground. The rest of us followed their lead.

Thanks to a supportive hardware and software industry, court reporting with computers has continued to flourish. As computers began being more portable and more affordable (and could multi-task!) an interesting thing happened. The uses to which reporter skills and technology could be used began to expand. Again, the flexibility of the reporter encouraged and, indeed, drove the expansion of that technology as it continues to do.

Today, the shorthand machine is paired, by cables or wireless, with a computer which translates the stenographic language into English for display on the computer screen using the reporter’s own self-built dictionary of writing style. Though there currently are but a few reporters left in the State's courthouses, at least as direct employees, court reporters can be found using their technology by:

  • continuing in the freelance field and in such places as accompanying students who are hearing impaired and use the written word to access the spoken record and participate;

  • in public meetings where enlarged screens allow people to read when they cannot hear;

  • in live and taped television via the captioning industry showing English, Spanish, French on your personal TV screen;

  • in the medical transcription field where doctors access their handwritten reports to share;

  • in volunteer projects such as the Holocaust Oral History Project where priceless personal stories are preserved, and many other areas as the field continues to grow.

From nearly the beginning of OSRA, later to be called OCRA (Oregon Court Reporters Association), there was a move to "certify" proficiency of the individual, both as a personal achievement for the reporter and as an outward assurance of protection for the litigants. While daily work has always been the ultimate "test" of proficiency, standardization for new and transplant reporters was sought.

Finally, in 1979, after repeated attempts through the years, the legislature granted voluntary, rather than the requested mandatory, certification through the Certified Shorthand Reporters (CSR) program beginning in 1980. Originally the CSR program was administered by the Oregon Department of Labor and currently is overseen by the State Court Administrator at the Department of Justice.

Today, history is written daily, uploaded to the internet, and can be known by the world in moments. The court reporter of today, as in the beginning, has a hunger for knowledge with the complexity of cases, is quite flexible in their professional life, and is definitely self-motivated, continually embracing new technology. OCRA’s volunteer association strives to further excellence in the profession, offering CE seminars to members and promoting legislation favorable to the profession through our lobbyists’ efforts.

The history and the future of court reporters in Oregon is certainly bright, as the field of court reporting continues to expand. So, yes, history is written by the victor. The court reporter in Oregon is that victor, and the public is the beneficiary of this time-honored profession here and across the world.

Submitted by: Kathleen Monaghan, CSR (OR/WA), CMRS, CPE, Member of CSR Advisory Committee, Fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters, Past President of OCRA, past NCRA Board of Directors member.

Back to Top