Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 17
CHAPTER 17
Relative to California Court Reporting and Captioning Week.
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Filed with
Secretary of State
March 17, 2017.
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LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 17, Mark Stone.
California Court Reporting and Captioning Week.
This measure would proclaim the week of February 11, 2017, through February 18, 2017, inclusive, as California Court Reporting and Captioning Week and request the Governor to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the great State of California to observe the day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and educational activities.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, For millennia, individuals have wanted the spoken word translated into text to record history and to accomplish this task have relied on scribes; and
WHEREAS, The profession of scribe was born with the rise of civilization; and
WHEREAS, In ancient Egypt, scribes were considered to be the literate elite, recording laws and other important documents and, since that time, have served as impartial witnesses to history; and
WHEREAS, Scribes were present with our nation’s founding fathers as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights were drafted; and
WHEREAS, President Abraham Lincoln entrusted scribes to record the Emancipation Proclamation; and
WHEREAS, Since the advent of shorthand machines, these scribes have been known as court reporters and have played a permanent and invaluable role across our country; and
WHEREAS, Court reporters are present in the California State Legislature, preserving legislators’ words and actions; and
WHEREAS, Court reporters and captioners are responsible for keeping a complete, accurate, secure, and unbiased record of courtroom proceedings and other legal matters, including civil depositions; and
WHEREAS, Through the Transcript Reimbursement Fund, court reporters fund and are responsible for providing courtroom transcripts to indigent litigants; and
WHEREAS, Court reporters and captioners are responsible for the closed captioning seen scrolling across television screens, at sporting stadiums, and in other community and educational settings, bringing information to millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans every day; and
WHEREAS, Court reporters regularly volunteer to document educational events and to capture veterans’ oral histories at community events; and
WHEREAS, There are an estimated 8,500 Californians working as court reporters and captioners; and
WHEREAS, Court reporters and captioners translate the spoken word into text and preserve our history; and
WHEREAS, Whether called the scribes of yesterday or the court reporters and captioners of today, the individuals who preserve our nation’s history are truly the guardians of the record; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature proclaims February 11, 2017, through February 18, 2017, inclusive, as California Court Reporting and Captioning Week, and requests that the Governor issue a proclamation calling on the people of the great State of California to observe the day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and educational activities; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.