Judicial Services Report 2016, 225th Anniversary Edition

Fractions of these shorthand versions were used for many years until the arrival of a young, ambitious Irish immigrant named John Gregg. Often referred to as the “Apple Macintosh of the 19th Century”, Gregg produced a new version of shorthand that had many more appealing factors. Still phonetic in nature, Gregg shorthand was more efficient than Pitman. It allowed the stenographer to keep the pen on the paper, so hand movements flowed easier. Pitman’s version had both thick and thin lines, whereas Gregg’s version depended on lighter strokes. Although both versions were utilized, in the end it was Gregg’s creation that won the popular vote. Gregg still remains the most popular version of shorthand to this day in North America. Advancing technology soon caught up with stenographers at the dawn of the 20th Century with the invention of the first functional stenotype machine. Created in 1877 by an American named Miles Bartholomew, this remarkable machine, com- prising of only ten keys, enabled the user to utilize the keys depressed singularly or simultaneously, to capture the spoken word with a combination of dots and dashes. There were various improvements to this original prototype over the ensuing years. The modern steno machine keyboard that most resembles the keyboard utilized today by stenographers made its debut a few decades later in 1939. Still based on the use of phonetics, the machine enabled the operator to create ‘briefs’, allowing for entire phrases to be taken down at once. Extra keys were added, to make a total of 26, and letters were as- signed to each key or a combination thereof. A typical brief, for example, is the phrase “beyond a reasonable doubt”. These four words can be written simultaneously, and would look like this on a typical stenotype machine: “kwr a eu r d.” All it took to record this simple phrase was one stroke; all keys being depressed at once. This was transferred to a roll of paper, similar in appearance to a grocery store bill, which was then typed up by the stenographer or a note reader, who could decipher these mysterious combination of letters. The demise of Pitman/Gregg shorthand pen writers in the court systems began much earlier, however, in 1914 at a na- tional shorthand speed competition. Hundreds of hopeful pen writers crowded the convention, when in walked a group of teenage competitors. Sponsored by the Universal Stenotype Company, these upstart youths were trained to operate steno machines at equal or in excess speeds of the most seasoned of pen writers. These machine writers managed to win every contest and walked home with all of the awards. Alarmed at this new technological development, and fearing for their very livelihood, contest organizers pulled the plug on the national competition for five years. However, by the time the next na- tional competition returned in 1919, the point had been made. Even though machine writers were banned from the competi- tion, it was too late. Machine writers had already begun to replace pen writers in court rooms across America. Today there are thousands of court reporters employed in various aspects of the profession. Increasing computer tech- nology has enabled court reporters to be useful in other areas besides the courtroom. One of these areas is called CART, Computerized Automatic Real-time Translation. This enables the end user to read almost simultaneously what is being spo- ken on a computer screen. Specialized software is programmed to translate the reporter’s machine strokes, turning the seemingly unintelligible mass of letters into decipherable language. This is particularly helpful for the hearing impaired, who utilize the services of court reporters to follow live proceedings such as the news, government hearings, sporting events, and even in university settings.

At present, there are currently 19 official court reporters for Lancaster County who produce thousands of pages of tran- scripts each year. As the population of Lancaster County continues to expand and new judges are elected to the bench, the demand for court reporting services will also increase.