The Washington Post reports here and the Los Angeles Times here about the predicament that a number of appellants in Colorado's appellate courts are facing because the court reporter refuses to transcribe the record of their cases.
Despite being cited for contempt, a former Arapahoe County, Colorado court reporter refuses to transcribe the trial records of at least eight cases putting the appeals of those cases on indefinite hold. She argues through her attorney that she has no legal obligation to finish the transcripts and for her to be forced to do so constitutes "slavery" in violation of the 13th Amendment.
She left her employment to undergo treatment for breast cancer but is now employed full time as a deputy clerk in the United States District Court in Denver.
**Update** On December 1, even as I was typing the above, the Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed the contempt citation in an opinion which can be found here. Hat tip to How Appealing.
2 comments:
Why not just send a few deputies in to seize the tapes and give them to some other court reporter, at the original reporter's expense?
Apparently something like that was considered but she is the only person who can read her shorthand notes.
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