Amended in Assembly February 19, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 20

Introduced by Assembly Member Mark Stone

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, and Wood)

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February 9, 2015

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 20—Relative to California Court Reporting and Captioning Week.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 20, as amended, Mark Stone. California Court Reporting and Captioning Week.

This measure would proclaim the week of February 15, 2015, through February 21, 2015, 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.

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 15,
2015, through February 21, 2015, 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.