Progress Newsletter & News4U Email Blast

• MCRA 2011 Conference – Camden at the Lake
• July 23rd Meeting for Freelance Court Reporters
• Deborah McLaughlin in 200 Words or Less
• PROGRESS is now on-line – Just a reminder
• Linda Dattilo in 200 Words or Less
• Crisis in the Courts – Editorial from the ABA 
• More Crises in the Courts – Michigan 
• Court Reporting Student Mentors Needed!
• CSI National Series – Killer Revealed
• Closed Captioning now available at The University of Oklahoma Football Games

MCRA 2011 Conference at Camden at the Lake – September 23rd, 24th AND 25th, 2011.  The Conference Committee will be offering 13 CEUs! Can’t make it Friday or Sunday? You can still obtain 10 CEUs by attending Saturday plus either Friday or Sunday.

This conference is going to be OUTSTANDING!! Our block at Camden at the Lake is completely SOLD OUT!! I’m told that our block at Resort at Port Arrowhead is also SOLD OUT!!  Please call Quality Inn at 573.365.2700 as they have some rooms available.  They are still $77.  Because of cancellations, I would check with Camden at the Lake and Resort at Port Arrowhead first. 
 We have a wonderful agenda that you can access at www.mocra.org.  Please come and join the fun!

Meeting 7/23/11 for Freelance Court Reporters - The Missouri Bar has created a committee to research opportunities to improve the criminal justice system.  One issue the committee is examining is ways to obtain discovery through depositions in criminal indigent cases at a lower cost to the taxpayers.
 The State and County budgets for prosecutors and public defenders have been reduced to the point that alternatives need to be considered, yet allowing the level of justice to remain the same. 
 Two members of the MoBar Criminal Law Council met with Joanne Martin, President of the Missouri Court Reporters Association, and various other members several times to discuss ideas, suggestions, and alternatives.
 A meeting was held July 23rd to discuss a preferred provider list and also to discus alternatives.  A meeting is going to be held on September 1st with President Joanne Martin, President-Elect Dawn McTeer and several members of the Missouri Bar to further discuss a Reduced Cost Program or other alternatives. 
If you have any questions, please email Joanne at Joanne.Martin@courts.mo.gov or call 314.622.4787. 

Deborah McLaughlin in 200 words or less – Debbie is originally from Atchison, Kansas. She grew up in a family-owned restaurant. She has 105 cousins - no, that’s not a typo! Debbie is the oldest child of six.
In November Debbie will celebrate 20 years of marriage to my sweet husband Patrick! They have a Great Pyrenees dog named Freeda, who is 5, and a cat named Alley, who is 13. Patrick & Debbie like to go road-tripping on Sundays to surrounding areas where they may visit wineries, festivals, anything that isn’t work!

Debbie has been a court reporter for 29 years.   She says, "I’m old!"  However, she began working in the court reporting profession as a mere youth.

After attending Mile Hi Court Reporting College in Lakewood, Colorado (yes, it was a real school!), she accepted a position in the 22nd Judicial Circuit-St. Louis City as a swing reporter. After two years of “swinging“, she started working for Judge James L. Sanders, and then Judge Margaret M. Neill.

In 2004 Debbie started McLaughlin Court Reporting Services, Inc., and currently freelances in and around St. Louis.

Debbie has served as President of the MCRA and served for many years on various MCRA committees. Since 2000, she has served on the Missouri Board of Certified Court Reporter Examiners, and Debbie also serves on the Advisory Board for the IRT program at St. Louis Community College.  If you ask Debbie what she thinks about the profession she has chosen you will always hear her say, “I LOVE COURT REPORTING! “

PROGRESS  is the MCRA biannual magazine.  This is just a reminder that you can find PROGRESS now on-line, so visit www.mocra.org and enjoy reading more detailed information about what is going on in your organization and our profession around the country.  The next issue of PROGRESS will be our post-convention issue and will be uploaded to our website around the holidays. 

The deadline for the submission of articles and stories for our next issue of PROGRESS is October 31st.  If you have an article you would like to recommend or submit, please forward to Marian Rein at her new email address marian@javajournalNOW.com.

Linda Dattilo in 200 Words or Less –– Linda was born in Oceanside, California, and has lived in Owensboro, Kentucky, Dodge City, Kansas, (yes, there really is one), Columbia and the St. Louis Metro area.

Linda has been a court reporter for 28 years now, almost ten of them in freelance and the rest in court.  Although she has enjoyed her early years in freelance, her fascination did lie with court.  Linda loves hearing a case from beginning to end and knowing the inside scoop on high publicity trials.  When asked why, Linda says, "Okay, so maybe I’m just nosy!"

In her free time, Linda loves to read mysteries, and she’s become a bit obsessed with the television station Investigation Discovery (ID), where they reenact crimes, disappearances, murders, and even one show from the suspect’s side!  You’d think she would get enough of it at work, wouldn’t you? 

Linda also does a little volunteer work with an animal rescue group, and in addition to her personal pets, she takes care of a small colony of feral (wild) cats who have made their home in her neighborhood. 

She has held several offices in MCRA, including president and treasurer, and has sat on a number of committees.  Linda truly believes every reporter should be a member of their state association.  State associations are the first line of defense against the eroding of jobs and the intrusion of electronic recording into the courts and the freelance arena. 

Linda encourages anyone who wants to get involved in the association to call the current president and volunteer to be on a committee.  It’s been so worthwhile, if for no other reason than that she has made so many friends through serving on the board and on committees. 

Crisis in the Courts – An Editorial by the American Bar Association – Please read an interesting editorial in the New York Times regarding an opinion of the American Bar Association that courts across our country are suffering due to cuts and layoffs.  Click here to read the entire opinion.
 
Kathy Foley and Joanne do have a full copy of the report from the American Bar Association if you would like to read it.  Do not hesitate to contact either Kathy or Joanne to email you a copy.  Joanne.Martin@courts.mo.gov or Kathy.Foley@courts.mo.gov

More Crises in the Courts – Michigan Supreme Court supports cutting 49 judge positions Paul Egan, Detroit News Lansing Bureau, Aug. 18, 2011 
Lansing — Michigan should eliminate 45 trial court judgeships and four appeals court judges, all by attrition, the State Court Administrative Office said in a report released Wednesday.  The report recommends consolidating district courts to reduce judges in Ecorse, River Rouge, Lincoln Park, Berkley and Oak Park. It says parts of Macomb and Oakland counties need additional judges, as does the busy 36th District Court in Detroit, but no more judges are recommended at this time.

It recommends a vacancy on the Wayne County Circuit Court not be filled.  The Michigan Supreme Court unanimously supports the cuts, which are more dramatic than past recommended cuts and would save about $7.8 million in salaries and benefits alone, Chief Justice Robert Young Jr. said at a news conference.

"Increasing the size of government is easy," said Young, who was nominated to the Michigan Supreme Court by the Republican Party. "It turns out it takes political courage to reduce it."

The report says there isn't enough workload to justify the current allotment of 584 trial judges and 28 appeals court judges. Some of those positions are vacant. It says Michigan has too many judges in the wrong place and some areas in the state have a combined need for 31 additional judges.

Despite that finding, the report isn't recommending any additional judges because of the current economic climate.  Young said he would support a bill calling for a net reduction of 45 trial judges if a lawmaker introduced it today, despite the fact the report found a need for a net reduction of only 14 trial judges.

Gov. Rick Snyder supports the recommendations, and though the Legislature has not acted on past reports, which are issued every two years, a different response is expected this time, State Court Administrator Chad Schmucker said.” The key leaders we have talked to have said it's different than it was in 2007 and 2009," Schmucker said.Snyder has Republican majorities in both chambers of the Legislature, where many lawmakers are calling for smaller government.

Rep. Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth, vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he supports the recommendations and believes many local governments may want to make even deeper cuts to the judiciary. Though the state pays judges' salaries, local governments have to pick up the costs such as court staff, security and overhead, Heise said.

 "Frankly, in many jurisdictions … those are overhead costs that local and county governments can no longer sustain," he said. Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also supports the proposed cuts, he said in a news release.

Each trial court judgeship reduction saves the state $157,500. The report recommends an 8 percent cut, which Schmucker said could take eight years or longer to achieve through attrition.  Snyder earlier announced he would seek legislation to reduce the number of Michigan appeal judges to 26 from 28 and he has declined to fill vacancies.

In his Feb. 17 budget, he called for a reduction of six trial court judges. Those cuts would be included in, and not be in addition to, the cuts recommended Wednesday, Schmucker said.

The 2009 report recommended the state reduce the number of appeals court judges through attrition to 24. The report also recommended the state save about $2.2 million by eliminating 15 trial court judgeships.
 
Mentors Needed – Calling All Court Reporters!  As the new school year has begun we will have many students at all levels looking for mentors.  This year MCRA has introduced a new Student Mentor program for our court reporting students, including the online student population.  This program is being offered as a way to bring professional court reporters and students together.
Serving as a mentor to the students is wonderfully rewarding for all involved, and all it really requires on your part is an occasional bit of time and attention devoted to a student.  Lending your experience and support as a working reporter, as one who has successfully completed a reporting program and knows from experience the growing pains of evolving from student to Certified Court Reporter, can truly be inspirational to our students. 
If you are an enthusiastic court reporter, captioner, or CART writer and would like to volunteer a bit of your time please contact me at your earliest convenience.  Rhonda Laurentius, Student Mentor Chair, 314.615.8070.  Rhonda.Laurentius@courts.mo.gov
 
CSI: National Series – Killer Revealed
In the exciting conclusion of the CSI - National series, the killer is revealed, and NCRA member Michelle Davis-Soriano, RPR, of Anaheim, CA, receives her reward for her aid in his capture. http://ncraonline.org/NCRA/archivednews/archives_2011/110817/CSI.htm

Closed Captioning now available at The University of Oklahoma Football Games - September 3, The University of Oklahoma will begin providing closed captioning services for the first time at their football games on their video board. Click here to read the complete story.