STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1292

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.C.R. No. 219
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.C.R.
No. 219 entitled:

     "SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE
     REFERENCE BUREAU TO STUDY GIFT-GIVING BY COURT REPORTERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to direct the Legislative
Reference Bureau to study the issues related to the practice of
gift-giving by court reporters.

     Testimony in support of this measure was received from Hilo
Reporters, Hawaii Island Court Reporting, Inc., and an attorney.
The Judiciary testified in support of the intent of this measure
and the Hawaii State Bar Association Legislation Committee
submitted background information on the matter.

     Your Committee finds that anecdotal evidence indicates that
giving and receiving of gifts leads some litigants to question
the neutrality of the court reporter, the neutrality of the
judicial process, and the veracity of any transcript produced by
the court reporter.  Your Committee notes, however, that the
Hawaii Supreme Court and the Hawaii Board of Certified Shorthand
Reporters have adopted rules regarding court reporting.

     Your Committee believes that the Hawaii Supreme Court is the
institution best qualified to address this issue and report its
findings to the Legislature.  


 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1292
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     Your Committee has amended this measure by directing the
Hawaii Supreme Court to conduct a review of court rules to
address the issue, and deleting references to the Legislative
Reference Bureau.

     Your Committee also has revised the title to read:
REQUESTING THE HAWAII SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW COURT RULES AND, IF
NECESSARY, ESTABLISH GUIDELINES FOR GIFT-GIVING BY COURT
REPORTERS.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your
Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 219,
as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as
S.C.R. No. 219, S.D. 1.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary,



                                   ______________________________
                                   AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair



                                   ______________________________
                                   MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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