Juanita Price, RPR, an official and CART captioner from Gainesville, Va., was recently recognized for being the first CART captioner at the District of Columbia Superior Court to provide remote CART. She shares that story, and how her NCRA certification has helped her, with the JCR Weekly.
JCR | Can you provide some details on how you became the first to provide remote CART?
JP | I was chosen by my supervisors because of my qualifications. I have taken the CRC Workshop, various CART captioning classes, and broadcast captioning classes. I have read and applied the rules, regulations, and procedures that CART captioners exhibit while working with consumers. I took the initiative to be trained by highly respected CART captioners Steve Clark and Michelle Houston, RPR, who work in the freelance field. I have been on the D.C. Superior Court’s CART team since its inception. For personal reasons, I took a small break, but it wasn’t long, and I jumped right back on the CART team. I have provided CART using Bridge Mobile during criminal and civil jury/bench trials and hearings (bond reviews, motions, pretrials, preliminary hearings, and the like) for a number of consumers such as petit jurors/grand jurors, attorneys, witnesses, litigants, and defendants.
I truly love providing CART captioning because I am helping consumers participate in everyday life events, social events, our justice system, and the list goes on.
JCR | Do you think you will be doing it again?
JP | Yes, I most definitely will, and I have. I recently provided CART captioning to an attorney during a preliminary hearing.
JCR | How long have you been a CART captioner at the District of Columbia Superior Court?
JP | My first CART captioning assignment was for a petit juror back in October of 2012. At the time, I was partnered with another CART captioner, Gercha Richards White, from Burtonsville, Md., and we alternated days during the trial. We CART captioned for the petit juror during jury selection, the entirety of the trial, as well as for jury deliberations.
JCR | How long have you been a court reporter?
JP | I have been a court reporter for 37 years. To say I love CART, that’s an understatement in my book. I have what I call a gift that turned into a passion for CART captioning. When I think back to the days of court reporting school when I would get my steno writing reviewed by Miss P (Claire Popkin, the founder of the Popkin School of Court Reporting in Cherry Hill, N.J.), she would call me the novelist writer. She and I would laugh about it because I would have it written clear as day, even though that was not what was dictated. I remember when she asked me “why did you change what was said” because she knew if I wrote what I had then I could have written what was said. I told her because it made more sense. She would in turn tell me, “Write what you hear and only what you hear from now on, young lady. You will not pass tests writing this way.” Of course, I learned to write what was said however it was said. But unbeknownst to Miss P and I back then, this gift that turned into a passion that laid dormant for many years can now be realized. I didn’t realize I was CART captioning before it even became a word.
JCR | How has having your RPR certification helped you?
JP | Having my RPR lets the public know that I take great pride in our profession. I am still striving to pass the CRC and the RMR, and believe you me, I shall pass them. I just wish Miss P could see me now, because I am sure she would truly be proud of her novelist writer!