CRI Professional Standards & Ethics 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A reporter learns that a transcript they certified contains an error after it has been filed with the court. The ethical obligation is to:
- Hope no one notices and take no action
- Notify all parties and the court and file an errata or amended certificate (Correct answer)
- Correct the error only if an attorney requests it
- Destroy the original and refile a corrected version without disclosure
Correct answer: Notify all parties and the court and file an errata or amended certificate
Reporters must promptly disclose errors in certified transcripts and follow proper procedures to correct the record.
Question 2: In the context of CRI ethics, 'professional competence' most directly requires a reporter-instructor to:
- Hold advanced academic degrees in journalism
- Maintain current skills and knowledge relevant to court reporting and instruction (Correct answer)
- Achieve perfect real-time accuracy on every assignment
- Avoid teaching any subject not covered on the RPR exam
Correct answer: Maintain current skills and knowledge relevant to court reporting and instruction
Competence is an ongoing obligation to keep both transcription and instructional skills current.
Question 3: Which action would violate the impartiality standard when a reporter is working a contentious deposition?
- Taking breaks as requested by all parties
- Providing one party's attorney an advance copy of rough notes (Correct answer)
- Reading back a portion of the record upon request
- Requesting clarification when testimony is inaudible
Correct answer: Providing one party's attorney an advance copy of rough notes
Providing advance notes to only one party gives that side an unfair advantage and breaches impartiality.
Question 4: An NCRA member who becomes aware of another member's serious ethical violation is ethically encouraged to:
- Ignore it to preserve professional solidarity
- Report it through appropriate NCRA channels (Correct answer)
- Confront the violating member publicly at a conference
- Wait until the member is charged in court before acting
Correct answer: Report it through appropriate NCRA channels
NCRA ethics encourage members to report known violations through proper channels to protect the profession.
Question 5: A CRI instructor posting student performance data online without student consent would primarily violate which law?
- The Americans with Disabilities Act
- The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (Correct answer)
- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)
Correct answer: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
FERPA protects the privacy of student education records and generally prohibits disclosure without consent.
Question 6: Which scenario represents an improper ex parte communication by a court reporter?
- Sending a copy order form to both attorneys simultaneously
- Privately discussing deposition testimony highlights with only the retaining attorney (Correct answer)
- Confirming the deposition start time with all parties by email
- Reading back testimony when requested by the deponent
Correct answer: Privately discussing deposition testimony highlights with only the retaining attorney
Privately sharing substantive information with only one party is an ex parte communication that violates impartiality.
Question 7: A reporter-instructor learns that a student used an AI tool to transcribe an audio file for a classroom assignment without disclosure. This raises a concern about:
- Copyright infringement by the AI tool's developers
- Academic integrity and misrepresentation of the student's own skills (Correct answer)
- The reporter's obligation to retrain the AI model
- Violation of FERPA student privacy rights
Correct answer: Academic integrity and misrepresentation of the student's own skills
Undisclosed use of AI tools to complete skills-based assignments misrepresents the student's own competency and is an integrity issue.
CRI Professional Standards & Ethics 4
A reporter learns that a transcript they certified contains an error after it has been filed with the court.
The ethical obligation is to: