United States v. A. R. Benning, United States of America v. Jack T. Morrison

The United States, having appealed from judgments entered on the issue of compensation in these condemnation proceedings, is in process of obtaining transmittal to this court of the record on appeal. Part of the record will consist of the reporter’s transcript of evidence received at the trial before commissioners appointed in the manner provided by Rule 71A(h), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.A. The Government purchased the original of this transcript at a cost of $4,946, computed at the established rate of sixty-five cents a page. Desiring to retain the original for its own use, the Government requested the court reporters to file a copy with the clerk of the district court without charging a fee therefor, so that such copy could be transmitted to the court of appeals as a part of the record.

The reporters refused to file a copy of the transcript with the clerk of the district court unless the Government would pay an additional fee at the rate of thirty cents a page. The Government thereupon moved in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division, where the proceedings arose, for an order requiring the reporters to file a…