Two legal aid groups asked the California Supreme Court on Wednesday to authorize the expanded use of electronic recording across the state's trial courts, opening a new front in the ongoing battle over technology in courtrooms.

The Family Violence Appellate Project and Bay Area Legal Aid say the current statutory ban on recording family law, probate and other types of cases violates parties' constitutional rights to a verbatim record of their matters. With courts around the state facing a shortage of certified reporters, some litigants must either hire their own private-sector stenographers or go without transcripts.