There\u2019s a crisis in the British courts \u2013 many court interpreters are refusing to work. They\u2019re protesting a new contract with lower wages. The protest is resulting in postponed hearings, suspects being released, and extra costs for the courts. <\/p>\n
In the US, many courts throughout the nation have also been cutting wages for interpreters. And now in Nevada, some interpreters are refusing to work. The World\u2019s Jason Margolis has more. <\/p>\n
\u00c1lvaro Degives-M\u00e1s is a certified court interpreter in Reno. He was working on an appeals case two years ago. The defendant, who only spoke Spanish, had already served seven years in prison. He told Degives-M\u00e1s that he never admitted to certain things in the original court case. <\/p>\n
\u00c1lvaro Degives-M\u00e1s: \u201cThe guy was so insistent that I looked at him and said, \u2018Well, I\u2019m looking here at the transcript. It says so and so\u2026\u2019 I mean, I back-translated it to him, in this case in Spanish of course. And the guy said, \u2018No, I never said that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the defendant, the translator had made a mistake in a pre-trial testimony. Degives-M\u00e1s went back and looked at a video of the original trial and saw that this alleged mistake was read aloud in court. According to the defendant, the translator confused one word.<\/p>\n
\u00c1lvaro Degives-M\u00e1s: \u201cThis guy isn\u2019t saying, \u201cYes, I did it.\u201d He said, \u201cIf I did it\u2026\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Spanish word \u201cSi\u201d can mean yes or if.
\nThe defendant claims he said \u201cIf I did it.\u201d But the jury heard, \u201cYes, I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The translator wasn\u2019t certified by the state of Nevada.<\/p>\n
Degives-M\u00e1s is convinced that a more qualified court translator would not have made that mistake and the man might not have been sent to prison. <\/p>\n
\u00c1lvaro Degives-M\u00e1s: \u201cSeven years, seven years of prison. This is real stuff, this is real people, that get really in deep, deep trouble.\u201d <\/p>\n
There are many stories, from across the country, where under-qualified translators and interpreters made crucial mistakes in court. It can also tilt favor of the defendant \u2013 many cases have been dismissed, delayed or retried due to interpreting problems. <\/p>\n
By federal law, people appearing in court have a right to a qualified interpreter, explains Nataly Kelly. She\u2019s the chief research officer at Common Sense Advisory, a company in Lowell, Massachusetts focused on language services. <\/p>\n
Nataly Kelly: \u201cTitle VI of the Civil Rights Act guarantees that individuals have the right to be free of discrimination, so that includes language. So if an individual speaks another language, and they\u2019re not provided with services, in that language, either directly or through an interpreter, it means that their rights have been violated.\u201d<\/p>\n
The question is: What constitutes a violation? Most state courts do attempt to locate certified interpreters. But they also rely on non-certified interpreters, who tend to be less expensive.<\/p>\n
Judy Jenner, a certified court interpreter in Las Vegas, says court interpreters aren\u2019t simply bilingual speakers; they\u2019re professionals who interpret tricky legalese. <\/p>\n
Judy Jenner: \u201cYou have a lot of knowledge about the system, about what the process is like, what the papers are called. I mean somebody could be giving you a guilty plea agreement that\u2019s 15 pages, and you\u2019re sitting in a cell with somebody and they tell you interpret this for this defendant, he\u2019s about to sign his guilty plea agreement. And you better know what all of this means.\u201d<\/p>\n
Up in Reno, where \u00c1lvaro Degives-M\u00e1s lives, the Washoe county courts cut wages for interpreters by a third. He no longer works for the county; he commutes across the stateline to work in California. Down in Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, the courts also cut interpreter pay by 28 percent. People like Judy Jenner are now paid $36 an hour. <\/p>\n
Judy Jenner: \u201cWhich you know, for people who have gone through this long process, and have all these years of experience, it\u2019s just hardly worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
$36 an hour might seem like a pretty good rate, especially in this economy. But Jenner points out, interpreters only get called when they\u2019re needed, and generally don\u2019t work 40-hour weeks or have benefits. She says certified interpreters have to pass a rigorous exam. Most people in Nevada who take it, fail.<\/p>\n
Jenner is one of a handful of interpreters who are refusing to sign the new contract with Clark County. She\u2019s working for private clients who pay considerably more.<\/p>\n
Other interpreters are threatening to cut back their hours with Nevada courts. <\/p>\n
Daren Richards: \u201cThat\u2019s very concerning to the public defender\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daren Richards is the assistant public defender in Clark County. He estimates that 35 percent of the people the county defends are non-native English speakers. The vast majority of those speak Spanish. He says fewer interpreters could drag down the whole system. <\/p>\n
Daren Richards: \u201cWe\u2019d have cases languishing. We\u2019d have problems with losing witnesses, and other problems that happen when cases languish. We\u2019d have court calendars that are unnecessarily long as we wait for interpreters to be present.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the country, court budgets have been cut during the economic downturn. The Department of Justice issued a memo in 2010 warning courts against cutting budgets for interpreters.
\nNataly Kelly says short-term savings can result in costs in the long-run. <\/p>\n
For more information visit:
\nhttps:\/\/www.theworld.org\/2012\/04\/nevada-court-interpreters-protest-wage-cuts\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s a crisis in the British courts \u2013 many court interpreters are refusing to work. They\u2019re protesting a new contract with lower wages. The protest is resulting in postponed hearings, suspects being released, and extra costs for the courts. In the US, many courts throughout the nation have also been cutting wages for interpreters. And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n