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Thursday, November 27, 2008
Ind. Courts - "Lake County spent bulk of state grant on uncertified interpreters"
So reports Marisa Kwiatkowski in this story today in the NWI Times:
CROWN POINT | Certified Spanish interpreter David Araujo said he doesn't want justice lost in translation.Lake County has relied heavily on uncertified interpreters for its criminal court proceedings.
It spent the bulk of its state-funded grant money on uncertified interpreters, a Times review of grant spending shows. Indiana started its certified interpreter program in 2004.
About 14.2 percent of the grant money Lake County spent this fiscal year into November was paid to certified interpreters, data shows. The state requires 60 percent of the grant be spent on certified interpreters unless a waiver is given.
"That's not due process," Araujo said.
But Lake County Court Administrator Marty Goldman said by his count, 51.5 percent of the grant money spent so far has been approved by the state.
Nationwide, there have been "widespread breakdowns in due process and equal protection for non-English speaking litigants who appear before the courts," according to the National Center for State Courts.
Many hitches to the justice system on a national level were caused by improperly trained and unqualified interpreters, the center said.
Araujo said he has seen studies in which an average of 40 percent of what's happening in a trial is not interpreted.
"That's not enough," he said. "You're left with a huge void if everything isn't being conveyed to the defendant."
Araujo and certified Spanish interpreter Guillermo Romo said they have struggled to break into interpreting for the Lake County court system. The two said they have been passed over in favor of uncertified interpreters.
But one Lake County judge said certified isn't always better.
Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez admitted he preferred to use the services of a Spanish interpreter who, until recently, was not certified. The interpreter, Gloria Lupo, passed the certification test in September, and is waiting for her criminal background check to be completed.
"I speak Spanish, and her interpretation orally is phenomenal," Vasquez said.
Vasquez said Lupo and another interpreter also reduced their fees, saving taxpayers money.
He said he will make a concerted effort to use the rest of the grant money on certified interpreters.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 27, 2008 10:18 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts