ATA Signs Amicus Brief for Landmark Remote Interpreting Case

In April, ATA joined forces with the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey to draft an amicus brief in an urgent matter related to language access and the use of remote interpreting in a high-stakes jury trial. The brief was filed April 28, 2023.

The State v. Juracan-Juracan

The case at hand involves a criminal prosecution against a defendant who speaks Kaqchikel, a rare Indigenous Maya language originating in what is now Guatemala. The trial court was unable to find a Kaqchikel–English interpreter and needed to resort to relay interpreting with a Spanish–English interpreter and a Kaqchikel–Spanish interpreter. Even though the Kaqchikel–Spanish interpreter told the judge that they could not adequately interpret remotely, the judge decided to order remote interpreting for the upcoming trial. 

Meaningful language access and interpreter ethics

The defendant is appealing that ruling, arguing that the lack of in-person interpreting violates his right to participate effectively in his own defense. Attorneys filed a motion with the New Jersey Supreme Court and received a stay of the trial, pending the resolution of the matter of court interpreting. You can read the entire motion here.

The amicus brief, which you can read here along with ample supporting documentation here, leverages the collective expertise of our associations and relevant literature. We demonstrate why resorting to remote over in-person interpreting at trial could prevent the defendant from participating meaningfully in his defense and that compelling interpreters to work in less-than-ideal conditions could violate their code of ethics.

ATA and NAJIT were represented by the ACLU of New Jersey, which drafted the friend-of-the-court brief and filed it on our behalf. 

ATA Advocacy hard at work

The ATA Advocacy Committee is proud to have been able to lend our collective expertise on language access and interpreting to this important effort. Oral arguments in this case could begin in June. We will keep our members abreast of any further developments. 

 

– The ATA Advocacy Committee