Across Ohio, there’s a shortage of qualified court interpreters: people who can translate complex legal jargon for non-English speakers in the state.
The number of people seeking language interpretation in Ohio courts has tripled since 2014. At the same time, the state’s roster of interpreters has shrunk. It’s led the Ohio Supreme Court to reevaluate its certification process, in hopes of bringing more interpreters into the fold.
Judge Molly Johnson of Mahoning County Court served as chair of the court’s language advisory committee.
“One of the missions of the language services section … was to attract more individuals toward potentially taking the examinations to become certified interpreters with the Supreme Court,” Johnson said.
The state court has added new tiers of qualification, expanded acceptance for interpreters who are registered in other states, and certified the use of artificial intelligence for non-substantive matters.
The current landscape
The Supreme Court of Ohio keeps a roster of certified language interpreters to be used in everything from matters of child custody matters to felony charges. But, it’s not always possible to find someone certified in the language plaintiffs and defendants speak.
The problem becomes more pronounced for demographics without a large footprint in Ohio. There isn’t much problem finding interpreters for languages like Spanish, Russian and Mandarin. It’s much more difficult to find interpreters for languages like Uzbek or Bulgarian.
“When you get into some of the more rare languages, we don't nearly have enough,” Johnson said.
It also matters where in Ohio you’re located. Johnson said the court interpreter shortage largely mirrors that of the state’s attorney shortage: rural areas are struggling the most.
“When you get to some of the more rural counties, like Vinton County, Jefferson County, Monroe County, you're just not seeing a high population of interpreters.”
Certification changes
When a court can’t find a certified interpreter, it has to look to people with lower levels of language skills. The amendments clarify who the court should rely on first.
For example, if a certified court interpreter is not available in Nepalese, court language services manager Bruno Romero said they would go to what they call a ‘provisionally certified interpreter’: someone who has taken the necessary oral and written exams, but didn't ace it.
One amendment expands who qualifies for that category: lowering the acceptance score from 65% to 55%.
“Then we have a good pool of candidates that can be used in a pinch. It takes away the opportunity for the courts to just grab somebody from a language agency or the street and the court would have no idea what kind of linguistic ability they would have.”
It also allows those who have passed the exam in neighboring states to apply for reciprocity in Ohio – expanding the pool.
“For example, Pittsburgh would be a good place to reach out to interpreters there, because they could cover a lot of the eastern counties in Ohio,” Romero said.
Artificial intelligence
The court also took up the use of artificial intelligence in the courtroom.
Courts are not allowed to use devices for cases where people’s liberties are at play. Romero said it’s just too high of a risk for a technology that is still prone to mistakes.
“You may be thinking you're pleading to theft of a toolbox and then the device tells you that you're pleading to theft of a dump truck,” he said.
But, the court decided artificial intelligence is fine for interpretation outside the actual courtroom. For example, Johnsson said a court could decide to use AI to translate signage or a website page detailing hours.
“Rule of Superintendents 87 permits courts to use AI for those purposes, which frankly would be a money-saving venture for the courts.”
The importance
Expanding the roster of court interpreters will help ensure access to justice across the state, Johnson said. Non-English speakers deserve the right to defend against criminal charges, to change their name after a wedding or meet with a probation officer.
For those who don’t speak English as a first language, Johnson said even the small things like going to the grocery or the bank can be difficult.
“If you compare and contrast that with somebody who's facing jail time, prison time, the removal of their parental rights, these really massive liberties that have the potential to be removed from individuals, it is necessary to make sure that they have every advantage that a native English speaker would have.”
