Removing Language Barriers to Justice in the Nation’s Courts

American citizens who don’t speak fluent English or are illiterate face incredible disadvantages within civil, family law, and criminal courtrooms. Also, in many states juries are populated with exclusively English speaking citizens, which potentially misrepresents the peer group. Because of Gideon v. Wainwright, defendants in criminal cases have access to interpreters if necessary, but not necessarily in family law or civil cases. What are we as lawyers doing to rectify this problem? Legal Talk Network producer Laurence Colletti interviews Judge James Jordan, Judge Christopher P. Yates, California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, and Justice Edward L. Chavez about language barriers in the United States courts at the 2015 American Bar Association (ABA) Annual Meeting. The judges discuss actions lawyers, ABA members, and law schools can take to change these access to justice issues for the better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices