JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LOOKS AT COURT PROCEDURES
M
11-18-2009
Circuit Judge Randall Cole says he has not been directly notified regarding a U.S. Justice Department investigation into the proper use of interpreters in local court systems Cole
said, such interpreters are being used in Dekalb County courts.
Court officials stated that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Alabama`s courts are following federal civil rights law, in providing interpreters for people who are not fluent in English.
A lawyer for the state`s Administrative Office of Courts, David Sawyer, said that Justice Department personnel have already paid visits to Ft Payne, Birmingham, Athens, Decatur Albertville, and Oneonta Justice Department spokesman Alejandro Miyar, says the goal is to determine whether the courts are indeed making federally required accommodations for people with limited English skills.
That investigation was reportedly prompted by a complaint which was filed more than a year ago since that time Alabama has started offering certification for court interpreters.
No word yet on when the results of that investigation will be released.
(Ft Payne Times-Journal / Associated Press)
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