Interpreter denied by.....COURT!!!

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SpiceHD

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I really can't believe this! A courthouse actually denied a request on an interpreter and to make it worse its actually is for a real court on a civil claim! My god! I'm a defendant in this case and they got guts to turn me down lol. They actually said "We don't do interpreters for small or civil claims" I was like wtf?!? Hello! A deaf person is going and that person is very involved and u think she won't need one just cuz u don't do interpreters?! Lol oh man I'm still in shock! They ought to know better its an ADA Law!

I called CSD of Dayton, OH and asked what to do abt it. I got a feeling I'll be paying the interpreter out of my own pockets but the nice lady said she will help me and if they continue I can take legal actions there's even ohio legal rights and they also will help me on this. I just hope it won't be expensive.

The reason why I'm posting this is I'm hoping for good feedback and assurance that its not wasting my time going to take legal actions against the courthouse itself for being so naive when they should be last place to be (they do the laws for pete's sake!)

Any suggestions, information, and advice on this?

Oh btw any lawyers out there that is living near dayton oh and is willing to help me out with few things PM ME!!!! Lol
 
I say pursue the claim alll the way! The legal people in the courthouse cannot be so ignorant that they actually don't know the ADA stipulations. They must just figure they are above the law because no one has made them enforce it yet.

You might also want to forward an email to NAD Law and Advocacy Center to let them know about the situation. They usually respond quickly.

Good luck! I'd like to see you keep this updated.
 
SpiceHD said:
They actually said "We don't do interpreters for small or civil claims" I was like wtf?!? Hello! A deaf person is going and that person is very involved and u think she won't need one just cuz u don't do interpreters?! Lol oh man I'm still in shock! They ought to know better its an ADA Law!
Click to expand...
According to the ADA Title II Technical Assistance Manual as supplied by the DOJ, courts are considered 'program services' and required to provide accommodations to DHH participants. While it does not say the nature of court proceedings (small claims or civil suits) would be a factor, it is generally assumed that all kind of court proceedings are program services and must comply with the requirements of the ADA.

II-7.1000 Equally effective communication

Your best bet is individual advocacy. You may well wind up doing the advocacy work yourself, unless you can get a CSD Dayton representative to do it for you.

While you can file a complaint with the DOJ or contact the NAD, I do not believe they can enforce the ADA on this instance for you. The DOJ has a huge backlog of ADA cases and have a conservative skein in treating individual cases. The NAD simply doesn't have the resources to undertake individual advocacy.

You might want to consult this resource, provided by the Supreme Court of Ohio.

Interpreter Services Program for Ohio Courts

Best of luck for your case.
 
Great post, Eyeth. I agree, absolutely fight this! How ridiculous that they don't "do interpreters for small or civil claims." Like the people in those cases are less important than in criminal cases? I will be shocked if it turns out you aren't legally entitled to an interpreter. Please keep us posted.
 
The judge thinks that his court does not provide the ASL terp then he/she is in the hot water for earning the salary from the public....
 
I know this is another state but there might be some useful info or contacts from this site:


NORTHWEST WOMEN’S LAW CENTER
3161 Elliott Ave., Suite 101, Seattle,WA 98121
Administration: 206-682-9552 ♦ Fax: 206-682-9556
Information & Referral: 206-621-7691 ♦ TTY 206-521-4317

II. When must the Court provide an interpreter?

Washington State Courts are required to provide interpreters for the
following proceedings:
• Civil and Criminal Court Proceedings
• Grand Jury Proceedings
• Proceedings before a Magistrate
• Juvenile Proceedings
• Adoption Proceedings
• Mental Health Commitment Proceedings
• For Parents/Guardians of a minor in any civil or criminal justice
proceeding, when the parent is Deaf or Hard of Hearing
• Court ordered activities or programs (drug and alcohol treatment,
domestic violence or sex offender assessment or therapy, probation,
settlement conference, mediation). If the court has a contract with an
entity to provide a treatment program, then the court is responsible to
ensure the interpreter service. If the referral is to any treatment
facility, then the facility is responsible.
• Interviews as part of a criminal investigation (witness, victim,
suspect)
• Arrest

Federal Court. The Judicial Conference of the Administrative Office of
the United State Courts has adopted a policy that requires courts to provide, at judiciary expense, sign language interpreters or other appropriate auxiliary aids and services to Deaf and Hard of Hearing participants in court proceedings.
The court shall give primary consideration to the participant's choice of
auxiliary aid or service.

III. When must a lawyer provide an interpreter?

• Lawyers must provide qualified interpreters or some form of acceptable
auxiliary aids in order to communicate, explain facts, discuss options,
and to understand and participate in their client’s representation.
• The lawyer chooses the appropriate aid that will ensure effective
communication. The lawyer should consult with the client as to which
means is most effective and ask the client for preferred interpreters.
• The lawyer cannot charge the client for the interpreter.
• If the lawyer cannot pay for an interpreter, he/she must establish the
inability to pay by showing there is an "undue burden" to the lawyer, that
is, a significant difficulty or expense. This is decided on a case-by-case
basis; there are a number of factors to take into consideration, including
the cost of the accommodation and the overall financial resources of the
lawyer.
• If an interpreter is an undue burden on the lawyer, then the lawyer must
provide an alternate auxiliary aid that is not an undue burden (please find
list of such aids below)
• If you have a public defender, the court is required to pay for interpreter
services if you need to meet with your public defender outside of court.
• For some meetings, such as a deposition, the client may be charged the
cost of an interpreter, just as they may be charged the cost of the court
reporter. One expert on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
argues that providing an interpreter for a deposition is a reasonable
accommodation request and an access issue and that the attorney is
responsible. Another feels that in some situations, a client would have to
pay for an interpreter for a deposition; for example, if the plaintiff chose
to attend the deposition of a witness for the defense, and the plaintiff's
attorney raises an undue hardship claim. Common practice is for the
party requesting the deposition to pay.

V. What are appropriate types of auxiliary aids?

• Qualified interpreters
• Note-takers
• Computer-aided transcription services
• Telecommunication devices for the Hard of Hearing (TDD)- only
required when telephone service is offered to the client on more than an
incidental basis (the preferred term is now TTY, rather than TDD)
• Telephone handset amplifiers
• Assisted listening devices
• Assisted listening systems
• Telephone compatible with hearing aids
• Closed caption decoders
• Open and closed captioning
• Videotext displays
• Real-time reporting
• Other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials available
to individuals who are Hard of Hearing

VI. For Further Information

Any interested party may call the Northwest Disability and Business
Technical Assistance Center at 1-800-949-4232 (TTY/Voice) for further
information regarding your rights. This is not an enforcement agency, but they
will consult and troubleshoot with the goal of helping people meet their obligations as to your legal rights.

Prepared by Ellen Fein, January, 2003. Thanks to Martha Cohen, DSHS, NWDBTAC, Beth Schoenberg for input, rev. May 2003. Further research by Colleen LaMotte, June, 2003. Resources rev. 8/03 jk.

http://www.nwwlc.org/main/content/services/publications/docs/RighttoInterpreter-Deaf.pdf
 
SpiceHD said:
I really can't believe this! A courthouse actually denied a request on an interpreter and to make it worse its actually is for a real court on a civil claim! My god! I'm a defendant in this case and they got guts to turn me down lol. They actually said "We don't do interpreters for small or civil claims" I was like wtf?!? Hello! A deaf person is going and that person is very involved and u think she won't need one just cuz u don't do interpreters?! Lol oh man I'm still in shock! They ought to know better its an ADA Law!
Click to expand...

It's completely illegal what the courthouse is doing! They are required by law to provide an interpreter even for a civil claim!!!

I hope CSD is able to help you!
 
If I were you, I'd still go with the claim and try to find another avenue to make them aware that you are required to have an interpreter for a small claim court. All courts are required to provide an interpreter. Did they say why you were denied for an interpreter or gave you a valid reason for that? As you mentioned - The court said "We don't provide interpreters for small claims" ? That is rubbish.

Good luck with the CSD of Dayton and hopefully you're able to find a way to get through this. If it doesn't work, try finding a laywer (that is if you're able to afford one) who does specializes on the ADA thing. Remember all laws and the amendations to the law ALWAYS has loopholes. So just be prepared if things does backfires on you and it probably will. Don't let that make you give up into things that you don't want to. Pursue it all the way if you will.
 
A quick update the lady who I talked to is adovacy or something and she have contacted the court and faxed to judge himself so ill find out more tmw after 12 hopefully that goes well.

But I gotta be prepared if they still deny me of my right to have an interpreter I will still appear in court and I will request the judge to write down everything for me and I will reply back in papers too as well to make a point and then I will sit down with the lady and do what I'm to do to take legal actions against them. I sure hope it won't get to that point but that will be what I will be doing.

So we will see by tmw after 12

Thank u guys for helpful information I do appeciate that. I certainly will look into that tmw morning.
 
SpiceHD -- AWESOME that you are pushing for this! Think of all the people who will benefit from you standing up for your rights like this. I'm really interested to know what happens and I wish you the best of luck.
 
Good luck and god bless you, SpaceHD. Not providing an interpreter is very wrong of the judge to say that. You should have your RIGHTS to have an interpreter for any kind of claims that they have against you and no matter what happens, be prepaired on what's going to happen next. :hug:
 
okay heres the final result... judge called CSD and requested for an interpreter!!!!!!! fuckin awesome i love this lady susan! and just in time too! i have court date tomorrow at 2 pm heh

only thing im disappointed abt is... ill be unable to sue this judge LOL darn! *laughs*

at least its over and thank you everyone for supporting me.

now wish me good luck for dealing with court *scoffs*
 
SpiceHD said:
okay heres the final result... judge called CSD and requested for an interpreter!!!!!!! fuckin awesome i love this lady susan! and just in time too! i have court date tomorrow at 2 pm heh

only thing im disappointed abt is... ill be unable to sue this judge LOL darn! *laughs*

at least its over and thank you everyone for supporting me.

now wish me good luck for dealing with court *scoffs*
Click to expand...

Yay! I am glad CSD was able to help you! :)
 
Spice,
I'm glad that finally did the right thing, and what they are supposed to do. One thing I was going to ask you but you kind of answered later is the timeline of the case.

The reason I mention that is I've seen people that are going to court (this is criminal, mind you and not civil like you are going through). They will request an interpreter or a lawyer (public defender) the day before or the day of the trial...and the court will deny their request. Then they get upset that they do not have a lawyer for the trial provided for by the court.

When I arrest somebody and they go before the court commissioner (its the hearing that sets bond, etc), they are told that if they do not have a lawyer and want a public defender to represent them, they have 10 days to do it after their arrest (even if the court date is 2 months away). Some will still wait and then be unrepresented in court.

I don't know when you requested the interpreter but based on the dates of your posts, it was 2 days before the court case...and this is why I think they originally denied you. I'm not coming down on you at all and I'm glad they came forward.

Lesson to be learned for everyone here is that if you will be going to court for civil or criminal, set it up as far in advance as you can. Don't wait to the last minute to request an interpreter, because one may not be available to assist you. Yes, everyone has the right to have an interpreter, but people also have obligations to do it the right way. Waiting until 2 days before court to say "I need a lawyer (or interpreter), and I'm entitled to one', you may not get one. In criminal proceedings here, if you wait to the last minute, it still goes to trial and you go without a lawyer (even though by law, you are entitled to one)
 
I want to say that when I have had to show up in court sometimes I would have problems getting an interpreter but have never been denied one. It mostly has to do with them being irresponsible in getting an interpreter when I requested one, or they would drop the ball, or they would change the court date and not tell me. It gets frustrating. Especially when I live three counties away. I have learned to always call before I leave to make sure they DID get an interpeter even if I requested one months ago.
 
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