FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 18, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
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The complex case of
court interpreters
BY DAVID WAYNE
On July 4, Th e Queens Courier
published an article by Max
Parrott which raised important
issues with respect to courtroom
interpretation, particularly in
Queens Civil Court.
Th e staff court interpreters at
Queens Civil Court, along with
their colleagues around the city,
share the concerns of Sateesh Nori of the Legal Aid Society
and others quoted in your article, that Limited English
Profi cient litigants should have high-quality interpretation
readily available to them.
Not only do court interpreters have an ethical obligation
to provide such services — most of the interpreters
employed by New York state courts are also members of
the same immigrant communities which they serve, and
as such they are far from indiff erent to those communities’
needs.
Nevertheless, the issues dealt with in Mr. Parrott’s article
are more complex than they appear.
According to the Offi ce of Court Administration, there
were 107,812 cases fi led Queens Civil Court in 2018. While
there are no precise statistics on the number of cases requiring
an interpreter, we can extrapolate from a few facts.
In their book “Nonstop Metropolis,” Rebecca Solnit and
Joshua Jelly-Schapiro call Queens the most linguistically
diverse urban area in the world. Fift y-six percent of the
borough’s population speak a language other than English
at home. Among those, according to the 2010 census, there
are almost half a million Spanish speakers, more than
160,000 speakers of some variant of Chinese, and more
than 100,000 speakers of languages from the Indian subcontinent.
In spite of these daunting statistics, the number of fulltime
staff interpreters for Spanish in Queens Civil Court is
currently four. One full-time Bengali interpreter is based
in Queens Civil, while none of the Civil Court’s Mandarin,
Cantonese or Fuzhou interpreters is based there.
Interpreters are frequently asked to cover an entire fl oor
(four busy court parts), in addition to attending to inquiries
in the clerk’s offi ce and other related duties. Th ese are
the conditions under which interpreters have to attempt to
provide the quality service which the public expects and
deserves.
Th ere is no question about the Unifi ed Court System’s
commitment to maintaining high standards for its court
interpreters; the increasingly challenging exams it uses to
certify them are ample evidence of that. Unfortunately,
this very appropriate increase in expectations has not been
accompanied by a commensurate increase in compensation,
so that, at the same time that the test has become
harder, the state hasn’t been able to attract as many qualifi
ed candidates to take it.
Like the rest of us, agencies like the Offi ce of Court
Administration are subject to the constant chorus of voices
claiming that public services cost too much. Th e truth
those voices don’t want to understand is that public services
cost what they cost, and if we aren’t willing to pay for them,
we will suff er the consequences.
In this case, those consequences — under-staffi ng, overwork
and outsourcing — are among the problems which
lead to the kind of experiences which your paper documented
at Queens Civil Court. In order to allow our courts
to do their job, they need to be adequately fi nanced.
An increase in the resources the Unifi ed Court System
has to dedicate to the recruitment and retention of interpreters
would be a step in that direction.
David Wayne is the chair of the Court Interpreter
Chapter of Local 1070 of District Council 37.
HELP 9/11 FIRST
RESPONDERS NOW
Th e House of Representatives has
passed extending the 9/11 Victim
Compensation Fund. Th is bill will
further aid fi refi ghters, police and
other fi rst responders sick from
working on Ground Zero. Now it is
time for the U.S. Senate to step up
and do the right thing.
Many first responders have
already died and many more are
sick due to their service to our
nation. It is also time to aid and
honor those who have sacrifi ce for
America and given up their health
in the process.
I say to the U.S. Senate, “Please don’t
let down those who gave their all!”
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.,
Glen Oaks Village
PREPPING THE
NEW MACHINE
It appears as if the heavy handed
(submit or you will receive a primary
challenge) Justice Democrats
are striving to become the new
“machine.”
If the most qualifi ed candidate,
Greg Lasak, had been endorsed
by the Queens County Democrats,
Tiff any Caban would already be
relegated to the dustbin of history.
A. Hagan, Bayside
LAMENTING THE
LOSS OF ‘MAD’
Th e demise of Mad Magazine is
unfortunate. As a teenager growing
up in the 1960s, I looked forward to
each issue. “Spy vs. Spy” and “Th e
Lighter Side Of” were two of my
favorite regular features.
While other magazines included
fold-ins, Mad went against the
grain with fold-outs. Competitors
such as Cracked, Crazy, Sick and
others were also funny but not in
the same league.
Th e antics of Alfred E. Neuman
was someone everyone could relate
to. Who could forget how we all
laughed to the free record Mad
Magazine added as a bonus to one
issue titled “It’s a Gas”? Th e record
predated both Howard Stern’s Fart
Man and Mel Brooks “Blazing
Saddles” campfi re beans and fl atulence
scene.
Mad Magazine was ahead of its
time, not paying attention to political
correctness. Th eir social satire
took on all comers, Democrats
and Republicans, liberals and conservatives,
young and old, single or
married, gay or straight, religious
or atheist, drugs, sex and even the
Vietnam War. How refreshing that
there was no subject that was taboo
in each and every issue.
Mad Magazine was a national
treasure that should be remembered
for decades to come.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
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