The Bilingual Courts Act

“An essential text” that examines how interpreters can influence a courtroom, updated and expanded to cover contemporary issues in our diversifying society (Criminal Justice). Susan Berk-Seligson’s groundbreaking book presents a systematic study of court interpreters that raises some alarming and vitally important concerns. Contrary to the assumption that interpreters do not affect the dynamics of court proceedings, Berk-Seligson shows that interpreters could potentially make the difference between a defendant being found guilty or not guilty. The Bilingual Courtroom draws on more than one hundred hours of audio recordings of Spanish/English court proceedings in federal, state, and municipal courts, along with a number of psycholinguistic experiments involving mock juror reactions to interpreted testimony. This second edition includes an updated review of relevant research and provides new insights into interpreting in quasi-judicial, informal, and specialized judicial settings, such as small claims court, jails, and prisons. It also explores remote interpreting (for example, by telephone), interpreter training and certification, international trials and tribunals, and other cross-cultural issues. With a new preface by Berk-Seligson, this second edition not only highlights the impact of the previous versions of The Bilingual Courtroom, but also draws attention to the continued need for critical study of interpreting in our ever diversifying society.

Excerpt from The Bilingual Courts Act: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Improvements in Judicial Machinery of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-Third Congress, Second Session, on S. 1724; Wednesday, October 10, 1973, Tuesday, February 5, 1974, Washington, D. C Also present: William P. Westphal, chief counsel; Miss Kathryn M. Coulter, chief clerk; Diane Elliott, research assistant. Senator burdick. We have scheduled for today the commencement Of hearings on S. 1724. The Bilingual Courts Act, which is sponsored by Senator Tunney and several other Senators. We have scheduled 2 days of hearings, but because the second day will conflict with a hearing to be held by the full Judiciary Committee on another matter, tomorrow's session has been cancelled, and will be rescheduled for another date, yet to be determined. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.