Portuguese speaking Criminal Defense Attorney Rui Alves found this article of interest. In the ongoing RI Immigration debate, an article from November of last year discussed the State Police's inability to effectively offer the same basic right to effective communication for limited-English-speaking-people because of language barriers and a lack of available translation services.
The full article follows below:
ACLU complains R.I. state police violating rights of limited-English-speaking people
By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — State police are falling short on reducing language barriers when they interact with people who don’t speak English, putting their legal rights and access to services at risk, according to a federal complaint filed by the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice says state police have failed to adequately assess the needs of Rhode Island’s significant limited-English-speaking population, and provide oral interpretation and translation services that are either “inadequate or of questionable quality.”
The ACLU has asked the Justice Department to investigate and “take action to ensure that the [Rhode Island State Police] complies with its obligations” under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The complaint, based on documents obtained through a 2009 public records request, says the alleged lack of adherence is “all the more troubling” because of a new 287(g) program that gives some state troopers immigration law-enforcement powers.
Governor Carcieri’s executive order on illegal immigration directed state police to pursue 287(g). Governor-elect Lincoln D. Chafee has said he intends to revoke the order.
State police legal counsel Lisa S. Holley questioned the timing of the complaint, a year after the department responded to the records request, and called it “an affront” to the department, which “has prided itself on community outreach, building bridges in the community and gauging minority populations.”
Holley said: “We have never heard word one back from [RI/ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown] since we responded to his request. Frankly, if there were these serious concerns that he had, you would not think he would let 13 months go by.”
Brown said the timing was coincidental, and that the complaint stemmed directly from concerns over 287(g).
“Given the state police interest in, and enthusiasm for participating in the 287(g) program, in light [of their] interest of expanding their role in having contact with people with limited English proficiency, we thought it was worth examining how well they were complying with federal requirements dealing with services to [limited-English-speaking] individuals.
“After analyzing the response,” Brown said, “we felt it was incumbent to file this complaint. If state police want to expand their contact with these individuals, they should also be expanding their compliance with the laws that are on the books.” He said the complaint “relies on the agency’s own response to allege they are in clear violation of federal law.”
Brown said the state police provided “very little” in the way of documents, “and what we received was fairly troublesome.”
The complaint cites a Spanish-language translation of the Miranda warning that instructs criminal suspects that they have “the right [as opposed to the left] to continue being silent.” (The translation uses “la derecha,” as opposed to “el derecho.” In Spanish, “a la derecha” refers to the right side.)
The complaint says there “is no evidence among the documents provided that the state police employs any staff interpreters, Spanish or otherwise.” State police provided “a list of members with language skills, but did not otherwise indicate the individuals’ level of language ability, or how the agency goes about assessing it.”
ACLU volunteer attorney Jennifer Doucleff, who analyzed the data in the documents, cited the department’s alleged “history of documented racial and ethnic profiling,” and traffic-stop enforcement data that points to racial profiling.
Holley, the state police legal counsel, said staff and attorneys “spent hours” collecting documents for a response, “and we felt we did a very adequate job.”
Holley said, “There were things we actually learned we could do better from this exercise, and we did.” That included sign improvements at all the barracks through which people can point to their spoken language, as opposed to paper handouts.
She also said some troopers are bilingual, “and [there are] translation services at the touch of a phone.”
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If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Divorce, Immigration, or Estate Law in RI or MA contact Massachusetts and Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer Rui P. Alves at 401-942-3100 or CONTACT him via email.
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