Language Access In Courts
• Maria Machin, a member of the Florida Language Access Coalition, had a test for the Duval County Courthouse when she walked on June 29. She would walk to every floor of the courthouse and ask for directions to the domestic-violence office. She wouldn’t ask for help in English – only in Spanish. She went to each help desk asking for employees to show her the way, but nobody could understand her. Eventually, she says, employees finally rustled up a women who spoke Spanish. “She told me that there are no forms or anything to give someone that speaks Spanish,” says Machin. The experience Machin had last month is the reality many people who are limited English proficient experience as they …
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