Language Access Consultants, LLC

11/22/2023

For Federal and State Law Enforcement that may be interested …

Please join the Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern time for a conversation about the DOJ Law Enforcement Language Access Initiative (LELAI). LELAI is a nationwide effort to assist law enforcement agencies in meeting their obligations to provide meaningful language assistance to individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP).

To obtain details on COPS Office programs, publications, and resources, contact the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770 or [email protected]

05/02/2023

Request for Applications: Enhancing State and Local Court Efforts to Further Address Fines, Fees, and Bail Practices

Application Deadline: June 30th, 2023

Background:

In 2016, the Conference of Chief Justices/Conference of State Court Administrators (CCJ/COSCA) established the National Task Force on Fines, Fees, and Bail Practices to:

-develop recommendations and tools to promote the fair and efficient enforcement of the law;
-ensure no person is denied access to the justice system based on race, culture, or lack of economic resources; and,
-develop policies relating to Legal Financial Obligations that promote access, fairness, and transparency.

State Justice Institute, along with the U. S. Department of Justice/ Bureau of Justice Assistance, provided grant funding to support the work of the Task Force. The Task Force produced the Principles on Fines, Fees, and Bail Practices, in addition to numerous additional resources in the Resource Center.

Though system improvements have been made in some jurisdictions, the equitable enforcement of fines and fees, along with issues related to bail practices, remains. Through a special Request for Applications (RFA) process, SJI will award to further improve state court efforts to address fines, fees, and bail practices. SJI intends to award grants that will enhance state and local courts’ ability to:

-Review these practices to ensure processes are fair and access to justice is assured.
-Develop processes and procedures for indigency review.
-Implement alternative forms of sanctions.
-Implement processes that replace money-based pretrial practices with those based on a presumption of pretrial release by the least restrictive means reasonable to assure appearance in court and promote public safety.
-Ensure pretrial release practices include connections to wrap-around services, such as legal and non-legal navigators, behavioral health, housing, and public health services.
-Promote transparency, governance, and structural reforms for better court oversight of legal financial obligations.

In addition to meeting all other application requirements, SJI will give priority consideration for to projects that focus on institutionalizing and/or replicating the Principles on Fines, Fees, and Bail Practices of the CCJ/COSCA National Task Force on Fines, Fees, and Bail Practices.

ELIGIBILITY

SJI is authorized by to award grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. For the purposes of this , eligibility is limited to the following entities:

• State and local courts and their agencies (42 U.S.C. 10705(b)(1)(A)).
• Other eligible grant recipients (42 U.S.C. 10705 (b)(2)(A)–(D)).

SJI may also make awards to state or local agencies and institutions other than courts for services that cannot be adequately provided through nongovernmental arrangements (42 U.S.C. 10705(b)(3)).

SJI is prohibited from awarding grants to federal, tribal, and international courts.

Funding Categories

Eligible applicants may apply for funding based on the categories below.

Category 1-Local Court: Eligible local court applicants may apply for up to $50,000 for a period of up to 12 months.
Category 2-State or Territory Supreme Court and/or the Administrative Office of the Courts: Eligible state (or territory) supreme courts and/or administrative court office applicants may apply for up to $100,000 for a period of up to 12 months. They may also submit applications on behalf of one or more local courts for up to $50,000 per locality for up to 12 months and must agree that all funds will go directly to the local court(s).

Note: No grant funds or cash match may be used to pay the salary and related costs for a current or new employee of a court or other unit of government. Cash match for these grants will be waived; however, applicants are encouraged to include as much cash and in-kind match as possible towards their proposed project.

Full instructions are available here:https://www.sji.gov/wp-content/uploads/Request-for-Applications-Fines-Fees-Bail_5.1.2023.pdf

12/22/2022

OJP Announces the Inaugural Class of Reaching Rural Fellows
WASHINGTON ― The Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance announced the 67 fellows selected to participate in the inaugural class of the Reaching Rural: Advancing Collaborative Solutions initiative. Co-sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Justice Institute, the initiative will support the fellows’ work to address the overdose crisis that has disproportionately affected rural communities across America.

The United States is experiencing an overdose epidemic. More than 107,000 Americans died from an overdose in 2021, an increase of almost 15% from 2020. While no corner of the country has gone untouched, the crisis has hit rural America particularly hard.

“Illicit substances—particularly powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl—continue to claim lives at alarming rates. The impact of the opioid crisis has been particularly intense in smaller, more isolated communities where treatment options tend to be scarce,” said BJA Director Karhlton F. Moore. “Through the Reaching Rural Initiative, we are working to support rural public safety and public health practitioners to build deeper partnerships and develop collaborative, innovative solutions to address the needs and challenges in their communities.”

Throughout the year-long initiative, the fellows will meet monthly, virtually and in-person, to examine their local and regional challenges and identify opportunities to serve justice-involved individuals with substance use or co-occurring disorders more effectively. The fellows were selected through a competitive application process and will participate in the Reaching Rural Initiative through one of two tracks, either as part of a cross-sector team from their community or as individuals. The Initiative is part of an ongoing interagency partnership to strengthen public safety and public health collaboration under BJA’s Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program.

The selected fellows reflect a diverse network of professionals representing 80 rural communities in 14 states. The fellows include elected county leaders, county and tribal judges, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, public defenders, public health and behavioral health practitioners, emergency management professionals, reentry coordinators and individuals working in community nonprofits in the following counties:

Navajo County, Ariz.
Antelope Valley, Calif.
County of Del Norte, Calif.
Solano County, Calif.
White County, Ind.
Vigo County, Ind.
Hopkins County, Ky.
Marshall County, Ky.
Chippewa County, plus portions of three bordering counties: Lac qui Parle, Swift and Yellow Medicine, Minn.
Polk County, Minn.
Roseau County, Minn.
Louis County, Minn.
Todd County, Minn.
Wright County, Minn.
Rankin County, Miss.
Jefferson County, Neb.
Oneida County, N.Y.
Harnett County, N.C.
Cambria County, Pa.
Cocke County, Tenn.
41 counties in the Panhandle and South Plains of West Texas, Texas.
Prince George and Surry Counties, Va.
Stevens County, Wash.
Okanogan County, Wash.
Fayette and Mason County, W.Va.
Mercer, McDowell, Wyoming, Summers, Monroe, Raleigh, Fayette, Nicholas, Webster, Pocahontas and Greenbrier Counties, W.Va.
For more information on the Reaching Rural Initiative, please visit: https://rural.cossapresources.org/reachingrural.

About the Office of Justice Programs
The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

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OJP Announces the Inaugural Class of Reaching Rural Fellows Office of Justice Programs sent this bulletin at 12/21/2022 11:29 AM EST View on Mobile or Webpage FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, DEC. 21, 2022 CONTACT OJP MEDIA [email protected] PRESS RELEASE OJP Announces the Inaugural Class of Reach...

07/28/2021

¡Alerta! Variations in Spanish dialects complicate emergency messaging

Meteorologists call to standardize Spanish advisory terms for weather-related emergencies.

02/25/2021

This is the problem with not hiring certified or trained qualified (for languages that no certification exists) interpreters in legal settings and for hiring through agencies that do not understand legal interpreting rules and laws and/or do not train interpreters. Unfortunately, ignorance of the law (assuming she states she did not know she couldn’t chat with anyone about cases she works in) is no defense. Laws and policies applicable to any setting (legal or otherwise) are also applicable to the interpreter.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/interpreter-federal-criminal-investigation-charged-disclosing-investigation-and-court?fbclid=IwAR3oE7Uz5hbGT3GWhXNXyaxlp94bA8YoRCsZ468ft3EsN7IQrV8iJclJ3E0

Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of California FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, February 17, 2021 Interpreter In Federal Criminal Investigation Charged With Disclosing Investigation And Court-Ordered Wiretap To Targeted Drug Dealer SAN JOSE – Liliana Moreno, a Spani...

12/30/2020

For the Courts: See Priority Investment for 2021. Please feel free to share with your courts (nationally & statewide). You can also click “Like” on our FB page “State Justice Institute” or go to www.sji.gov to view updates, grant application deadlines and/or sign up for our Newsletter. Beginning in FY 2021, all new grant application submissions must be made via the online Grant Management System (GMS). Visit SJI’s Funding Toolkit for State Courts and Justice System Partners to learn about additional grant opportunities, access grant resources, and to request grant writing technical assistance.

https://www.sji.gov/sji-priority-investment-areas-announced-for-fy-2021/
SJI Priority Investment Areas Announced for FY 2021
Opioids and Other Dangerous Drugs, and Behavioral Health Responses
Behavioral Health Disparities
Promoting Access to Justice and Procedural Fairness
Self-Represented Litigation
Language Access
Procedural Fairness
Reducing Disparities and Protecting Victims, Underserved, and Vulnerable Populations
Human Trafficking
Rural Justice
Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Elder Issues
Disparities in Justice
Advancing Justice Reform
Criminal Justice Reform
Juvenile Justice Reform
Family and Civil Justice Reform
Transforming Courts
Emergency Response and Recovery
Cybersecurity
Technology
Training, Education, and Workforce Development

Beginning in FY 2021, all new grant application submissions must be made via the online Grant Management System (GMS). Also, all awards made in FY 2021 and forward are required to be managed in the GMS. Grantees with open awards made prior to FY 2021, may elect to create a new account and complete a...

10/27/2020

SJI Priority Investment Areas Announced for FY 2021

Each fiscal year, SJI allocates significant financial resources to support its Priority Investment Areas (PIAS). The PIAs are applicable to all grant types, and the categories within allow for greater flexibility to be responsive to current and emerging court trends.  These broad PIAs are closely...

04/14/2020

For the courts: “In the second of a series of webinars exploring how state courts can continue to maintain access to justice through remote hearings, speakers will dive further into some of the operational details. Topics will include software security, procedures for introducing evidence, and considerations for language access and self-represented litigants. This webinar is free and open to the entire court community.”

04/03/2020

For the courts from the State Justice Institute (SJI)...

“COVID-19 Webinar: A Timely Primer on How to Implement Remote Judicial Hearings”

April 7, 2020 at 3 PM EDT

09/29/2019

Commonwealth ex rel. Logan County Attorney v. Williams, NO. 2018-CA-000304-MR (pg.23), 2019 WL 4559354, at *9 (Ky.App., September 20, 2019)

https://cases.justia.com/kentucky/court-of-appeals/2019-2018-ca-000304-mr.pdf?ts=1568988148 =23

“We are unwilling to trust—without question—a foreign language translation just because it was found on the internet. The internet, and access to it via cell phone, is a fantastic advancement, but by no means is it perfect and unquestionably accurate such that it is a proper basis on which to take judicial notice. Unless someone with knowledge of the particular foreign language thoroughly investigates the computer program, website or cell phone app, and assures its accuracy, we cannot endorse reliance on it. Languages have various dialects, and while citizens of several different countries speak Spanish, not all speak the same version. Even trained interpreters may disagree as to the proper translation of a phrase or paragraph. At some point, reliance on a foreign language translation computer program or cell phone app may be appropriate, but we have not been cited to one in this case. Thus, the circuit court erred in taking judicial notice of the fact of computer programs and cell phone apps being available to accurately translate foreign languages.“