The Oklahoma Bar Journal January 2024

To provide an example of this, this author once had a deaf client who immigrated from a Spanish speaking country to the U.S. as a child. Due to poverty and cultural misunderstanding, this client was not truly educated in any robust language until middle school and was not taught ASL until his teen age years – education deprivations that left him delayed in cognition and speech. The client used a com bination of some ASL and unique “home signs” to communicate. Because of the significant com munication difficulties he faced, the author’s legal team used a set of interpreters for trial: one deaf interpreter, who could communi cate most fluently with the client in his hybrid sign language, and one hearing interpreter, who could interpret ASL to English adeptly. CONCLUSION Competent courtroom interpre tation is necessary for due process and access to justice. It directly affects the rights of hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans. By knowing where to find credentialed interpreters and practicing the tips and strategies shared in this article, all Oklahoma lawyers can advo cate fiercely and skillfully for their non-English-speaking clients.

Try : “Mr. Interpreter, could you please verify that last answer and confirm the witness stated it was the middle of the night on March 6?”

ENDNOTES 1. U.S. Census Bureau, “What Languages Do We Speak in the United States?” https://bit.ly/3Rfvrap. 2. U.S. Census Bureau, “Language Use in the United States: 2019,” https://bit.ly/47NQAhk. 3. Migration Policy Institute, “Oklahoma,” https://bit.ly/47KEm9u. 4. Fox 23 News, “Oklahoma student named spokesperson for Deaf Awareness Week,” https://bit.ly/46ynL7B. 5. Oklahoma State Courts Network, “Certified Courtroom Interpreters,” https://bit.ly/3SY4GbJ. 6. Id . 7. Id . 8. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, “American Sign Language,” https://bit.ly/3QRnerC. 9. Carla Mathers, “Deaf Interpreters in Court: An accommodation that is more than reasonable,” The National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers, 2009. 10. Michele La Vigne and McCay Vernon, “An Interpreter Isn’t Enough: Deafness, Language, and Due Process,” Wisconsin Law Review , 2003:843.

Object Only object after you have

tried every other strategy without success. Objecting to the interpre tation is inherently hostile toward the interpreter and is likely to be viewed negatively by your judge and jury. Also, much like object ing to a nonresponsive witness without trying other examination strategies, objecting to the inter pretation smacks of your inabil ity to control the examination. Objecting is a last resort when the interpretation is continuously and egregiously incorrect. AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE: SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS ASL is a complex language with its own grammar and syntax, and a great deal of linguistic mean ing is imparted by facial expressions and body language, not just hand signs. 8 As a result, working with an ASL interpreter is a skill and an art all its own that can only be mas tered through practice. One great difference between spoken and sign language interpre tation is that, in some cases, the best interpretation solution for a witness with hearing loss is to employ two interpreters: a deaf interpreter and a hearing interpreter, who translate together as a team. This need can arise when the witness experiences additional challenges to hearing loss, such as having other disabil ities, lacking support and resources for language learning in child hood and coming from a non- English-speaking culture. 9 10

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elissa Stiles, supervising attorney at Rivas & Associates, serves as chair of both the OBA Immigration Law

Section and the Tulsa County Bar Association Immigration Section. She has focused her practice on immigration litigation since graduating from the TU College of Law in 2019.

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

20 | JANUARY 2024

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL