Support California SB 1523
Promoting Equal Access to the Justice System for Battered Women with Limited English Proficiency

Action Needed: We need NAJIT members to write to the Chair of the California Senate Public Safety Committee in suport of California Senate bill SB 1523, which would require law enforcement agencies to adopt procedures to ensure accurate communication with women with limited English Proficiency in instances where they are the victims of crime. You can download a sample letter (*.doc, *.pdf), or read on for more information about this legislative effort.

Background

Justice and safety are the core values of advocacy for battered women. In addition to the obstacles that all victims face in leaving an abusive relationship, battered immigrant women also face language barriers, which can make access to the criminal justice system even more difficult. Language barriers can impede effective and accurate communication in a variety of ways, including inhibiting or even prohibiting domestic violence victims with limited English proficiency from accessing and/or understanding important rights, obligations, and services. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey, over 40 percent of Californians speak a language other than English at home, and 20 percent of Californians speak English less than “very well”.

Given that the most common entry point to the criminal justice system is through contact with a law enforcement official, it is problematic that most law enforcement agencies do not have protocols or mechanisms in place for aiding victims or witnesses with limited English proficiency. Law enforcement officers often rely on friends, neighbors, children of the battered woman or even the abuser to act as an interpreter for the victim. The use of unqualified interpreters can result in a failure to respond by law enforcement, inadequate or inaccurate police reports which lead to a failure to prosecute, wrongful arrest and conviction of the victim and further violence against the victim that has, on some occasions, even resulted in death. Lack of communication with limited-English proficient victims, witnesses, suspects, and community members not only jeopardizes the safety of domestic violence victims, but also creates evidentiary and investigative challenges.

SB 1523 would promote equal access to the justice system for battered women with limited English proficiency by:

1. Allowing the Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board to reimburse LEP crime victims for the expenses of language interpreter services that are incurred during the law enforcement investigation and prosecution of a crime or during medical services that became necessary as a direct result of the crime.
2. Addressing the needs of LEP domestic violence victims in law enforcement domestic violence policies by requiring law enforcement agencies to adopt procedures and techniques to ensure timely, effective, and accurate communication with LEP persons at the scene of a domestic violence incident.
3. Meeting the communication needs of LEP domestic victims by requiring law enforcement training curriculum to include procedures and techniques to ensure effective communication with victims and witnesses at the scene who have limited English proficiency, including how to identify the language spoken, how to work with an interpreter, and problems that arise if a family member, friend, child or other untrained interpreter is used.

Currently, all law enforcement agencies in California either receive funds from the U.S. Department of Justice or use the resources of the National Crime Information System. Federal law (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) requires all federally supported programs to provide access to persons with limited English proficiency, and these California agencies are, therefore, obligated to comply. Unfortunately, only a few law enforcement agencies have adopted policies or plans to comply with Title VI. The San Francisco Police Department was the subject of a compliance review by DOJ and recently adopted a protocol for dealing with persons with limited English proficiency and is now planning to train all officers.

Additionally, simply in order to do the job society needs them to do, law enforcement agencies need to take every reasonable step to ensure timely and accurate communication and access for all domestic violence victims regardless of national origin or primary language.

SB 1523 (Kuehl) is co-sponsored by the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Asian Women’s Shelter, Family Violence Prevention Fund, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators.