Leaders in the Wisconsin Courts worry about a slowdown in justice as the need for people who speak other languages grows. One Waukesha County judge says just in the last weeks she has struggled because of the lack of interpreters available. “In the last four weeks I have had four trials,” said Judge Jennifer Dorow of the Waukesha County Circuit Court.
“Two of those needed interpreters for both sides. We were at risk of not being about to hold those trials.” It is why Dorow has volunteered with interpreters from across the state to a mock court proceeding to make training videos in hopes of recruiting more people to the profession.
According to the Wisconsin courts, Spanish, American Sign Language, Hmong, and Burmese currently make up the top five languages that they are seeking interpreters for. Reme Bashi has traveled to Wisconsin as a certified Spanish interpreter. She says you become the voice for everyone in the legal system from the judge, the defendant, the victim, the witnesses, and more.
“You know what is going to come out of someone’s mouth and you have to be ready to interpret,” said Bashi. Being ready is the problem in the Wisconsin Court system. Dorow says in 2013, Waukesha County saw 13 languages that needed interpreters.
By 2023, the courts have dealt with 25 different languages. “We have just seen an influx of languages where we have to find someone who can speak that language but who is qualified to be an interpreter. And I have had cases where.