The eloquent Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general shining a light from within the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, resonated with many as she declared, “People should not be penalized for their limited English proficiency.” She hailed the agreement as an archetype, emphasizing its significance in demolishing linguistic barriers in Oklahoma’s courts.
Roadmap to an Inclusive Judicial Future
The plot thickens as the memorandum stresses that the crusade against language barriers in the state isn’t over yet. The Oklahoma AOC has been handed the torch to create a comprehensive language access program, aiming to make resources available free of charge. This ambitious blueprint mandates the court staff to develop tracking systems and dispatch multilingual notices about available resources, all within the span of 180 days.
Moreover, within a 270-day window, the Oklahoma AOC is set to devise a dedicated complaint system regarding language access. Plans are also afoot to equip the judiciary with guidelines for leveraging remote interpreters, evaluating bilingual personnel, and expanding access to pivotal non-English documents.
