Alaska Justice Forum ; Vol. 13, No. 4 (Winter 1997)

Abstract

In the Winter 1997 issue of the Alaska Justice Forum, a certified interpreter for the federal and California court systems corrects misunderstandings about the nature of language interpretation in legal proceedings, observing that accurately interpreting to and from English in proceedings requires a language proficiency often misunderstood by participants in the court proceedings, and that lack of proficient interpretation can give rise to errors which threaten the integrity of the justice process. An accompanying sidebar describes the legal interpretation practice in Alaska courts and other Alaska justice agencies. A related article highlights two committees working on the problems presented by language interpretation and court proceedings in state and federal courts in Alaska. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports on noncitizens in U.S. federal courts and prisons; sidebar stories describe background figures and information on noncitizens in Alaska and efforts of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to identify, apprehend, and deport criminal aliens. Dr. John E. Angell retires from his position as Director of the UAA Justice Center after over twenty years of service at the University of Alaska Anchorage.