Minnesota court interpreters support continuing work stoppage long term

When defense attorney Erica Davis went to a hearing for a Spanish-speaking client in Ramsey County District Court on Tuesday, no interpreter came.

A group of Minnesota court interpreters is in its second week of declining case assignments in protest of the judiciary not meeting their demands for a pay increase that keeps up with inflation.

In response, the courts are rescheduling some lower-priority hearings, Minnesota Judicial Branch spokeswoman Kim Pleticha said, though they have not been able to catalog how many were postponed. She noted that any hearings that involve a person in custody are a high priority and would not be delayed.

The court system has a roster of 300 freelance interpreters, about one-third of whom are certified through rigorous testing. The certified interpreters have led the work stoppage, but exactly how many interpreters have stopped work is unknown; they are not in a union. Pleticha said some interpreters are still accepting assignments. The courts also have 12 staff interpreters who are continuing to work.

Since the work stoppage, 87% of hearings requiring a Spanish interpreter – the most common language — have had a certified interpreter, she added. State law says that the courts must take the highest qualified interpreter who is most available at the time.

"We take this very seriously … we've been very clear from the beginning that we absolutely stand very firmly behind what interpreters do," Pleticha said. "They provide a very critical service to the courts."

Davis is among a slew of attorneys who wrote in support of the interpreters' demands last year as the state court administration was accepting comments on a new compensation proposal. The changes took effect on Jan. 8, the day the work stoppage began, and the certified interpreters' pay went from $56 to $65 per hour, after they had asked for $95 to keep up with inflation following decades of minimal raises. The new policy also makes other changes they dispute, including eliminating pay for travel time.

"Absolutely, I support the work stoppage," Davis said.

Most of Davis' clients are Spanish-speakers who need interpreters. Even though she speaks Spanish, interpreters are required to be neutral parties. Last week in Anoka County, an interpreter also didn't show up for a Zoom hearing for a different client.

State Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, sent a letter to Minnesota Supreme Court justices saying he plans to conduct an informational hearing on the matter in a few weeks as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Latz wrote that "more than the Court's current proposal needs to be done to meet the needs of the interpreters, both administratively and regarding compensation, and to thus meet the needs of non-English speaking participants in the justice system."

The group of interpreters said in an email that they had a two-hour meeting Sunday and 65 certified and noncertified foreign language interpreters, along with American Sign Language interpreters, "expressed their unwavering support in continuing the stoppage long-term."

State Court Administrator Jeff Shorba last responded to the group in an email Jan. 4 saying the courts would ask for $1.525 million to increase interpreter pay in the upcoming legislative session.

The need for interpreters has grown dramatically: 46,622 hearings required a foreign language interpreter in 2022, a 77% increase since 2012. The court said it has 85 active, certified interpreters, most of them for Spanish, followed by Russian and Hmong.

"What I think is going to be the biggest problem is timelines can only get extended so far on folks, particularly that are in custody and need to have a trial before we start running up against the clock of [constitutionality]," Hennepin County Chief Public Defender Michael Berger said.

There's pressure to move a backlog in the court, he added, "but if our clients don't have a certified interpreter, that's going to be problematic."