2013 -- H 5830 SUBSTITUTE A

=======

LC01556/SUB A

=======

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2013

____________

A N A C T

RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE - COURTS

     

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Handy, Naughton, Jacquard, Williams, and Ajello

     Date Introduced: February 28, 2013

     Referred To: House Judiciary

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

1-1

     SECTION 1. Section 8-5-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 8-5 entitled "Court

1-2

Secretaries, Court Reporters, and Electronic Court Reporters" is hereby amended to read as

1-3

follows:

1-4

     8-5-8. Interpreters for deaf and hearing impaired persons. Sign language

1-5

interpreters/transilerators and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART)

1-6

providers for deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind persons. -- (a) In all civil and criminal

1-7

cases, in workers' compensation, district, family, and superior court proceedings, mental health

1-8

court competency hearings, and in the state traffic tribunal tribunals, and in any case in any

1-9

municipal court, including, but not limited to, on-site court-provided alternative dispute

1-10

resolution, mediation, arbitration, diversion/intervention program or treatment; and in an

1-11

administrative, commission, or agency hearing; pursuant to chapter 18 of this title, where a party

1-12

or a witness is a person who is deaf, or hard of hearing, or deaf-blind or a juvenile whose parent

1-13

or parents are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind is brought before a court for any reason, he or

1-14

she shall have the proceedings of the trial interpreted accessible to him or her in a language that

1-15

he or she can understand by a qualified interpreter sign language interpreter/transliterator, or a

1-16

CART provider appointed by the court. In any case where an interpreter a sign language

1-17

interpreter/transliterator, or a CART provider is required to be appointed by the court under this

1-18

section, the court shall not commence proceedings until the appointed interpreter sign language

1-19

interpreter/transliterator, or a CART provider is in court in a position not exceeding ten feet (10')

1-20

from and in full view of the person who is deaf, or hard of hearing, or deaf-blind or hard of

2-1

hearing. The interpreter sign language interpreter/transliterator, or a CART provider appointed

2-2

under the terms of the section shall be required to take an oath that he or she will make a true

2-3

interpretation to make a legally equivalent, linguistically true interpretation, transliteration, or

2-4

transcription for the person who is deaf, or hard of hearing, or deaf-blind of all the proceedings or

2-5

hearings of the case or claim in a language that he or she understands; and will repeat the answer

2-6

orally transfer the meaning of the answer and any other statements of the person who is deaf, or

2-7

hard of hearing, or deaf-blind to questions to counsel, or the court, or jury in the English

2-8

language, in his or her best skill and judgment with exactitude, while accurately reflecting the

2-9

form and content of the linguistic and paralinguistic elements of the speaker's discourse.

2-10

     Assistive listening devices are other reasonable and effective auxiliary aids available

2-11

provided for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind who need to maximize their engagement in

2-12

the proceedings or hearings in addition to interpreters/transliterator and/or CART providers.

2-13

      (b) For the purposes of this section, "person who is hard of hearing" means a person who

2-14

as a result of a hearing impairment, requires sign language and/or speech reading as part of his or

2-15

her communication system. A "qualified interpreter" means an interpreter for the person who is

2-16

hard of hearing skilled in sign language or oral interpretation and transliteration, having the

2-17

ability to communicate accurately with a person who is deaf or hard of hearing. An interpreter

2-18

"sign language interpreter/transliterator" means a person who is a certified interpreter as defined

2-19

in chapter 5-71 in providing the interpreting and transliterating services for the deaf, hard of

2-20

hearing, and deaf-blind. "CART provider" means a person who is a qualified communication

2-21

access realtime translation (CART) service provider certified by the national court reporters

2-22

association. "Paralinguistic elements" means a non-verbal element of language, including all of

2-23

the pauses, hedges, self-corrections, hesitations, and emotion as they are conveyed through tone

2-24

of voice, word choice, level of formality, tone of voice, and intonation. "Assistive listening device

2-25

(ALD) or assistive listening system (ALS)" means instruments that are designed to improve a

2-26

person's ability to hear in specific listening situations. Some ALDs amplify a sound signal, but the

2-27

primary purpose of an ALD is to make the targeted sound easier to hear by isolating the sound

2-28

source from surrounding noise. Examples are induction loop systems, frequency-modulated (FM)

2-29

systems, infrared systems, and personal amplifiers. A sign language interpreter/transliterator, or a

2-30

CART provider shall be deemed qualified in accordance with United States department of justice

2-31

regulations effectuating Title II of the federal "Americans with disabilities act of 1990", as from

2-32

time to time may be amended, Pub. L. 101-336, codified at 42 U.S.C. sec. 12101, et. seq.,

2-33

including regulations, analysis, and technical assistance and as determined by the definition of the

2-34

Rhode Island general laws 5-71 and the commission on the deaf and hard of hearing Commission

3-1

on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, based upon recommendations from the commission and the

3-2

deaf and hard of hearing interpreter screening committee, the Rhode Island association of the

3-3

deaf, the national registry of interpreters for the deaf, National Association of the Deaf, the

3-4

National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, the National Hearing Loss Association of America

3-5

and other appropriate agencies. The commission on the deaf and hard of hearing Commission on

3-6

the Deaf and Hard of Hearing shall coordinate all requests for qualified interpreters sign language

3-7

interpreters/transliterators and CART providers and shall maintain a list of all such interpreters

3-8

sign language interpreters/transliterators and CART providers from which it shall fill such

3-9

requests. No interpreter sign language interpreter/transliterator and CART provider is precluded

3-10

from being further examined by the court system.

3-11

      (c) Interpreters Sign language interpreters/transliterators and CART providers appointed

3-12

under the terms of the section shall be paid by the state or municipality a reasonable

3-13

compensation fixed by the court.

3-14

     SECTION 2. Chapter 8-5 of the General Laws entitled "Court Secretaries, Court

3-15

Reporters, and Electronic Court Reporters" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following

3-16

sections:

3-17

     8-5-8.1. Waiver of interpreter/transliterator and CART provider. – (a) A non-

3-18

English speaking person may at any point in the proceeding waive the right to the services of an

3-19

interpreter/transliterator or a CART provider, but only when: (1) The waiver is approved by the

3-20

appointing authority after explaining on the record to the non-English speaking person through an

3-21

interpreter/transliterator or a CART provider the nature and effect of the waiver; (2) The

3-22

appointing authority determines on the record that the waiver has been made knowingly,

3-23

intelligently, and voluntarily; and (3) The non-English speaking person has been afforded the

3-24

opportunity to consult with his or her attorney.

3-25

     (b) At any point in any proceeding or hearing, for good cause shown, a non-English

3-26

speaking person may retract his or her waiver and request an interpreter/transliterator or a CART

3-27

provider.

3-28

     8-5-8.2. Privileged communications. – In the trial of every cause, both civil and

3-29

criminal, no interpreter/transliterator for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind shall be

3-30

competent to testify concerning any statement made to him or her in connection with the

3-31

interpreter's or transliterator’s interpretation or transliteration for the deaf, hard of hearing, and

3-32

deaf-blind, without the consent of the person making the statement. No duly licensed

3-33

interpreter/transliterator for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind shall be allowed, in giving

3-34

testimony to disclose any confidential communication, properly entrusted to him or her in his or

4-1

her professional capacity, and necessary and proper to enable him or her to discharge the

4-2

functions of his or her office in the usual course of practice or discipline, without the consent of

4-3

the person making the communication.

4-4

     8-5-8.3. Visual recording of testimony. – At the request of any party to the proceeding

4-5

or the hearing or on the appointing authority's initiative, the appointing authority may order that

4-6

the testimony of the person who is deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind and the

4-7

interpretation/transliteration of the proceeding by the qualified interpreter/transliterator be

4-8

visually recorded for use in verification of the official transcript of the proceeding or hearing.

4-9

     In any judicial proceeding involving a capital offense, the appointing authority may order

4-10

that the testimony of the person who is deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind and the

4-11

interpretation/transliteration of the proceeding or the hearing by the qualified

4-12

interpreter/transliterator be visually recorded for use in verification of the official transcript of the

4-13

proceeding or the hearing.

4-14

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2014.

     

=======

LC01556/SUB A

========

EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N A C T

RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE - COURTS

***

5-1

     This act would require a sign language or Communication Access Realtime Translation

5-2

(CART) provider for all court proceedings.

5-3

     This act would take effect on July 1, 2014.

     

=======

LC01556/SUB A

=======

H5830A