New Yorker Allegedly Denied Translation Services at State Drug Court Files Civil Rights Class Action

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New York’s Rockland County, County Clerk Donna G. Siberman, and the New York Unified Court System face a proposed class action wherein a man claims he was unlawfully refused translation and interpretation services necessary for him participate in the Rockland County Drug Court.

According to the 18-page civil rights lawsuit, the plaintiff, a predominantly Spanish-speaking  Rockland County resident, alleges that his constitutional right to due process was violated as a result of the defendants’ “systemic and longstanding failure” to provide language services for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). The suit charges that by failing to provide translation and interpretation services, the defendants bar LEP individuals from meaningfully participating in the Rockland County Drug Court.

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By New York law, public-facing state agencies are required to provide interpretation services in any language and translate important documents into the state’s 12 most commonly spoken languages outside of English, the case explains. After the plaintiff was referred to the Rockland County Drug Court regarding a pending case, the man’s attorney called the court in late July 2022 and informed an employee that the plaintiff would need translation services, the complaint says.

Per the filing, the court employee responded that the drug court does not provide such services, nor would it permit the plaintiff to supply his own translator.

As a result of the “deliberate failure” of the defendants to offer interpretation and translation services in the plaintiff’s native language, the man was denied access to the drug court program to which he was referred and for which he qualifies, the lawsuit argues.

Even after being notified of the alleged issues, the defendants have made no significant moves toward improvement and have persisted in operating with “deliberate indifference to the continued exclusion of LEP individuals,” the suit charges.

Rockland County consists of the towns of Clarkstown, Haverstraw, Orangetown, Ramapo and Stony Point. Surveys show that almost one in five Rockland County residents are Hispanic or Latino, the case says. Per the complaint, more than 20 percent of the county’s population was born outside of the U.S., and over half of this percentage is native to Latin American countries.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone with limited English proficiency (LEP) who was disqualified from participating in the Rockland County Drug Court because of an inability to speak English but who are otherwise eligible for drug court.

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