1.This Act may be cited as the
State Court Interpreter Grant Program
Act
.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)the fair administration of justice depends
on the ability of all participants in a courtroom proceeding to understand that
proceeding, regardless of their English proficiency;
(2)19 percent of the population of the United
States over 5 years of age speaks a language other than English at home;
(3)only qualified court interpreters can
ensure that persons with limited English proficiency comprehend judicial
proceedings in which they are a party;
(4)the knowledge and skills required of a
qualified court interpreter differ substantially from those required in other
interpretation settings, such as social service, medical, diplomatic, and
conference interpreting;
(5)the Federal Government has demonstrated its
commitment to equal administration of justice regardless of English
proficiency;
(6)regulations implementing title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the guidance issued by the Department of
Justice pursuant to Executive Order 13166, issued August 11, 2000, clarify that
all recipients of Federal financial assistance, including State courts, are
required to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to their
proceedings for persons with limited English proficiency;
(7)40 States have developed, or are
developing, qualified court interpreting programs;
(8)robust, effective court interpreter
programs—
(A)actively recruit skilled individuals to be
court interpreters;
(B)train those individuals in the
interpretation of court proceedings;
(C)develop and use a thorough, systematic
certification process for court interpreters; and
(D)have sufficient funding to ensure that a
qualified interpreter will be available to the court whenever necessary;
and
(9)Federal funding is necessary to—
(A)encourage State courts that do not have
court interpreter programs to develop them;
(B)assist State courts with nascent court
interpreter programs to implement them;
(C)assist State courts with limited court
interpreter programs to enhance them; and
(D)assist State courts with robust court
interpreter programs to make further improvements and share successful programs
with other States.
3.State court interpreter program
(a)
(1)The Administrator of the Office of Justice
Programs of the Department of Justice (referred to in this section as the
Administrator
) shall make grants, in accordance with such
regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe, to State courts to develop
and implement programs to assist individuals with limited English proficiency
to access and understand State court proceedings in which they are a
party.
(2)The Administrator shall allocate, for each
fiscal year, $500,000 of the amount appropriated pursuant to section 4 to be
used to establish a court interpreter technical assistance program to assist
State courts receiving grants under this Act.
(b)Grants awarded under subsection (a) may be
used by State courts to—
(1)assess regional language demands;
(2)develop a court interpreter program for the
State courts;
(3)develop, institute, and administer language
certification examinations;
(4)recruit, train, and certify qualified court
interpreters;
(5)pay for salaries, transportation, and
technology necessary to implement the court interpreter program developed under
paragraph (2); and
(6)engage in other related activities, as
prescribed by the Attorney General.
(c)
(1)The highest State court of each State
desiring a grant under this section shall submit an application to the
Administrator at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information
as the Administrator may reasonably require.
(2)The highest State court of each State
submitting an application under paragraph (1) shall include in the
application—
(A)a demonstration
of need for the development, implementation, or expansion of a State court
interpreter program;
(B)an identification of each State court in
that State which would receive funds from the grant;
(C)the amount of funds each State court
identified under subparagraph (B) would receive from the grant; and
(D)the procedures the highest State court
would use to directly distribute grant funds to State courts identified under
subparagraph (B).
(d)
(1)From amounts
appropriated for each fiscal year pursuant to section 4, the Administrator
shall allocate $100,000 to each of the highest State court of each State, which
has an application approved under subsection (c).
(2)From
amounts appropriated for each fiscal year pursuant to section 4, the
Administrator shall allocate $5,000,000 to be distributed among the highest
State courts of States which have an application approved under subsection (c),
and that have extraordinary needs that are required to be addressed in order to
develop, implement, or expand a State court interpreter program.
(3)In addition to the allocations made under
paragraphs (1) and (2), the Administrator shall allocate to each of the highest
State court of each State, which has an application approved under subsection
(c), an amount equal to the product reached by multiplying—
(A)the unallocated balance of the amount
appropriated for each fiscal year pursuant to section 4; and
(B)the ratio between the number of people over
5 years of age who speak a language other than English at home in the State and
the number of people over 5 years of age who speak a language other than
English at home in all the States that receive an allocation under paragraph
(1), as those numbers are determined by the Bureau of the Census.
(4)Treatment of District of
ColumbiaFor purposes of this
section—
(A)the District of Columbia shall be treated
as a State; and
(B)the District of Columbia Court of Appeals
shall act as the highest State court for the District of Columbia.
4.Authorization of
appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010
through 2014 to carry out this Act.