As a member of the Assigned Counsel Plan, and the vice president of the Assigned Counsel Association of the State of New York, I have been fighting for years with my colleagues to ensure that each adult and child who enters our family courts has their due process rights protected and preserved. One area where New York City has ignored a simple, cost-effective fix to an obvious problem, a problem that continues to deprive non-English-speaking indigent litigants of their right to due process, is in the realm of interpreter services.
Growing up in New York speaking only English, and then having had the opportunity to live for several years in a non-English-speaking country, I know firsthand about the trials and tribulations of getting sick, having a legal issue, or having everyday regular occurrences that were a struggle to resolve because I did not speak the local language. Thus, I can empathize with the struggles faced by my fellow New Yorkers for whom English is not their native tongue. I also know from my own experience that there is no due process for non-English-speaking litigants in New York Family Court when their attorney does not have ready access to an interpreter.
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