Advocates for parole reform held a virtual town hall recently to discuss a new bill promoting language accessibility during the parole hearing process. The event featured numerous formerly incarcerated individuals who endorsed the bill.
Authored and introduced by Assemblymember Gregg Hart, D-Santa Barbara, Assembly Bill 2310, also known as The Parole Hearing Language Accessibility Act, would require the state Board of Parole Hearings to provide parole candidates reasonable access to translation services if they have limited English proficiency.
The bill, which passed with no opposition in the Assembly, currently awaits second committee review in the state Senate.
Numerous advocacy groups within the Bay Area (Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, UnCommon Law, Transgender Gender-Variant and Intersex Justice Project, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, and Californians for Safety and Justice) echoed sentiments of support and various formerly incarcerated individuals spoke in favor of AB 2310 during the June 6 town hall, hosted by the California Alliance for Parole Reform.
Sandra Reyes, an advocate for the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and a formerly incarcerated individual, spoke about the difficulties that Spanish-speaking inmates face when they lack adequate translation services.
“Language access is a barrier for over 10 percent of currently incarcerated people in our state prisons. AB 2310 is a vehicle to support those incarcerated folks that are non-English speakers in getting a fair shot at freedom in their parole hearings.” Thanh Tran, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
“Many of the interpreters are trained in school to know Spanish but don’t know how to interpret correctly in the hearing. Much of the Spanish spoken by those who are appearing before the board gets lost in the translation,” Reyes said. “This bill matters to people inside who don’t speak English. The bill will provide confidence and support to the Spanish-speaking incarcerated community.”
Based on data obtained by the California Alliance for Parole Reform through the state’s Public Records Act, 75 percent of interpreters who work in parole hearings in California are not certified court interpreters.
Thanh Tran, a policy consultant for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, an Oakland-based nonprofit, considers inadequate translation services to be a significant inhibitor in the parole process.
“Language access is a barrier for over 10 percent of currently incarcerated people in our state prisons,” said Tran. “AB 2310 is a vehicle to support those incarcerated folks that are non-English speakers in getting a fair shot at freedom in their parole hearings.”
The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Public Safety on May 29 and will be considered on June 18.
