Courts make heavy use of translators
Local immigration drives the demand

By PAT GILLESPIE
pgillespie@news-press.com
Originally posted on July 30, 2007

Cornelio Mendez struggled to understand the theft charge he faced in Lee County Circuit Court on Tuesday.

Mendez, a Mexican immigrant who’s been in the United States for a little more than a year, wanted to tell the judge the incident that led to his court appearance — changing the price tag on children’s clothes at a department store — was a misunderstanding.

At his side throughout the proceeding was an interpreter who relayed information in Spanish to Mendez. Without the translator and the Spanish-language documents the court provided for Mendez, he wouldn’t have understood the proceedings.

“They gave me all the help I needed, even an attorney who speaks Spanish,â€