Immigrants in Courts

by Moore, Joanne I.; Fisher, Margaret

• ISBN13: 9780295977805
• ISBN10: 0295977809
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-02-01
• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr

Summary

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants enter the United States each year, and the number appearing in U.S. courts is rising in many states. Immigrants in Courts addresses immigrants' access to justice in the United States and the procedural obstacles they face. Immigrants' cultural and linguistic dilemmas in court are explored through their words and the reports of judges, attorneys, and court interpreters. Techniques for responding to the predicament are examined in this readable and informative text developed by the Washington State Supreme Court's Office of the Administrator for the Courts. Immigrants in Courts provides judges, court staff, and advocates with ready information about the legal and cultural systems under which many immigrants grew up. Legal experts discuss the legal systems of four countries -- China, Mexico, Russia, and Vietnam -- and of the Muslim world. They explore not only how the law appears on the books but how the general population perceives its legal system and how those perceptions affect expectations in the new country.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Justice James M. Dolliver
Preface	ix
Joanne I. Moore
Introduction	3	(5)
Judge Paul J. DeMuniz
Speaking of Culture: Immigrants in the American Legal System	8	(21)
Janet Bauer
Interpreters in Court Proceedings	29	(17)
Joanne I. Moore
Judge Ron A. Mamiya
Immigration Information for Criminal Cases in State Courts	46	(9)
Norton Tooby
Law and Legal Culture in China	55	(18)
Pitman B. Potter
Mexican Immigrants in Courts	73	(25)
Juan-Vicente Palerm
Bobby R. Vincent
Kathryn Vincent
The Shari'a: Islamic Law: What Muslims in the United States Have in Common	98	(14)
M. Cherif Bassiouni
Middle Easterners in American Courts	112	(5)
Mosabi Hamed
Joanne I. Moore
The Russian Federation	117	(23)
Antti Korkeakivi
Maria Zolotukhina
Vietnamese Immigrants in American Courts	140	(18)
Tai Van Ta
Application: Presiding Over Cases Involving Immigrants	158	(9)
Judge Paul
J. DeMuniz
Joanne I. Moore
Appendix 1: Summary of Survey Results	167	(10)
Appendix 2: Translated Explanations of Important Legal Concepts	177	(25)
Appendix 3: Code of Professional Responsibility for Interpreters	202	(8)
Appendix 4: Providing Information about the Law to Immigrants	210	(9)
Appendix 5: Immigration Status and Battered Immigrants	219	(3)
Appendix 6: More Information on Immigration Consequences	222	(12)
Notes	234	(22)
Contributors	256	(2)
Index	258