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CIVIL RIGHTS FACT
SHEETS
Fact
Sheet:
1. The
public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (“PDS”) employs eight
Spanish-speaking or bilingual and bicultural attorneys. Spanish-speaking
attorneys thus represent 8% of the total number of PDS attorneys.
2. At
the Public Defender Service, only two Spanish-speaking or bilingual and
bicultural attorneys are available to try complex felony cases.
3. The
Board of Trustees for the Public Defender Services includes one well-respected
Latino member.
4. There
are nine Spanish-speaking attorneys on the CJA list – an alternative to the PDS
system for providing indigent defendants with free representation.
Spanish-speaking attorneys in the CJA system represent only about 6% of the
total number of CJA attorneys.
5. Approximately
85-90% of all persons requiring interpretation services in the D.C. court
system require a Spanish language interpreter.
6. Only
4% of the non-judicial employees in the D.C. court system are Latino or
Spanish-speaking.
7. The
total Spanish-speaking staff at the Pre-Trial Services Agency, responsible for
interviewing arrestees and providing recommendations to the court regarding
pre-trial release and for supervising conditions of pre-trial release (such as
drug tests), represents less than 4% of the overall staff at the Agency.
8. In
2001, the D.C. Pre-Trial Services Agency interviewed at least 463
Spanish-speaking arrestees who were in need of interpreter services for the
process of determining whether they would be released while awaiting trial. Of
these arrestees, 362 became criminal defendants and required further support
from the Pre-Trial Services Agency.
9. The
D.C. Pre-Trial Services Agency currently employs nine Spanish-speaking Pre-Trial
Services officers. Two of these Pre-Trial Services officers are assigned to
cover extended hours at the Pre-Trial Services Agency.
10. None
of the four staff members in the Intake Unit at Community Supervision Services –
the entity that supervises individuals
on parole and probation – is a bilingual Spanish speaker.
11. The
total number of Spanish speaking CSOs (Community Supervision Officers) at
Community Supervision Services ha increased by 41% since 1991, while the total
number of CSOs has increased by approximately 17%.
12. At
the Victim and Witness Assistance Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, two of
the 25 staff members are Spanish speakers.