Edgartown courthouse faces growing language challenge

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Rafaela was recently driving home from work when she saw flashing blue lights in her rearview mirror. The Brazilian immigrant, who did not have a U.S. driver’s license at the time, had borrowed her boyfriend Matheuos’ truck — a decision that would land her on the docket in the Edgartown District Court for the first time.

The police officer who pulled her over was the first to inform Rafaela, in English, that she would need to appear in court, and that it would be in her best interest to get a license prior to that date. 

But Rafaela, who was not fluent in the language, struggled to fully understand the specifics of the summons. She had questions: What were the charges against her, and how would she be sure to do the right thing and abide by the law?

Matheuos and Rafaela, like many other foreign nationals, turned to their friends and their iPhones for Google Translate to help navigate the court system.

“This is the first time this has happened to me, so I didn’t know what would happen,” said Matheuos outside the courthouse on a recent Friday.

Matheuos and Rafaela are being identified by only their first names to protect their identity as a wave of fear sweeps the Island’s immigrant community over the threat of mass deportation by the new Trump administration. 

The classic New England–style brick courthouse in Edgartown has seen a significant increase in cases requiring an interpreter over the past several years, as the Brazilian population on the Island has grown. The demand for translation services is great, yet there is no full-time translator at the courthouse. 

That leaves some in the community relying on online translations, friends, or others in the community to figure out important information about their court cases. And now, with news that courthouses could be a target for deportations, access to an interpreter is more important than ever.

“I think one aspect that I feel is individuals who are receiving the assistance of an interpreter seem to think that somehow we are doing them a favor, when really it’s their right.” –Judge Benjamin Barnes

On a recent Friday, the benches inside the Edgartown District Court were lined with non-English speakers, as Edgartown District Court Judge Benjamin Barnes performed a steady rhythm of justice, punctuating the caseload with a bang of the gavel. 

The Island’s Brazilian community has been on edge as the news out of Washington has stirred trepidation that the Trump administration and federal law enforcement are gearing up for mass deportations. The Island’s Brazilian immigrants were reportedly staying home from work and school at the end of January. Some defendants in the courthouse were noticeably nervous.

One by one, defendants’ names were called by the court clerk, and then echoed with confidence by Marcela Knight, the visiting interpreter for the day. She projected her voice deliberately and clearly across the courtroom as she called each defendant’s name. Once the defendant was before the judge, the interpreter stood nearby, repeating everything the judge and lawyers said directly into a microphone. The audio was relayed into a pair of headphones that each defendant was instructed to wear. Everything the defendant said was then translated to English for the judge and the rest of the courtroom to clearly understand.

Judge Barnes said that this method has helped the court process cases effectively. He came up with the idea of what is known as “Interpreter Day” when starting as a judge on the Vineyard in 2019. Before that, only one interpreter was present, one day a month.

“I felt we needed to change, and I really pushed for it,” said Barnes. “I believe the interpreters are the unsung heroes of the trial court, and particularly the district court. If we don’t have interpreters, then someone’s needs are not going to be met.”

For Judge Barnes, providing equal access is paramount to the justice system on the Island. “I think one aspect that I feel is individuals who are receiving the assistance of an interpreter seem to think that somehow we are doing them a favor, when really it’s their right,” said Barnes.

As the Island’s Portuguese-speaking population has grown, the caseload from non-English speakers grows with it, and so does the court’s responsibility to provide court-ordered translation services. Defense attorneys and court officials note that while these are mainly minor traffic offenses relating to licensing and registration — like in the case of Rafaela and Matheuos — some court officials indicate that the cases account for approximately 30 percent of the Edgartown court’s overall caseload. 

With the increase, defense attorneys, judges, and elected officials representing the Island say the lack of constant translation services can make it difficult for defendants to understand and comprehend how to complete their court-ordered mandates and probationary requirements. 

With no process to provide an interpreter on demand, the Edgartown court relies heavily on part-time interpreters who operate under the Massachusetts State Department’s Office of Language Access (OLA), and are forced to travel from off-Island for court sessions in Edgartown. That makes for a long commute and shortened hours, and presents challenges for their ability to connect with their clients. The interpreters are also spread thin, with responsibilities that take them to courtrooms across the state, including districts like Bristol and Plymouth counties.

Juliana Germani and Marcela Knight are both native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese who serve as interpreters at the local courthouse in Edgartown. They are often scrambling to get on- and off-Island for other courthouse appointments, sometimes receiving a lift from local police or an attorney to and from the ferry.

One state elected official is pushing for more adequate services, not just on the Island but regionally; and court officials — concerned that the court must live up to its federally mandated requirement for non-English speakers to have equal access to the justice system — are hopeful that a translator could be on the Island more regularly, if not living here, to help meet the growing demand. 

Thomas Moakley, the Island’s new representative at the Massachusetts State House, campaigned on providing more interpreter services at local courthouses. Moakley has seen the issue firsthand as a former assistant district attorney assigned to the Edgartown courthouse. 

“The interpreters we have do an incredible job, but the main issue is that we don’t have enough of them,” Moakley said. “The Brazilian population is so significant on the Island, to the degree that we need to be serving them the best we can.”

Moakley said that the Portuguese interpreter he worked with in Edgartown was spread so thin working for courts across the Cape and Islands, and even beyond, that many in the justice system were left without adequate services. 

While there may be work to be done, improvements over the past decade have helped ease the burden for the district court, including Interpreter Day. 

On that one day of the week –– which is Friday –– an interpreter or a team of interpreters visits the Island, as the court condenses all non-English-speaking defendants and their cases to just that one day. It makes Fridays a blur of defendants and families speaking in rapid-fire Brazilian Portuguese in the hallways, and many of the courthouse employees trying to do their best to explain in slow, halting English everything from how the bail process works in the American justice system to where one might find the restroom. 

According to local attorneys, the weekly interpreter sessions have greatly improved access for the growing Brazilian community on the Island.

Rob Moriarty, an Island attorney, said that when he first started working as a lawyer here two decades ago, Portuguese-speaking defendants who had similar minor motor vehicle offenses would be grouped together. (Motor vehicle offenses are particularly common, because many undocumented individuals face significant barriers to obtaining a driver’s license.) A single interpreter would facilitate simultaneously the dismissal and the assignment of community service to the entire group at once.

“Now it is individually done,” said Moriarty. “Some of the cases are very serious allegations, and [the defendants] need to understand the situation they are in.” 

But while there have been improvements, having more interpreters would go a long way. Local attorneys say the language barrier makes it difficult for defendants to comprehend legal obligations such as taking driving courses, or complying with probation conditions, potentially leaving them vulnerable to unintentionally violating these requirements.

Marcia De Castro Borges, who works at the Martha’s Vineyard Youth Center’s law clinic, has helped members of the Brazilian community and non-English speakers translate court documents. She said it’s absolutely a challenge. 

“In my experience, [outside the courthouse] they don’t understand unless they have someone who speaks Portuguese. If they get a ticket or get in trouble … they don’t understand the details of why they got the ticket, or where to pay the ticket,” said De Borges. “In order to know what they need to do, they always need to go somewhere, either to friends who can speak English and Portuguese, or to a community center, somewhere that provides an interpreter.”

Cass Luskin, a local defense attorney, also notes the difficulty in understanding issues outside the courthouse; he believes having more consistent interpreters will help, and is personally taking steps to learn Portuguese to better communicate with his clients. 

“The challenge is, how do you establish a relationship with someone of trust and confidentiality when you require a third party to even talk to them?” said Luskin. “I see myself, the court, other attorneys, and sometimes the police trying to bridge this gap, but the truth is that language barriers are truly difficult to overcome.” 

Alongside Island officials and the broader Vineyard community, the Island’s Brazilian community is also making an effort to bridge the gap in communication and understanding. Luskin says he has observed the Brazilian community in particular make enormous efforts to adhere to special conditions and licensing necessities.

“They all managed to jump through the hoops the RMV made for them, and to do it quickly and cooperatively,” said Luskin. “It’s impressive.”

The local attorney, Moriarty, agrees that interpreters are essential to ensuring that defendants understand their legal situations. 

“Interpreters are indispensable,” said Moriarty. “The essence of this business is being able to communicate exactly what someone is facing, the consequences of what they’re facing, and the elements of the crimes they’re charged with. If they don’t accurately understand that, then we get nowhere.”

In urgent cases where an interpreter is not available immediately, the Edgartown district court utilizes LanguageLine, a service that provides interpreters over the telephone in many foreign languages. Interpreters are also often available to the court by Zoom. The court clerk’s office sometimes uses Google Translate when in general discussion with Portuguese defendants, if an interpreter is not in the courthouse that day. 

But Moriarty insisted, “There should be interpreters more often.” 

Back at the courthouse on a recent Friday, Rafaela was smiling, relieved by the fact that her case was dismissed after she presented a valid drivers license at the courthouse. While initially confused about what to do with a summons from the local police department, through Google Translate she was able to figure the right path forward, and when to go to the courthouse. 

Despite the initial confusion, Rafaela said the interpreter provided by the court was “really good,” and that she and Matheuos had not had to wait long for their case to be heard. The couple said that they were also thankful to the Island police officer who had pulled them over. They said he was courteous and helpful in informing them that they had the ability to obtain a driver’s license before their court date, which he added would help them when they appeared before the judge.

The Times requested to speak with interpreters Knight and Germani, regular translators at the Edgartown courthouse, but they declined to comment, referring questions to the Office of Language Access. That state agency also declined to comment. The governor’s office referred questions to the trial court

But the work of the courthouse serving the constitutional right to an interpreter seems to be functioning well, and as Judge Barnes put it, “They have an absolute right to have an interpreter present to deal with their case. It’s our obligation to do what we can as a trial court to fulfill that right.”