🚨 URGENTLY Seeking Public Comments from the Deaf* and Interpreting Communities at Large for Legislation Committee

The issue: The Judicial Council of California’s Court Interpreters Advisory Panel (CIAP) has advanced a proposal to amend Evidence Code §754. This amendment would allow courts, for “good cause,” to appoint American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters with only generalist credentials under a provisional pathway. The proposal is now before the Judicial Council’s Legislation Committee. Unlike CIAP, which at least includes interpreting experts (though mostly oriented toward spoken language), the Legislative Committee has no expertise in interpretation at all – spoken or signed. On CIAP, the only ASL interpreter member voted against the measure; the proposal moved forward over their objection. 

As of the first Legislative Committee meeting on 9/18/25, there is no draft statutory language created. Advancing a proposal that fundamentally alters Deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) Californians’ access to justice without defined statutory language, clear safeguards, or professional input from D/HH community and ASL interpreter stakeholders is profoundly dangerous. It risks embedding policy gaps that courts will later interpret inconsistently, to the detriment of due process and equal protection.

‼️ Read more about this policy and proposal: https://bit.ly/42pWJjw

💬 To submit a public comment, please send your comments to:

[email protected] by Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Download here to use the public comment letter template: https://bit.ly/4gtp1iY