Advocates call on CA Judicial Council to suspend automated translations and address worsening inequality in state courts
For Immediate Release
Advocates call on CA Judicial Council to suspend automated translations and address worsening inequality in state courts
Key pieces of the Judicial Council's 2015 Strategic Plan for Language Access remain unimplemented.
August 4, 2026 – San Francisco, CA – Legal advocates and community leaders are calling on the Judicial Council of California to suspend the use of automated translation in California courts and fully implement required language access measures, warning that machine translation is denying court users meaningful access to justice and worsening inequality across the state.
In public comment to the Language Access Subcommittee of the Council’s Advisory Committee on Providing Access and Fairness, 35 organizations—led by California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA), Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), and Mixteco Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP)—detail how courts’ widespread failure to meet language access standards locks Californians out of critical legal proceedings, with life-altering consequences.
“As the most linguistically diverse state and home to the nation's largest court system, California has a responsibility to ensure that language is never a barrier to justice,” said Joann H. Lee, Special Counsel on Language Justice at LAFLA. “For many people, court proceedings involve some of the most consequential moments of their lives. Yet too often, they are left unable to fully understand or participate in decisions that affect their families, housing, safety, and livelihoods.”
In 2015, the Judicial Council adopted a language access plan that outlined clear steps to meet courts’ legal obligations to serve all residents. In 2020, with many of those commitments yet to be fulfilled, courts instead began using machine translation, often without oversight of qualified human translators and interpreters.
Advocates’ comments illustrate the risks of machine translation through numerous examples drawn from state court data, including one case where a court staffer’s instructions were translated as “Sting the judge to reduce a fever.” In another case, the automated translation app rendered “DUI” as “IUD.” Errors like these create confusion and cause people to miss court dates and filing deadlines, lose opportunities to reduce fines or avoid points on their driver's licenses, and make uninformed decisions about their cases.
"As we see an increase in the use of machine translation tools and other AI technologies in courts and other public agencies, it is imperative that these entities implement safeguards that ensure accuracy,” stated Norma Ventura, Indigenous Justice Program Director at CRLA. “Safeguards such as qualified human review ensure equal access to services for all communities."
“The Judicial Council's 2015 Strategic Plan for Language Access was an important step forward, but its promise remains unrealized,” added Vanessa Terán, Policy Director at MICOP. “More must be done to ensure that everyone, regardless of the language they speak, can fully understand and participate in proceedings that profoundly affect their lives, particularly for the Indigenous immigrant community, who have historically faced vast discrimination in the judicial system due to speaking their native language and not English or Spanish.”
Advocates will provide additional public comment at the Judicial Council Committee meeting Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at 12:15 PM. Members of the public can join online at: https://jcc.granicus.com/player/event/5727
Read advocates’ full written comment to the Judicial Council.
###
Media Contacts
Mia Murrietta, Director of Communications
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
(559) 606-1924, mmurrietta@crla.org
Elana Eden, Communications Manager
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
323.801.7996, eeden@lafla.org
About California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) is a nonprofit, anti-poverty law firm that dismantles unjust systems through community lawyering in California’s historically rural areas. We work with people priced out of private legal representation so they can uphold civil rights in housing, employment, health, and public education. Through our 17 Rural Justice Centers, communities can access a broad range of legal tools, including direct legal services, place-based advocacy to expand equity in civic institutions, and specialized litigation to advance civil rights.
About Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) is a nonprofit law firm that protects and advances the rights of the most underserved – leveling the playing field and ensuring that everyone can have access to the justice system. Every year, LAFLA’s free, high-quality legal services impact more than 100,000 people living in poverty across Greater Los Angeles. Our unique combination of neighborhood offices, self-help centers at courthouses, and domestic violence clinics puts LAFLA on the front lines in vulnerable communities, and at the forefront of change.
About MICOP
The Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) aims to support, organize, and empower the indigenous migrant communities in California’s Central Coast. We operate over 20 programs across Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties, offering a range of social services and community organizing programs, Indigenous Language Interpretation Services (ILIS), and Radio Indigena 94.1 FM.
