Translated Testimony

As society becomes increasingly more diverse culturally and linguistically, translated testimony will become a more frequent component of the American justice system. Due to the complex nature of the translation process, errors and misunderstandings of interpreted testimony are nearly unavoidable and can affect jurors'perceptions of a trial. Misjudgments may occur due to the inadvertent influences of the court interpreter or jurors' biased perceptions of a defendant's translated testimony. Psychological theories related to individuals' social identity and the human propensity to categorize other people as members of one's in-group or out-group may provide a framework for understanding the potential biasing nature of translated testimony. The implications for law and policy provided by research pertaining to translated testimony are vital for the fair and impartial treatment of ...