99 Iowa L. Rev. 2299 (2014)

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Abstract

The Sixth Amendment provides defendants the right to confer with counsel before trial and during recesses. The federal and most state court systems provide a court interpreter for in-court proceedings for indigent defendants who cannot speak English. However, neither the federal nor state systems provide an interpreter for out-of-court communications between attorneys and limited English proficiency (“LEP”) defendants. This Note examines the undesirable consequences of the lack of an out-of-court interpreter, including poor attorney preparation for court proceedings and inadequate substitutes for interpretation. The Note concludes that courts need to provide out-of-court interpretation services for indigent, LEP defendants in order to protect their Sixth Amendment conferral rights.