Over the past 20 years, the Minnesota Disability Law Center (MDLC) has consistently supported deaf citizens for access to equal communication. Recently, MLDC represented a client who was denied a certified ASL interpreter by the Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD).

MDLC’s Rick Macpherson, who represented the client, cited violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Federal Rehabilitation Act, and the Minnesota Human Rights Act, as well as the 2013 Bahl Agreement, in which the SPPD agreed to use only certified ASL interpreters.

As a result of this settlement for the client, SPPD’s policy will be amended to specifically state that only certified sign language interpreters will be used with people who are deaf or hard of hearing. The department will not use police officers to interpret if they are not certified interpreters.

“In this case,” says Macpherson, “SPPD relied upon an officer who knows some sign language. He is not an interpreter – he admitted that himself. With a certified interpreter, there’s much more assurance that effective communication will take place.” Read the full story in Attorney at Law Magazine.