More from the Stark County gastapo....
Ukrainian woman should get day in court over botched translation at jail
By Shane Hoover
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Jun 04, 2009 @ 05:51 PM
CANTON —
A jury should hear a Ukrainian immigrant’s claim that a botched translation led to her wrongly being placed on suicide precautions at the Stark County Jail, a federal judge ruled this week.
But an appeal of that decision by the county and Sheriff Timothy Swanson means Valentina Dyshko’s case won’t go to trial next week as scheduled.
Dyshko, of Lake Township, filed her lawsuit last year.
In court papers, her attorneys say the jail employees violated Dyshko’s constitutional rights by communicating with her through an unqualified interpreter, and that the sheriff’s office has no policy on how to handle detainees or inmates who don’t speak English, which is contrary to national standards.
Further, Dyshko’s lawsuit says she missed three doses of medication for a serious blood disorder while in the jail, and that the ordeal caused her severe emotional distress and led to her being hospitalized.
The county argues that Dyshko’s rights weren’t violated and that the jail staff acted reasonably.
Neither David Malik, an attorney for Dyshko, nor James Climer, an attorney for the county and Swanson, would comment on the ruling.
The appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will take months to complete.
JAILED FOR A MISDEMEANOR
On March 10, 2006, Dyshko turned herself in on a misdemeanor warrant issued by Stark County Family Court. The charge, related to the home-schooling of her children, later was dismissed.
She speaks little to no English and sheriff’s deputies were unable to communicate with her. Unable to get a translator from a local Ukrainian church, the jail staff enlisted the help of a woman who is the mother-in-law of a corrections officer, according to court papers.
The interpreter spoke to Dyshko over the phone and asked her about her health and whether she was suicidal, and reported that Dyshko wanted to kill herself.
Dyshko was placed on suicide precautions. She voluntarily removed her clothing and was given a quilted gown to wear, which she maintains didn’t stay fastened.
She spent the weekend in jail, but was allowed to make phone calls to relatives and the Ukrainian Embassy, according to court papers.
COUNTY SEEKS DISMISSAL
The county asked U.S. District Court Judge John R. Adams to dismiss the case, saying Dyshko’s constitutional rights were not violated.
Procedures exist for communicating with Spanish-speaking inmates, but Dyshko was the first Ukrainian-speaking inmate encountered by the jail, and there was no reason to believe the interpretation was incorrect, the county argued.
In his ruling, Adams said a jury could reasonably conclude that Dyshko’s rights were violated and should hear the case.
He noted that, according to a translation of Dyshko’s comments at the jail by a different interpreter hired by the county for this case, Dyshko actually said, “Why would I want to die? I want to go to my kids.”
“A reasonable jury could conclude that this entire circumstance could have been avoided if a policy existed within the jail for attempting to obtain foreign language interpreters when the need arose,” Adams wrote.
Referring to the sheriff’s deposition,
the judge took aim at what he called Swanson’s “declaration that the occasional foreign-language speaker resembles a space alien whose existence in Stark County does not require his attention or the promulgation of a policy.”
Dyshko’s attorneys also represent Hope Steffey, a Salem woman who is suing the jail over its use of suicide precautions. That case is pending before another judge in federal court.
http://www.cantonrep.com/crime/x726...day-in-court-over-botched-translation-at-jail
