Friday, September 10, 2010
justice?
I was left with a decidedly strange feeling after my translating job today. After a serving of justice, my client treated me to lunch, the latter of which left a better taste in my mouth.
The former was a bit like badly microwaved meal. You know how sometimes something can have a cool surface but be boiling underneath? Everything was settled outside the actual court room, in a way that made me feel like my client was worn down rather than fairly included. On the surface the lawyers agreed about all the terms and conditions of the mother's rights to see her kids as though they were ordering lunch at a work cafeteria. Meanwhile, my client told me she was counting to 100 under her breath. "Never mind what they are saying - just let me count", she said, as I tried to translate.
The father of the kids was sitting there with a smug look on his face.
I couldn't fathom why the lawyers agreed among themselves that it looked likely that the father would win, when it seemed that both had fairly equal claims to their kids.
The only thing I could conclude is that justice is difficult for someone who doesn't understand the system or the language.. and above all, is seen as somehow ignorant because of her nationality.
I couldn't help putting on my social worker 'hat' for a moment in order to tell her she had a right to request that the decision and summary be translated to Thai, a fact that nobody had bothered to tell her.
...sigh...
Can there be justice for the 'alien'?
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