Has anyone used court-approved ASL glossaries for plea colloquies and jury instructions that preserve precise legal meaning without interpreter additions? I’m in New York criminal court — daily arraignment calendars at 9:30 a.m. — and I’m looking for resources that support strict register and impartiality, beyond Black’s and the NCIEC materials.
In NY I haven’t seen a court‑approved ASL glossary; closest match is anchoring to the official Criminal Jury Instructions (CJI2d) and the written plea colloquy templates, then building a session‑specific term bank that preserves the exact register: https://www.nycourts.gov/judges/cji/. Concrete step: email the court’s Language Access Coordinator to get the arraignment scripts in advance and flag any must‑use phrasing — I can share my redacted notes for “waiver of rights” and “allocution” if helpful; it’s sheet music, not jazz.
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Not a glossary, but a belt-and-suspenders workaround: I ask the judge to adopt the exact CJI2d or plea script as the controlling text, have it visible to the defendant, and go consecutive with fingerspelled terms of art and minimal expansion, noted on the record. If you want something “vetted,” @A.Stevens, email UCS’s Office of Language Access for a brief written confirmation of that approach — having it in chambers’ file has satisfied a couple Queens/Bronx benches for me: https://ww2.nycourts.gov/administration/ola/index.shtml. Which piece do you need first — plea colloquy or jury charges?
One concrete step that’s worked for me is getting a brief ‘stipulated renderings’ sheet approved on the record — 3–8 entries max for terms like ‘waive’, ‘allocution’, and ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ — so we preserve strict register without adding explanatory gloss. Would your judge entertain that if it’s tied to the official written instructions, @AveryLee? Keeps the source controlling and gives us guardrails on a very fast bike.
Consider a 60–90 second ‘sign key’ video made ahead of the call — neutral English labels plus your exact ASL choices — then ask both sides to stipulate it governs for that session. If video’s a nonstarter, I’ve had judges accept a brief on‑the‑record legend instead, so you can stay “no additions, no omissions” without improvising; it’s a map legend for the hearing. Maybe pilot it on one hot term like ‘allocution’ to see if the bench is amenable.