Video Remote InterpretingJudicial Council approves VRI pilot despite CFI’s concernsSAN FRANCISCO (June 28, 2016) _ The Judicial Council approved a Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) pilot project in California courts despite cautionary comments from CFI.“We do not support the VRI pilot as currently proposed,” stated CFI President Ariel Torrone in comments submitted ahead of Friday’s Judicial Council meeting. “The parameters and design are not sufficiently defined and the proposal fails to address critical factors that should be taken into account for the pilot process to be useful and effective.” Prominent among those factors are VRI’s impacts on the quality and scope of interpreting services — and thereby due process — as well as a lack of defined measures for stakeholders to evaluate the pilot program, and the built-in likelihood that the courts will proclaim the pilot a success and then refuse to purchase the equipment that made the technology work as well as it did. __ tags: *VRI, *Union, *ASL |