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Litzy Godinez
Professor Baker
English C1000, Section 21010
3 Nov. 2025
Source 1 Assignment
Body Paragraph 1 Quotes (based on Born a Crime)
Quote A: Noah explains that in his experience in jail, “The more time I spent in jail, the
more time I realized that the law isn't rational at all. It's a lottery. What color is your skin? How
much money do you have? Who's your lawyer? Who's the judge? Shoplifting PlayStation games
was less of an offense than driving with bad number plates. He had committed a crime, but he
was no more a criminal than I was” (237).
Quote B: While talking about a jail mate he met, Noah writes, “He couldn’t afford
anything but a state attorney. He was going to go stand in the dock, unable to speak or
understand English, and everyone in the courtroom was going to assume the worst of him” (237).
Source 1 Works-Coted Entry
Zakeera Docrat, et al. A Handbook on Legal Languages and the Quest for Linguistic Equality in
South Africa and Beyond. First edition, African Sun Media, 2021. EBSCOhost,
[Link]/linkprocessor/plink?id=e112174e-21f2-3fcc-80ca-6eba1604acb1.
Body Paragraph 2 Quotes (based on Docrat’s source)
Quote C: Zakeera Docrat, a legal linguist and Postdoctoral research fellow at the
University of the Western Cape, writes in her book A Handbook on Legal Languages and the
Quest for Linguistic Equality in South Africa and Beyond that, “English speaking litigants are
then 'more equal' before the law and have easier access to justice than their African language and
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Afrikaans speaking counterparts. This scenario entails the majority of South Africans not
benefitting from the equal enjoyment of all rights…” (176).
Quote D: Docrat also mentions, “The unofficial use of language refers to the language(s)
used by accused persons, litigants and witnesses (ibid). Official and unofficial usage are related
to each other. If there is a monolingual language of record policy in place – for example, if an
accused person is isiXhosa speaking with no proficiency in English – they are then solely reliant
on an interpreter and will not understand the proceedings presented in English” (97).