Maryland’s governor signs bill that would help prevent fraudulent sign language interpreters

When he testified in favor of the bill that would require American Sign Language interpreters to be licensed in Maryland, Kelby Brick, director of the Governor’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, told lawmakers about an incident that made global headlines. At the funeral for former South African President Nelson Mandela in 2013, a sign language interpreter hired for the event was accused of being a fake, signing nonsense throughout the ceremony seen by millions around the world.