Supreme Court of Ohio accepts State of Ohio v. Speer case
The Supreme Court of Ohio accepted a request for jurisdiction of an appeal decision in State of Ohio v. Speer. In this case, OLRS filed an amici curiae brief with the National Association of the Deaf and the Ability Center of Greater Toledo requesting the Ohio Supreme Court accept jurisdiction of an appeal of the Eleventh District Court of Appeals' decision reversing the defendant's conviction where one of the jurors who heard the case was hard of hearing. The defendant argued that the juror who was hearing impaired should have been dismissed for cause on that basis.
The amici curiae stated in their brief that jury service is an important civic duty and the responsibility of all its citizens. Moreover, state and federal law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act, require inclusion of people with disabilities in the judicial process and support inclusion of people who are deaf and hard of hearing in jury service. Furthermore, if the decision is not reversed it may have the effect of discouraging trial courts from including deaf or hard of hearing jurors in the judicial process. Read the brief: Amici Curiae Brief - Ohio Legal Rights Service, National Association of the Deaf, Ability Center of Greater Toledo in support of Appellant (PDF file)
Article originally posted February 29, 2009; Updated June 8, 2009
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