Jury Duty...with hearing loss?

Do you have hearing loss?

What are you going to do if you are called to serve on a jury?


Do you know what accommodations you need in order to serve effectively?


Are you going to request accommodations and take the time to educate the court administrator and/or judge about what you need so that you can serve?


The law requires courts to provide effective communication access for people with hearing loss.

Under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and as amended in 2008, people with disabilities have a right to effective communication.  In the United Stated Department of Justice (DOJ) Technical Assistance Manual for the ADA it says:

"The ADA provides for equality of opportunity...The foundation of many of the specific requirements in the Department's regulations is the principle that individual with disabilities must be provided an equal opportunity to participate in or benefit from a public entity's aids, benefits, and services."

DOJ goes on to note that courts proceedings are one area where care must be taken to provide effective communications:

Because of the importance of effective communication in state and local court proceedings, special attention must be given to the communication  needs of individuals with disabilities involved in such proceedings.  For individuals with hearing impairments who do not use sign language, other types of auxiliary aids or services, such as assistive listening devices or computer-assisted transcription services, which allow virtually instantaneous transcripts of courtroom argument and testimony to appear on displays, may be required.

Under the Title II, cost is not a factor in considering whether to provide effective communication. the benefit of providing ways for people with disabilities to participate far outweighs the cost of an individual accommodation.  People with mobility disabilities often use ramps to ensure access to the courtroom. CART, assistive devices, oral interpreters are ramps for people with loss. We should not hesitate to support building the kind of ramps that allow people with disabilities to participate in all aspects of society.

In the end, each individual must decide whether what you need to hear will work for you in the courtroom.  But the law is on your side, including your right to accommodations in the courtroom.

TIPS for Serving on a Jury:

• Notify the court administrator about your hearing loss immediately after you get your summons.
• Be clear and specific about any accommodations you need:
• Assistive listening system with neckloop, headset or earbuds.
• CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation)
• Interpreter (oral or sign language)
• A combination of the accommodations listed abover - or any other accommodations needed
• Request that instructional videos provided for jurors be captioned.
• Offer to meet with the court administrator to discuss what accommodations you need and what the court has to offer.
• Consider visiting the court before the jury date to have a better understanding of the courtroom acoustics and lighting.

Information from Hearing Loss Magazine. Written by Lisa Hamlin - director of public policy at the Hearing Loss Association of America.  She can be reached at lhamlin@hearingloss.org.