# Can blind people serve on jury duty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514 "2003-11-16T05:23:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/21 "2014-09-08T00:49:04Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I think being deaf though is different because they would need an interpreter and there could always be bias. Interpreters for the deaf, like interpreters in any language, are licensed and sworn officers of the court. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/22 "2014-09-08T00:54:36Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I think being deaf though is different because they would need an interpreter and there could always be bias. :dubious: And a blind person _wouldn’t_ be subject to the exact same risks of bias from their “interpreter”? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/23 "2014-09-08T03:29:50Z")
Yes he would. Just like any other person at the hands of any court official. That’s why language interpreters are interpreters, not “interpreters.” I just came in to comment on testimony of the deaf. As to jury duty, for them or for the blind, I remain moot. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/24 "2014-09-08T11:12:41Z")
I see several good reasons mentioned in this thread why a blind person might be removed during _(non) voir dire_, but I disagree with the assertion that a blind person would necessarily be disadvantaged by not seeing a witness’s gestures and facial expressions. I think this would be more than compensated for by most blind person’s abilities to discern subtle cues from voice manner alone – including credibility of testimony. Perhaps **mbrach** could help to confirm or refute my assertion. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/25 "2014-09-08T12:25:14Z")
As others have pointed out, there are blind judges. I have been in front of one several times (incredibly smart guy). Judges also have to evaluate evidence and witness credibility during bench trials and other proceedings. If being blind is not considered an impediment to their doing so, I don’t know how you could justify the claim that it would prevent a juror from doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/26 "2014-09-08T15:11:15Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > In fairness to the defense, a suspect is entitled to a jury of his peers, which means a jury of people whose vantage point of the world is essentially of the same order. No, and no. > [@Velocity](#): > > But the description could be biased. “The black man is hostile, aggressive and up to no good, like you’d expect from a gangster.” > > Sure, the opposing attorney would object, but how would the blind juror know who to believe? The juror could also be biased. As could the judge. And the court-appointed experts. Or the parties’ own witnesses. Or an interpreter for a witness who doesn’t speak English. Court interpreters take an oath that they will accurately and impartially translate what occurs. We pretty much just assume they do. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/27 "2014-09-08T16:49:45Z")
In Illinois, a few years back, I was called to jury duty. I recall that the jury pool was asked to indicate whether they were hard of hearing or sight-impaired beyond correction. I don’t remember what happened to the few who raised their hands, other than they were queried further about their impairment. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/28 "2014-09-08T18:29:10Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > In fairness to the defense, a suspect is entitled to a jury of his peers, which means a jury of people whose vantage point of the world is essentially of the same order. So a blind suspect should have an all-blind jury? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/29 "2014-09-08T18:44:45Z")
Would that be a double-blind case? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/30 "2014-09-08T18:47:14Z")
It seems pretty clear to me that blind or deaf people can serve on juries, as long as reasonable accommodation can be found for them. Like, you know, an interpreter. If such accommodation cannot be found due to the particular facts of the case or limitations of the court, then the juror would be dismissed. As a note, finding interpreters is a routine feature of the court system, since many times people who are involved–as witnesses, victims, defendants, and so on–can’t communicate via spoken English. If a court can’t accommodate a deaf juror, then they can’t accommodate a deaf witness, or defendant, or victim, which would be a massive failure of justice. So the ability to accommodate disabled jurors exists. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/31 "2014-09-08T19:01:37Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Would that be a double-blind case? 🙂 Ouch. It’s the firing squad for you, sir! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/32 "2014-09-09T01:38:28Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Would that be a double-blind case? 🙂 > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Ouch. It’s the firing squad for you, sir! :mad: In a double-blind firing squad, are both the target and the firing squad members blind-folded? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/33 "2014-09-09T14:38:00Z")
I have served on juries twice. In these particular cases, I can’t think of any reason an intelligent blind person COULDN’T have made a good juror. I suppose I could imagine scenarios in which a blind person might not make a good juror, but I’d trust the defense attorney and/or prosecutor to bring up any potential problems during voir dire and remove that person if there were any valid reasons to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/34 "2014-09-09T14:45:12Z")
I had a etail with a blind person as a potential juror. He was bind as the result of a gunshot wound to the head. He was angry and “difficult,” perhaps due to the brain injury. The parties and the judge all agreed to excuse him, but more because of his other issues than because he was blind. When the judge told him, he made a big scene, claiming he had a right to serve despite being blind. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/35 "2014-09-09T15:14:23Z")
In Texas, a potential juror who is blind isn’t necessarily disqualified from service, but the judge in a given case is allowed to decide [that the juror shouldn’t sit on that one in particular](http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/GV/htm/GV.62.htm#62.104), presumably because it involves a lot of visual evidence. Same goes for deaf individuals. I’ve never actually had the issue come up, but we do ask it in voir dire. ---
**Author:** ![AbigailLemberg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/50afbb/32.png) [@AbigailLemberg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbigailLemberg)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/36 "2014-09-10T05:50:18Z")
Are you talking about the movie runaway jury? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/37 "2014-09-10T14:30:24Z")
I think it is: [Runaway Jury (2003) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313542/?ref_=nv_sr_1). I liked the book a lot; the movie, less so. > [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](#): > > In Texas, a potential juror who is blind isn’t necessarily disqualified from service, but the judge in a given case is allowed to decide [that the juror shouldn’t sit on that one in particular](http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/GV/htm/GV.62.htm#62.104), presumably because it involves a lot of visual evidence. Same goes for deaf individuals. I’ve never actually had the issue come up, but we do ask it in voir dire. Likewise in Ohio. When I was a prosecutor I never had a blind (or deaf) person in any jury pool, but would have been very hesitant to permit one to sit on a jury. As noted above, assessing a witness’s demeanor and reviewing exhibits is a very important part of a juror’s work. An interpreter will inevitably inject his or her own views in assisting the blind or deaf person; that juror would perceive the case only through the lens of the interpreter’s feedback. Hard to say, but I would probably use a peremptory challenge to dismiss such a juror, if I couldn’t persuade the judge or magistrate to do so for cause. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/38 "2014-09-10T16:49:02Z")
Originally, the vast majority of states required that jurors be in the possession of their “natural faculties.” This was generally read to exclude physical limitations such as blindness. In the last thirty or forty years, however, that view has eroded. California amended their procedure code in 1977 to permit blind jurors. Other states have followed suit at various times; I’m not really interested in creating a fifty-state summary table, but as a somewhat general rule, I’d say that blind jurors are not per se excludable from the venire, although a specific set of facts in a specific case might give one party enough reason to challenge for cause. Much easier to pick a state and research it specifically. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/39 "2014-09-13T14:30:03Z")
> [@Bill\_H](#): > > . In said atrocity, a blind person served on a jury, and it was questioned whether this was allowed, but claimed that it was. I had never questioned it myself, but now I do wonder. I have not read the case law on this, but this is Ohio; 2313.17 Causes for challenge of persons called as jurors. (A) Any person called as a juror for the trial of any cause shall be examined under oath or upon affirmation as to the **person’s qualifications**. A person is qualified to serve as a juror if the person is eighteen years of age or older, is a resident of the county, and is an elector or would be an elector if the person were registered to vote, regardless of whether the person actually is registered to vote. (B) The following are good causes for challenge to any person called as a juror: (1) That the person has been convicted of a crime that by law renders the person disqualified to serve on a jury; (2) That the person has an interest in the cause; (3) That the person has an action pending between the person and either party; (4) That the person formerly was a juror in the same cause; (5) That the person is the employer, the employee, or the spouse, parent, son, or daughter of the employer or employee, counselor, agent, steward, or attorney of either party; (6) That the person is subpoenaed in good faith as a witness in the cause; (7) That the person is akin by consanguinity or affinity within the fourth degree to either party or to the attorney of either party; (8) That the person or the person’s spouse, parent, son, or daughter is a party to another action then pending in any court in which an attorney in the cause then on trial is an attorney, either for or against any such party to another such action; (9) That the person discloses by the person’s answers that the person cannot be a fair and impartial juror or will not follow the law as given to the person by the court. (C) Each challenge listed in division (B) of this section shall be considered as a principal challenge, and its validity tried by the court. (D) In addition to the causes listed in division (B) of this section, any petit juror may be challenged on suspicion of prejudice against or partiality for either party, or for want of a competent knowledge of the English language, or other cause that may render the juror at the time an unsuitable juror. The validity of the challenge shall be determined by the court and be sustained if the court has any doubt as to the juror’s being entirely unbiased. Cite as R.C. § 2313.17 If we see D, a challenge can be made that a blind person is UNsuitable, as of course, they can not SEE evidence, SEE the demeanor of a witness when testifying as EH pointed out. How can they Judge the credibility of witness without watching them, by ear alone?? Any demonstrations put on in person to present evidence (reenactments) can not be seen. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514/40 "2014-09-14T00:27:59Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I think they’re more likely to use lists of registered voters to select jurors than drivers’ licenses. > > **Broomstick** , you reminded me of a famous case involving James E. Hannon, a blind judge in Stockbridge, MA, and 27 8x10 color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence. _You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant [sub]'cept Alice[/sub]_ Last time I was called to jury duty, the letter they sent explained how people were chosen. It’s property tax rolls, driver’s and auto licenses, and voter registration. So unless you walk, live under a rock and don’t vote you’re stuck. (Yes, I know people rent and don’t vote and use public transportation. It’s a joke.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-blind-people-serve-on-jury-duty/213514.md?page=3)