Something I’ve been curious about for some time (I like watching real-life legal programs like Cold Case Files) - are the disabled ever selected for jury duty? I’m thinking in particular of people in wheelchairs. If that is the case, then if someone in a wheelchair is selected for jury duty and doesn’t want to serve, are they likely to be able to simply use their disability as an excuse not to serve?
Given that I live north of the border, I’m somewhat more interested in Canadian than American jurisprudence, but since this is just a purely hypothetical concern on my part, I don’t mind hearing about American practices too.
I have seen visually-impaired and hearing-impaired jurors excused but I haven’t seen jurors excused based on physical mobility. I wouldn’t think it would be relevant, but that’s not to say it couldn’t happen.
I was summoned for jury duty once after being on insulin for a few years. I asked one of the clerks how I was gonna handle being on jury duty with my food and medicine needs. I’m permanently disqualified from jury duty now. I’m not quite sure what the reasoning is, perhaps because I need to eat at regular intervals, or I might need to be sequestered (sp?), or I might pass out from an insulin reaction. Even if I want to serve (which I do), I’m not allowed to.
Two people on the grand jury I’m serving on right now have mobility problems. One requested, and was given, a parking permit for the accessible lot. Neither uses a chair, but if they did I assume they’d be accommodated by sitting outside the jury box (the transfer for this one would be rather tricky, but there’s room for a chair outside of it).
The rules for jurors in NSW include a fairly generic exemption from jury service for:
I don’t know how strictly this is enforced. Presumably it depends on the prospective juror and the degree of disability. Also too on the availability of disabled access to the courtroom.
I’ve been selected for a (US) jury twice since being in a wheelchair. I requested to not be placed in a jury that would potentially be sequestered, mostly for logistical reasons, but there weren’t any trials at the time that would require it. I sat beside the jury box, and there weren’t any issues.
Some people may have health problems in addition to their mobility problem that would make it more difficult to serve and result in their excusal.
OT, but the correct terminlogy is blind/low vision or deaf/hard of hearing. Using the term impaired makes it sound like driving while impaired, or that we are totally helpless to adapt without those senses.
The rules vary by state. Massachusetts allows the disabled and seniors to decline to serve without receiving the judge’s permission (but they’re welcome to serve anyway if willing), but there are no other automatic exceptions.
My husband asked to be excused from jury duty and was, not because it is inconvenient, but because his disability means that he frequently falls asleep despite trying to stay awake, cannot sit for extended periods, and must get up and walk around every so often. It is not that he doesn’t want to, but he can’t. His disability is a permanent bar to driving, not for mobility issues, but the falling asleep part. When I had jury duty, the judge did not let jurors with moderate mobility issues off, and placed one on the jury much to his displeasure.
So within those parameters, it would probably be decided on a case-by-case basis.
The provincial Act is used to select civil juries for provincial civil matters, and criminal juries for federal criminal matters.
As always, the above info is not to be taken as legal advice, but simply to contribute to a general discussion about the operation of the legal system. If you want advice about jury service, talk to the relevant court officials or a lawyer in your jurisdiction.
Restless Legs, right? I’ve got that and will use it as necessary to be excused from jury duty (would love to serve if I could but I don’t see being able to do so effectively :(). The annoying thing about it, jury-wise, is that it’s not anything obvious - a RLS sufferer looks quite hale and healthy.
Back to the OP: I imagine it’s possible that many folks in a wheelchair have asked to be excused for whatever reason (the logistics, the underlying condition mandating the wheelchair) which would reduce the percentage of wheelchair-bound jurors to somewhat less than the population of wheelchair-bound citizens in general. Failing that, though, I don’t see any reason a candidate would be automatically excused from duty just because s/he rolls rather than walks.
Where I live, most of the courthouses were built before the ADA, and were not wheelchair-friendly. Most of them have since been renovated, and made ADA-compliant. However, our county courthouse has two stories, and no elevators. It is registered as a Historical Landmark, which means that you can’t screw with the architecture without breaking the laws to preserve antiquities.
There have been some lawsuits over this, but I’m not sure how they turned out. The county is planning to move to a new set of office buildings, which will resolve the dispute by sidestepping it.
I have a friend who is legally blind (20/400 vision) who was called to jury duty, and served on a jury. She probably could have got off, but she felt she was just as capable of serving as anyone else.
She is able to read clearly printed documents by holding them up to her face, and has a portable computer that converts text to speech into her headphones. She noted that both the plaintiff & defendant lawyers were very careful to make sure that she could see their evidence. Whenever they presented a document in court, they had a large-print version for her. Even when they presented a diagram of the traffic intersection, they had a version for her with raised lines and different textured cloth & paper areas. Photos were the only exception, but the neighboring juror described them to her (and the lawyer usually described the important part of the photo, too).
She said that she had no significant problem serving on the jury, and felt she had done a good job.
Educate me on this, please. What would be the logistical problem with being in a wheelchair and being sequestered? I always thought that being sequestered meant hanging out in a hotel with a security guard watching you. But I get all my info from Matlock.
transportation. Someone in a wheelchair will need to have a wheelchair-adapted van or to get on and off the chair every time (which can be very difficult, specially if they have more impairment than “my knees don’t work”).
the hotel has to be wheelchair accesible. I’ve been in many hotels which in theory weren’t but in actuality were not.
depending again on the extent of the mobility problems, the chair-ridden person may need help washing, getting in and out of bed, etc.
In Ohio, the presumption is that virtually every adult is capable of serving as a juror. Any request to be excused due to disability or infirmity must be made by the prospective juror; most judges are pretty understanding. I have heard of blind and/or deaf jurors sitting on cases, rarely, but most are excused because of the problems that may arise in reviewing exhibits or judging the credibility of witnesses (with which even a duly-sworn, neutral assistant can only help so much). I’ve never heard of someone confined to a wheelchair being excused from jury duty, although I suppose it might be an issue if a jury view of a crime scene was likely and the juror’s limited mobility would make that very difficult or impossible.
I’m paralyzed below about the level of my diaphram. For me, the main issues would be showering and bowel care.
For bowel movements, I have a chair sort of like a toilet seat on legs that goes over my toilet. I transfer to that chair, put on a glove, lube it up, and stick a finger up and pull out the poo. Repeat until empty.
For showering, I have a “tub bench” that has an extension between the toilet chair and the bath. After bowel care, I silde over onto the tub bench and wash up. Then back to the toilet chair, then the wheelchair.
This setup requires enough space beside the toilet to manuever my chair in, and the shower to be close to the toilet on the other side. While I could get used to doing it a different way, possibly with different equipment, it would take some work. Even changing which side of the toilet I have access from would take some getting used to, since I have been doing it the same way for so long.