Judge refuses to acknowledge hoh

Reba said:
Courts | National Association of the Deaf
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I had requested that my attorney insure that I had an ASL interpreter at a court hearing I was involved in some time back (by email - I got a response to it). I sent the request a month before the trial.

5 business days before the trial, I called the county clerk to see if arrangements had been made. They had not been made.

I showed up ... no interpreter. Judge admonished me for not telling my attorney I needed one. Admonished me for calling the county clerk. My attorney told the judge I never made the request.


What should I do with the email? ;)
 
Steinhauer said:
I had requested that my attorney insure that I had an ASL interpreter at a court hearing I was involved in some time back (by email - I got a response to it). I sent the request a month before the trial.

5 business days before the trial, I called the county clerk to see if arrangements had been made. They had not been made.

I showed up ... no interpreter. Judge admonished me for not telling my attorney I needed one. Admonished me for calling the county clerk. My attorney told the judge I never made the request.


What should I do with the email? ;)
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unbelievable--did you do anything about it?
 
Steinhauer said:
I had requested that my attorney insure that I had an ASL interpreter at a court hearing I was involved in some time back (by email - I got a response to it). I sent the request a month before the trial.

5 business days before the trial, I called the county clerk to see if arrangements had been made. They had not been made.

I showed up ... no interpreter. Judge admonished me for not telling my attorney I needed one. Admonished me for calling the county clerk. My attorney told the judge I never made the request.


What should I do with the email? ;)
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You should have told your attorney what you needed in writing, with a signed acknowledgement.

The reason I mentioned telling the court clerk was for small claims, traffic, magistrates, and any other court proceeding where one is not usually represented by an attorney. If one doesn't have an attorney then notifying the clerk is in order. If one has an attorney, then it's appropriate to notify the attorney and follow up with the attorney.
 
Reba said:
You should have told your attorney what you needed in writing, with a signed acknowledgement.

The reason I mentioned telling the court clerk was for small claims, traffic, magistrates, and any other court proceeding where one is not usually represented by an attorney. If one doesn't have an attorney then notifying the clerk is in order. If one has an attorney, then it's appropriate to notify the attorney and follow up with the attorney.
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The attorney gladly accepted payment that was NOT a signed acknowledgement.

Point here is that I made the request plenty of time in advance. The request went acknowledged through email.

I made the request directly to the county clerk and was admonished. I was even told by the county clerk (via a relay interpreter) that I didn't even need one.

Then, the attorney lied about me making the request in court.

I won the case ... so I didn't think anything of it later. I couldn't understand the judge half the time - I didn't even understand what my attorney was telling the judge (I would have liked to).

Before approaching the bench, my attorney asked me to waive my rights to an interpreter. If I hadn't - it would have been months before I could get my issue resolved (and I had waited approx. 4 years).
 
Glenn said:
Only if you allow them to.
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i don't intend to but people I have talked to don't understand that hoh like me don't hear everything--they think we only hear what we want to hear.
Especially since I can communicate one on one very well without anyone even knowing I am hoh.
 
Steinhauer said:
The attorney gladly accepted payment that was NOT a signed acknowledgement.

Point here is that I made the request plenty of time in advance. The request went acknowledged through email.

I made the request directly to the county clerk and was admonished. I was even told by the county clerk (via a relay interpreter) that I didn't even need one.

Then, the attorney lied about me making the request in court.

I won the case ... so I didn't think anything of it later. I couldn't understand the judge half the time - I didn't even understand what my attorney was telling the judge (I would have liked to).

Before approaching the bench, my attorney asked me to waive my rights to an interpreter. If I hadn't - it would have been months before I could get my issue resolved (and I had waited approx. 4 years).
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Where did you find that attorney?
 
Steinhauer said:
The attorney gladly accepted payment that was NOT a signed acknowledgement.

Point here is that I made the request plenty of time in advance. The request went acknowledged through email.

I made the request directly to the county clerk and was admonished. I was even told by the county clerk (via a relay interpreter) that I didn't even need one.

Then, the attorney lied about me making the request in court.

I won the case ... so I didn't think anything of it later. I couldn't understand the judge half the time - I didn't even understand what my attorney was telling the judge (I would have liked to).

Before approaching the bench, my attorney asked me to waive my rights to an interpreter. If I hadn't - it would have been months before I could get my issue resolved (and I had waited approx. 4 years).
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How do you prove that the attorney received the email you sent?

An email request is nowhere as near as strong as a document signed by both parties.

Emails can and do get lost in the system.
 
Reba said:
Where did you find that attorney?
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It isn't just that attorney.


There are more .... like I said before, there are well known facts amongst the certified court interpreters about specific county courts in my State.

I do not want to name specific names, so please bear with me on that one.

Would you believe that an attorney got away with charging 300% more than they normally charge because (and this was specified in the decree) "the majority of the participants were deaf" ?

The Judge allowed it. Later, in a verbal online altercation I had with this attorney, he admitted to charging more because of interpreter fees as well as the "complicated nature of having to deal with the deaf".

He admittedly charged an excess of 300% more for the use of an auxiliary aid. That is like charging a person in a wheelchair to use a ramp.
 
Steinhauer said:
It isn't just that attorney.


There are more .... like I said before, there are well known facts amongst the certified court interpreters about specific county courts in my State.

I do not want to name specific names, so please bear with me on that one.

Would you believe that an attorney got away with charging 300% more than they normally charge because (and this was specified in the decree) "the majority of the participants were deaf" ?

The Judge allowed it. Later, in a verbal online altercation I had with this attorney, he admitted to charging more because of interpreter fees as well as the "complicated nature of having to deal with the deaf".

He admittedly charged an excess of 300% more for the use of an auxiliary aid. That is like charging a person in a wheelchair to use a ramp.
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Do interpreters work for free? They must be paid SOMEHOW.
 
Reba,

I realize you used to be an editor/journalist (???) if you want to publish a story about this - send me a PM. It needs to be published.
 
Glenn said:
Do interpreters work for free? They must be paid SOMEHOW.
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Communication Access Funds for Legal Services | National Association of the Deaf


explained here


3 Title III of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181-89, provides people with disabilities the right to equal access to public accommodations. Both Title III of the ADA, and the regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Justice pursuant to Title III, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, specifically include the offices of lawyers in the definition of public accommodations. 42 U.S.C. § 12181; 28 C.F.R. § 36.104.

4 Section 28 C.F.R. § 36.303(a) requires all public accommodations “to ensure that no individual with a disability is excluded, denied services, segregated, or otherwise treated differently than other individuals because of the absence of auxiliary aids and services…” Section 28 C.F.R. § 36.303(b)(1) includes in the definition of “auxiliary aids and services” “qualified interpreters, notetakers, computer-aided transcription services…assistive listening devices, assistive listening systems ….” Section 28 C.F.R. § 36.303(c) clearly states that a “public accommodation shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to ensure effective communication with individuals with disabilities.”
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300% more is definitely being treated "differently"
 
Glenn said:
Do interpreters work for free? They must be paid SOMEHOW.
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Yes but not by the deaf consumer. The attorney and/or the court (depending on the situation) pays the interpreter.

I had a real estate attorney try to charge the deaf client for my services by tacking on the interpreting fee to the closing costs. I explained to the attorney that he wasn't allowed to do that. He had to go back and write a check to reimburse the deaf client. I didn't leave until I knew everything was straightened out.

No one cheats on my watch. :mad:
 
Reba said:
Yes but not by the deaf consumer. The attorney and/or the court (depending on the situation) pays the interpreter.

I had a real estate attorney try to charge the deaf client for my services by tacking on the interpreting fee to the closing costs. I explained to the attorney that he wasn't allowed to do that. He had to go back and write a check to reimburse the deaf client. I didn't leave until I knew everything was straightened out.

No one cheats on my watch. :mad:
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Good for you!
 
reba said:
yes but not by the deaf consumer. The attorney and/or the court (depending on the situation) pays the interpreter.

I had a real estate attorney try to charge the deaf client for my services by tacking on the interpreting fee to the closing costs. I explained to the attorney that he wasn't allowed to do that. He had to go back and write a check to reimburse the deaf client. I didn't leave until i knew everything was straightened out.

No one cheats on my watch. :mad:
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thank you reba!!!!!
 
Reba said:
Yes but not by the deaf consumer. The attorney and/or the court (depending on the situation) pays the interpreter.

I had a real estate attorney try to charge the deaf client for my services by tacking on the interpreting fee to the closing costs. I explained to the attorney that he wasn't allowed to do that. He had to go back and write a check to reimburse the deaf client. I didn't leave until I knew everything was straightened out.

No one cheats on my watch. :mad:
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Nope, the lawyer can't do that. I was in a similar situation and the lawyer had to pay for my interpreter...he could not charge me extra for that part of the service. To do otherwise would be discriminatory.
 
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