Category: ASL

Posted on

Supreme Court Rules Deaf Student Can Sue School District Over Alleged Failures

Miguel Luna Perez, who is deaf, attended schools in Michigan's Sturgis Public School District from ages 9 through 20. Photo courtesy of Luna Perez family

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously that a deaf student may pursue his lawsuit for money damages against a Michigan school district that allegedly failed for years to provide him with adequate sign language assistance.

The court held in Luna Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools that a procedural requirement under the main federal special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, does not bar the student’s claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The decision will allow the now-27-year-old student, Miguel Luna Perez, to pursue damages under the ADA. And it will make it easier for other students with disabilities and their families to bypass often slow-moving administrative proceedings under the IDEA when their chief claim is for damages under other federal laws such as the ADA or the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Read on at https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/supreme-court-rules-deaf-student-can-sue-school-district-over-alleged-failures/2023/03.

Daily Moth also ran a similar story at https://www.dailymoth.com/blog/supreme-court-unanimously-sides-with-deaf-michigan-student.

 

Posted on

Deaf woman says Jefferson County failed to provide interpreter after arrest

Blindfolded woman holding scales Stock image 123RF

A deaf woman alleges authorities in Jefferson County did not provide her with an American Sign Language interpreter when she asked for one after she was arrested and then jailed overnight in October.

Angela Kasinger, 40, said in a tort claim notice filed in Jefferson County on Feb. 22 that authorities violated her civil rights enshrined under state and federal law. Through her Portland-based attorney, Daniel Snyder, she states that she plans to sue the county, alleging discrimination.

Kasinger was arrested on Oct. 27 around 4 p.m. by Warm Springs Police officer Nicholas Ulery, according to a copy of the claim obtained by The Bulletin. She would later plead guilty to one count of reckless driving stemming from this incident, according to court records.

Ulery took Kasinger to the Jefferson County jail, the tort claim states. She remained there overnight and part of the next day. She asked Ulery and jail staff for an interpreter but didn’t get one, she alleges. She was released on Oct. 28.

Read on at https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/deaf-woman-claims-jefferson-county-failed-to-provide-interpreter-after-arrest/article_ec88885e-c774-11ed-8e43-93ffb1554fb3.html.

Posted on

Black and Deaf family sues school district alleging abuse and discrimination

A Black and Deaf family has filed a lawsuit against a school district near Seattle with serious allegations of abuse, discrimination, and retaliation. The family prefers to keep their names confidential but wanted the public to be aware of this lawsuit.

I will summarize the complaint.

The plaintiffs are a deaf mother and a deaf grandmother to a seven-year-old girl who is hearing and has developmental disabilities. The family uses ASL at home. The mother authorized the grandmother to act in the place of the child’s biological father regarding educational decisions.

The child attended Lockwood Elementary School within the Northshore School District in the fall of 2021 at the age of six. The majority of the students are white with only 1% of students identifying as Black. The child was placed in a classroom at Lockwood for students with disabilities.

The mother and grandmother wanted to observe the classroom, but the child’s teacher denied the request to observe. The attorney said the school is supposed to provide parents of special education students the opportunity to observe.

Read on at https://www.dailymoth.com/blog/black-and-deaf-family-sues-school-district-alleging-abuse-and-discrimination.