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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.

 

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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.

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Austin Jailer Breaks Elderly Deaf Woman’s Arm After Misunderstanding at Airport

Karen McGee, 71, hyperventilates as police begin moving her out of the airport (screenshot via APD Body Cam Footage)

Karen McGee, a deaf, 71-year-old Florida resident, is considering a lawsuit against the city of Austin after what was supposed to be a three-hour layover at Austin-Berg­strom International Airport turned into an arrest, a weekend in the Travis County Jail, and an arm broken by a jailer and left untreated for three days.

McGee’s ordeal began on the afternoon of Sept. 13, 2022, as she waited for a connecting flight from Austin to Seattle. She was flying alone for the first time in her life and nervous because her hearing aids weren’t working well, so she sat within sight of the ticket desk to see when her plane would begin boarding. After noticing that it hadn’t boarded on time she spoke with a ticket agent and was distressed to learn that she had missed an announcement that her gate had changed. With her plane already gone, she was issued a ticket for a flight leaving that evening.

While McGee waited for this flight, she texted with her cousin and learned there was another plane parked at the same gate, going to the same destination. She approached the ticket agent and asked if she could switch her ticket to this flight. She had trouble hearing the agent’s response but understood the answer was no. She then made the same request to a different agent. Unbeknownst to McGee, this second agent called the police.

Read on at https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2023-03-24/austin-jailer-breaks-elderly-deaf-womans-arm-after-misunderstanding-at-airport.

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