Existing comment:
Man Who Is Deaf Seeks to Serve on a Jury
After threatening to sue for discrimination, Alec Naiman, shown seated in the jury pool, communicates with his signer while Judge Budd G. Goodman in the New York State Supreme Court asks him questions. Hector Guzman, on trial for a narcotics violation, sits next to his attorney, Oscar Finkel. During jury selection, Finkel argued his client would be denied a fair trial under the Sixth Amendment if one of the jurors were deaf. Judge Goodman, sympathetic to Naiman's cause, denied Guzman the right to eliminate him from the jury pool for cause: People v. Guzman, 478 NYS 2d 455 (1984). Finkel then used one of his peremptory challenges to exclude Naiman. With the passage in 1990 of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Pub.L.101-336, deaf citizens obtained the right to serve on juries.
Marilyn Church. Deaf Juror, February 17, 1984. Colored pencil, pastel, graphite, and porous point pen on ochre paper. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (013.00.00)
LC-DIG-ppmsca-50997 © Marilyn Church
Gift of the family of Marilyn Church |