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Jury duty with severe to profound hearing loss

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In Ohio they call you again no matter what the letter says. Fortunately they don’t require a letter from a Dr. I might send them the bill if they did

They’re not refusing the hearing impaired. They try to assist the hearing impaired as much as possible. But there’s a group with severe to profound loss with poor speech comprehension that really can’t be helped. The truly deaf grew up in that world and consequently learned sign language. Let’s not get this all twisted around.

I was “excused” because of my profound loss. I was being lighthearted because to many it may seem odd that a deaf person is now approved for jury duty, while the hard of hearing gets excused. Nothing negative other than how you interpreted

I am not American, so I don’t understand why are you being forced to serve Jury duty if you don’t want to? Should not be Jury duty be voluntary? Is this like mandatory military conscription?

If it was voluntary nobody would go. It’s a part of the constitution. To be judged by your peers. It prevents government from stepping in there and throwing anyone they want into jail for the rest of their life. In this country you’re innocent until proven guilty. And although many people see jury duty as an inconvenience, they understand that it’s an obligation that makes this country what it is. Free.

I got called for jury duty in my rural county. So, I go down to the county courthouse and try out the old “I don’t hear all that well” spiel. The district attorneys office representative said that maybe I would be a great fit for the grand jury. I tried to object, however; they offered a sign language interpreter, a loop system for the grand jury room, a computer screen where I could see the speech in real time (there was a stenographer assigned to the jury duty pool" or fly solo if I thought that I did not need any of the other options available. So, I had to go in every Wednesday for 6 months. I did well, and only rarely had to ask anyone in the room to repeat themselves.

Edited

That’s kind of amazing that a rural town has all those different features available. My guess is that it’s the exception and not what you normally find. But good for them.

I showed up for jury duty where on the first day, as part of the jury selection process, potential jurors sit in the box and are grilled by the attorneys. They need to know if you can’t hear well. Neither the prosecutor nor the defense attorney want someone who can’t hear. Two of us claimed we were hearing aid wearers and were immediately excused, without proof of hearing loss. In my case, it only made good sense to get myself off the jury. If I heard the proceedings as well as I hear my wife, someone’s in trouble. :grimacing:

In reply to @TheOldBalladeer

I asked my audiologist what I should do. He said with my hearing loss, I wouldn’t do well. He wrote a letter; I submitted it and was excused from jury pool and jury duty. Ontario Canada…

In reply to @TheOldBalladeer

Wow! That wasn’t offered in my county’s courtrooms

We are a small county. The county seat is approx 13,000 people and there is no other town of any significance in the county. There is a significant drug usage problem. The potential jury pool is limited by the above issues. The county attorneys office bend over backwards to accommodate anyone who wishes to serve, or is drafted to serve. I too was astonished by the level of things they were willing to do. But it makes me feel included in my (community) county.
Dan

Would be happy enough to accept the call I got for UK jury service, but having seen inside our town court and understood almost nothing in the blurry echoing space I wrote back to explain that a loop system would be essential, fed by a roving mic so I could hear every contribution. I was excused. But it’s a frustration. Backward, indifferent.

Some counties excuse service based on advanced age-- 70 is typical. Definitely work on the “letter from doctor” angle. . . . such as D.Au.

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