Too many exempted and excluded from our juries

WHEN she began her landmark legal challenge against a decision to exclude her from jury service, Joan Clarke said she was suing the State because she wanted to perform "this important civic duty".

The married mother of two and former factory worker from Athenry was turned down for jury duty, a task dreaded by many and dodged by untold numbers, because she is deaf.
Deaf since birth, Mrs Clarke, who lip-reads and is training to become a sign language teacher, has claimed that the refusal to allow her to serve as a juror breaches her rights under the Constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights.

And now the State, which should be at the cutting edge of policies and practices that promote equality and inclusiveness, finds itself defending a blanket ban on deaf jurors that appears to defy due regard for people with disabilities.
Would the sky fall in and the sanctity of jury deliberations be inconceivably violated if a sign language interpreter was present to assist Joan Clarke decide the guilt or innocence of one of her (possibly deaf) peers?

Is a deaf person unable to ascertain the demeanour and credibility of an accused, witness or lawyer, jeopardising a criminal trial in the process, just because she cannot hear the proceedings?
Most common law jurisdictions say no, hence the reason why deaf civilians can serve on juries in every state in America and also in Canada and New Zealand.
Only Ireland and the United Kingdom persist with the deaf jurors ban.

Deaf people are not the only people who are banned from serving on juries in Ireland.
Those who have reading difficulties are also automatically excluded, as is anyone who has suffered from mental illness or anyone who regularly attends for treatment by a medical practitioner.

Last week Dermot Ahern, in one of his first forays as justice minister, announced, to much fanfare, that the Government was removing the upper age limit which prevents people over the age of 65 serving on juries. Seventy is the new 65.
Overlooking the fact that the burden of jury duty is disproportionately borne by the young, unemployed, those who are financially independent and the elderly, the minister said that the abolition of the upper age limit recognised the contribution which older people are making to society.
He is, of course, correct in that view. But the largely symbolic and cosmetic change -- the over-65s will still be able to excuse themselves on ageist grounds -- defers for another day the real debate about the need for radical reform of our jury selection regime.
It is worth remembering that juries are meant to be a representative sample of the community, a cross-section of society as a whole.
Yet as this newspaper has pointed out, ad nauseam, they are anything but.

The Supreme Court has held that a jury must be selected from a pool broadly representative of the community so that its verdict will be "stamped with fairness and acceptability of a genuinely diffused community decision".
But a number of factors rail against the cardinal principle of randomly selected, genuinely diffused community decisions, not least the fact that the vast majority of criminal cases take place in one location: the Greater Dublin area.

Add to this distorted national perspective the fact that only those who are on the Dail electoral register can be called for jury service.
The current regime not only excludes all non-voters, and the vast majority of the one-in-10 foreigners who now live here, but the goal of representativeness is also weakened by the disqualification, ineligibility, exemption and excusal criteria set out in the 1976 Juries Act.
The 32-year-old act, which previously barred women from serving on juries, excuses a wide category of people, including ex-prisoners, from jury duty.
Priests, nurses, midwives, vets, teachers, pilots, Dail clerks and dentists can also dodge the draft. Civil servants, gardai and the defence forces are also excused, owing to a public interest justification.

What about the rest of us who are entitled to serve?
Amble into the Four Courts on any day that a jury is being empanelled and you will witness the reluctance of many -- over a third at the last count -- who are unwilling to serve.
The self-employed and high-fliers can't afford up to a three- or four-week sojourn; neither can those who are carers, have children or are otherwise engaged, ie, going off on holiday.
Extraordinary amounts of people parade before judges like schoolchildren claiming that the dog ate their homework. They sheepishly line up with excuses as to why they can't, or more than likely won't, serve on a jury.
Then there are others, like Joan Clarke, who take unusual steps to ensure that they can perform this most important civic duty.

Trial by jury is the most fundamental right afforded to a person accused of a crime. The least we can do is ensure that that right is not undermined.

Movie inspired by youth in D.C.

Laurence Hewitt grew up playing basketball in the District and thought the stories he saw someday would become the basis for his writing. However, it was not until he met a young deaf child that he found the inspiration for his most successful work, "My Brother ... My Keeper," a film that debuts Saturday at the Lincoln Theater in Northwest.

"I was constantly surrounded by interesting stories to write about," Mr. Hewitt, 43, said yesterday. "The story was already in the making, and I felt these characters were strong, but I wanted to put in a twist. Then I thought of my best friend's deaf nephew."
The story is about All-American high school basketball player Bernard Hill, who loses his hearing in a car accident, and the family and friends who help him rekindle his desire to play basketball again and prove his innocence related to a crime of which he was wrongly accused.

"Anyone can see [the film], from young to old," Mr. Hewitt said. "It crosses so many barriers. When you come see this movie, know that it's people from your community doing positive things."
The film was shot in the District and includes a deaf student and scenes from Gallaudet University — the largest liberal arts college in the United States for deaf and hard-of-hearing undergraduates.
A student, Samantha Gill, plays Bernard's sign-language tutor, Monica.

"It was definitely important for me to have a deaf person play" Monica, Mr. Hewitt said. "No one else could have done the deaf community justice."
Mr. Hewitt, who directed the film, said he finished the script 20 years ago, then "had no intentions of doing anything with it."

However, people who read "My Brother ... My Keeper" continuously praised the work, which kept him wondering about the possibilities.
Mr. Hewitt then took a few courses on filmmaking and editing while he started looking for a cast and financing.
"Every two weeks, I took a portion out of my paychecks," he said. "I scraped."
Mr. Hewitt said the film was made entirely with a cast and crew of undiscovered talents, which is the mission of his Up & Coming Entertainment production company.

He said Juhahn Jones, who plays Bernard, learned sign language for the role by interacting with Miss Gill and her deaf friends regularly after classes.
The power of such interaction between members of a community, Mr. Hewitt said, is exactly the message he hopes the film conveys.

Firefighters sign up to protect Deaf households

IF fire breaks out in your home, the smoke detector is the early warning which could save your life.
But imagine you are deaf and the conventional high- pitched noise of a smoke detector is useless.
Time is the vital factor in escaping from a fire, and Moray firefighters trained in the use of sign language are pioneering a new fire safety programme for deaf people.

That includes the installation of new smoke alarms which have a flashing light and vibrator pad placed under the pillow, which alerts people in the event of a fire.

Forres couple Robin and Karen Leach were among the first deaf people to receive a visit this week from fire safety officers Harry Officer and Jim McPherson, who are both based at Elgin.
They went through a comprehensive fire safety check using sign language.
Both firefighters were among a number of Elgin personnel who completed the level one British Sign Language (BSL) course.
However, they have since moved on to more advanced sign language, and are currently the only two firefighters in Grampian trained to level two standard.

In conjunction with Moray Council social services, they are offering to fit the new smoke detectors free of charge in the homes of deaf people.
"We will be going out into the deaf community, who are at higher risk (from fire) because they are unable to hear conventional alarms," said Mr McPherson.
"We are getting more comfortable with the sign language. On our first home visit we were very nervous, but we got good feedback from the people," he added.

They have been taught by Mary Whittaker, a local BSL tutor who runs a local deaf club which has more than 35 members.

Firefighter Jim McPherson checks a smoke detector while colleague Harry Officer (left) uses sign language to give some advice to householders Robin Leach and his wife Karen (right), watched by tutor Mary Whittaker

With at least twice that number of deaf people across Moray, the firefighters hope to roll out the programme over the next few months.

Mrs Leach welcomed the advice from the signing firefighters.
"It is really excellent," she said, signing through Mr McPherson. "I feel a lot more reassured now that the firefighters know sign language, and I appreciate them being able to sign. It is fantastic."
If the programme is successful in Moray, it could be rolled out across Grampian, with more firefighters being taught sign language.

The fire service also provides safety information in a number of foreign languages, including Polish, although as yet none of the firefighters has been trained in a foreign language.

Any deaf person who would like a free home fire safety visit and smoke detector can contact Elgin fire station by text at 61611 or by e-mail at info@grampianfrs.org.uk

Free fire safety advice is also available to the wider community on 01343 549060.