Atlanta Injury Lawyer Blog
A neat thing happened last week in DeKalb County State Court as I was striking a jury. I’m not sure if anyone else noticed it or appreciated it, but I certainly did. The judge had called in 60 potential jurors to go through “voir dire,” or jury selection, in my case. DeKalb jurors are some of the most diverse citizens of any county in Georgia, and that wonderful diversity was in full display during jury selection. What really caught my attention was there was an interpreter for one of the jurors. This juror could not speak English, at least not fluently enough to be able to understand detailed questions about her thoughts and feelings about money damages in civil cases, medical malpractice cases in particular.
It was apparently arranged in advance, because by this woman’s side was an interpreter. The trial court judge needed to swear in the interpreter first, before swearing in the actual juror. The oath an interpreter must take states that she will truthfully and accurately translate from English to whatever language that juror spoke and back again. The trial court, before swearing in the interpreter, asked “It is Amharic? Is that correct?” The answer was yes. And so the judge swore in the interpreter with the oath that she would truly and accurately translate English into Amharic and Amharic into English. That being accomplished, the interpreter then translated not only the juror’s oath to the woman, but also every question asked of the panel.
I was fascinated by the fact that the subject language was Amharic, with which I was not at all familiar. It is spoken principally in the central highlands of the country. Amharic is an Afro-Asiatic language of the Southwest Semitic group and is related to Geʿez, or Ethiopic, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church; it also has affinities with Tigré, Tigrinya, and the South Arabic dialects. This doesn’t surprise me at all, as DeKalb County is Georgia’s most diverse county. DeKalb is primarily a suburban county, and is the second-most-affluent county with an African-American majority in the United States, behind Prince George’s County, Maryland, in suburban Washington, D.C. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 691,893 people, 271,809 households, and 161,453 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,585.7 inhabitants per square mile (998.3/km2). There were 304,968 housing units at an average density of 1,139.7 per square mile (440.0/km2).The racial makeup of the county was 54.3% black or African American, 33.26% white, 5.12% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 4.5% from other races, and 2.39% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 9.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 5.9% were English, 5.2% were German, and 3.5% were American.
Now, come back with me about 25 years ago to DeKalb County State Court, where another potential juror needed an interpreter, but there was initially not going to be any such accommodation made for him. This juror spoke only American Sign Language (ASL) and was deaf. I had first met in in a small office occupied by the Georgia Council for the Deaf, where I was a volunteer lawyer. He had some to me seeking representation to help him request that a sign language interpreter be appointed and paid for him by DeKalb County so he could fully participate in Democracy. Seemed like a good idea to me. So I filed a motion in DeKalb County State Court requesting what I thought was a reasonable accommodation. My client and I appeared before the presiding judge for that week and I made my argument. To my surprise and delight, it worked! The presiding judge issued an Order requiring DeKalb County pay for an ALS interpreter for my client during jury selection.
Fast forward to today. The need for an ALS interpreter for a jury would be no big deal. The DeKalb County Juror information for folks facing jury duty states: “ADA Accommodation
Jurors who are hearing and/or visually impaired are not prohibited from serving on a jury. For ease of accommodation, please notify Jury Management prior to your service if you need assistance. The Jury Assembly Room and most courtrooms are equipped to accommodate the hearing impaired. For teletype assistance call (404)371-7069.”
Wow. We’ve come a long way, Baby. For the better.
Robin Frazer Clark is a trial lawyer who pursues justice for those who have personal injury claims as a result of being injured in motor vehicle wrecks, trucking wrecks, defective products, defective maintenance of roads, premises safety, medical malpractice and other incidents caused by the negligence of others. Ms. Clark is the 50th President of the State Bar of Georgia, a Past President of Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, a Past President of the Lawyers Club of Atlanta and has practiced law in Georgia for 30 years. She is a member of the International Society of Barristers and of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Mrs. Clark is listed as one of the Top 50 Women Trial Lawyers in Georgia and is a Georgia Super Lawyer.
Robin Frazer Clark ~ Dedicated to the Constitution’s Promise of Justice for All.
