Several civil rights organizations filed friend-of-the-court briefs in support of a blind New York woman who sued the state after a court disqualified her for juror service because of her disability. The woman’s lawyer told Straight Arrow the disqualification undercuts the “jury of your peers” statement. Emeline Lakrout reported to a New York State court […]
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Several civil rights organizations filed friend-of-the-court briefs in support of a blind New York woman who sued the state after a court disqualified her for juror service because of her disability. The woman’s lawyer told Straight Arrow the disqualification undercuts the “jury of your peers” statement.
Emeline Lakrout reported to a New York State court for jury duty in October 2023, well-prepared for a criminal trial. She passed all of the pre-qualifications, but faced dismissal by lawyers over concerns about her ability to review evidence.
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Lakrout, a paralympic gold medalist, worked at Unilever at the time of the jury summons in the company’s marketing department. She currently serves as the executive director of ParaCliffHangers, a rock climbing group focused on expanding the sport to be more accessible.
Her lawyer, Jessie Weber, told Straight Arrow that lawyers in the trial didn’t think they could accommodate her request, and the presiding judge excused her. That prompted an October 2024 lawsuit, which a federal judge later dismissed.
The case is now pending in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
“It was the New York State court system’s failure to plan for accessibility, and proactively provide accommodations that led to the very predictable result of the judge who happened to be in that courtroom that day not knowing what to do,” Weber said.
More than 7.9 million Americans aged 18 and older — or 3% of the population — have difficulty seeing, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It does not explicitly state how many people experience total blindness.
She said Lakrout’s case is more about a systemic issue in the state court system: accommodations are not readily available. The case caught the attention of the New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, National Disability Rights Network and other disability rights organizations, who wrote in the court brief that dismissing Lakrout’s case would undermine the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Her exclusion was not an isolated incident but the product of defendants’ failure to remove the systemic barriers she and other prospective blind jurors face to accessing jury service,” according to court papers.
Weber’s law firm, Brown Goldstein and Levy, is involved in another discrimination lawsuit against New York’s courts with allegations the court failed to accommodate Albert Elia. In that case, Elia reported for service in a grand jury case and the court dismissed him on all cases that involved video or photo evidence.
The court has yet to schedule a hearing for Lakrout’s appeal, Weber said.
The New York State Unified Court System didn’t immediately respond to Straight Arrow’s request for comment. The court system says it cannot disqualify a potential juror because of a disability. The document stated that if a court cannot immediately supply the accommodation, it should reschedule the juror’s service for when the request can be fulfilled.
Lawsuit seeks remedy for all blind NYers
About 15 million Americans are summoned for jury duty each year, according to the American Tort Reform Association. It’s a civic duty that implores residents to serve on civil and criminal trials in state and federal cases and advocates for lawsuit reform.
Weber said dismissing a blind person from service means a jury is no longer a snapshot of the community.
“When we don’t plan for accessibility, and we shut out people with disabilities, we’re not getting a representative sampling of the community in which the case is being heard,” she said. “That’s antithetical to how our democracy is designed.”
The lawsuit claimed that the New York courts have only a pamphlet about what accommodations a person may request, but no indication about what’s available at the courthouse. Lakrout said in court papers that she filed a public records request for a list of tools the state has on Aug. 16, 2024. The state told Lakrout that no records could be found for her request.
Lakrout didn’t request an accommodation until the bailiff told her she’d be disqualified due to her blindness.
“Defendants discriminate against blind jurors by dismissing them on the basis of their blindness, failing to reasonably accommodate them or provide auxiliary aids and services, and failing to have any policies or procedures in place with respect to assistive technology for blind jurors,” according to court papers.
Disability accommodations aren’t uncommon in the courts. Several courts will have American Sign Language interpreters, while others may have wheelchair-accessible ramps and other interpreters or relays to accommodate requests from jurors.
“No one should be turned away from a fundamental civic duty simply because they have a disability,” said Beth Haroules, director of disability litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union, in a release.
