Deaf Woman Loses Legal Battle To Be Juror

VIDEO [CC] - Deaf News: Deaf woman loses High Court bid to serve on jury in Australia, claims “a smack in the face” for the Deaf community.



BRISBANE, AU -- The Independent: The High Court in Australia has ruled to deny a woman the chance to become the country’s first Deaf jury member, a decision she later described as “a smack in the face” for the Deaf community.



In 2012, a registrar told Gaye Lyons from Queensland she should be excused from jury duty as a sign language interpreter could not be sworn into the conference room, according to state law.



The 69-year-old can lip read but needs an interpreter to communicate, and decided to take her case against the Queensland government to the High Court.

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The court decided to uphold state law and said the presence of an interpreter in a deliberation room would cause “an incurable irregularity” which could affect the outcome of a case, resulting in the dismissal of Ms Lyons’ appeal.



Queensland attorney general Yvette D’Ath said the confidentiality of jury deliberations and the right to a fair trial were “among the most fundamental tenets of Australia’s justice system”, according to AP Australia.



"We're the same as everybody else, we're human, we have kids, we go to work, we drive cars, we pay mortgages - I was just fuming because I could not have equal access to this," Ms Lyons told reporters outside court.



"Why should the powers that be decide what's right for me, why should they decide what I can and can't do? It just made me livid, I was seething about the whole thing.”



Ms Lyons has repeatedly cited her detailed interest in the law and said jury duty was “something I really wanted to take part in”.



"After five years of struggle, just fighting for access for the Australian Deaf community, it felt like a slap in the face.”



"For them [the High Court] to say that interpreters could not relay information accurately, that was the living end, that was the last straw for me. Deaf people should not be treated differently. The High Court does not see that,” she added.



In 2011, a Deaf woman served on an inquest jury in the United Kingdom after several legal challenges found Deaf people can fully comprehend courtroom discourse and jury deliberations through interpreters.



Exemptions for Deaf people carrying out jury service in criminal trials were removed in Ireland and the UK after legal challenges during the 2000s. In the United States, they have been serving on juries since 1979.



New Zealand is another country where sign language interpreters are employed by courts to help Deaf jurors contribute to trials.



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Deaf Footy Fans Claims AFL Discrimination

Deaf News: Deaf footy fans claims Australian Football League discrimination.



MELBOURNE, AU -- The Age: The email came from a woman in Adelaide. "You moron, are you stupid? Are you paying for the interpreter or is the taxpayer paying for it? There are bigger issues in the world then a f--king interpreter".



Ramas McRae smiles, and shrugs his broad shoulders.



The Deaf community advocate has become the target of abusive messages after his public push to get the Australian Football League to provide Auslan (Australian sign language) translation at the Grand Final.



But when you're born with a disability, you learn to grow a thick skin, the Hawthorn fan says, signing to me through an interpreter, Mark Quinn.



A Hawthorn fan, McRae asked the league to provide a translator for the entertainment and ceremonies during the Grand Final this year, including the anthem. But the AFL refused, saying the closed caption system on TV was appropriate.



So McRae has lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission, claiming the AFL have discriminated against him on the basis of his disability, and also launched a change.org petition. He is supported by a range of groups, including Deaf Australia and Deaf Victoria.



With the AFL promoting awareness of the women's league, and LGBTI recognition through its Pride game, McRae wants it to extend this inclusion to Deaf people (at the cost of a few hundred dollars).



"The Deaf community, and Deaf football fans, have the right to be a visible part of this huge sporting event," McRae says. "As citizens, we also have the right to see the national anthem in our preferred language."



Closed captions often have a 30-second to one-minute time lag on them, and require a screen, which means people who are at the game will not be able to see them, he says. Auslan is a language with its own syntax and grammar, which is quite different to English.



Internationally, particularly in the United States, sign language is commonly used at sporting events, including at the grand finals of the National Football League and National Basketball Association.



"For Deaf Americans it's very normal. People are often quite surprised internationally that Australia lags so far behind."



Some sporting codes are keen on the idea. Melbourne Racing Club's head of racing, Jake Norton, contacted McRae after he heard about his request. The club would like to introduce interpreters at major race meets, he said.



The AFL believes an on-ground interpreter would not be seen by the crowd, because of the distance from the seating to the arena, a spokesman said in a statement.



And because the broadcast coverage moves around the crowd and arena – and rarely focuses on the announcer – an interpreter would not often be seen, he said.



Having an interpreter shown in a separate box in one corner of the television screen would still be difficult to see clearly, and would impact on the wider broadcast, he said.



The words of the anthem could be displayed on LED signage during the pre-game period, and the AFL is discussing this possibility, he said.



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University Killing Deaf Kittens For CI Research

VIDEO: Deaf News - Students outraged after Australian university made six kittens Deaf for a year before killing them for cochlear implant research.



VICTORIA, AU -- Daily Mail: Australian universities are under fire for using cruel animal testing practices as part of various medical and scientific studies.



But one Deakin University student is calling on the prestigious institutions to end their cruel practices.



Alexandra Sedgwick, 24, has kickstarted a campaign against her own university after she suspected Deakin to be using fetal pigs cut from the bodies of pregnant mothers in scientific studies.



Ms Sedgwick organised a meeting on Friday morning with the Dean of the faculty of science, engineering and built environment, to put her case against the university's current animal testing policy.

But the vegan activist said her message was difficult to get across as she was refused any support in the meeting.



'It was an intense experience. I had requested to bring in people as support which the Dean didn't allow,' Ms Sedgwick told Daily Mail Australia.



Ms Sedgwick said the university branded her view as 'unique' and unsupported as she was not allowed to bring in her support team.



Other Australian universities also use cruel animal testing practices for scientific and educational purposes.



The University of Melbourne made six kittens Deaf before killing them as part of a medical study with the Bionics Institute while Monash University made eight healthy baby monkeys brain dead as part of a brain injury study, Fairfax Media reported.



Despite Ms Sedgwick's efforts, the Dean stood by his position that animal tissue was more effective in scientific studies than non-animal alternatives, and insisted they had already adopted a cruelty-free stance.



'If they were a cruelty-free university, why wouldn't they agree to stop using animals? It doesn't make sense to say we have all these animals but then say we're not going agreeing to stop,' Ms Sedgwick said.



'For me this was never about Deakin, it was about Victorian universities and institutions and I had hoped Deakin would be the first to change,' she said.



She acknowledged the difficulty of being up against a big organisation with extensive resources but hopes to further expose animal cruelty in science through her social media accounts and by connecting with like-minded people.



'I've had hundreds of people contact me and hopefully they will be willing to tell their stories.



'I hope to connect with Victorians, students, researchers and interns who are brave enough to tell the truth about this, as universities are all quite secretive especially in the research department,' she said.



Over 900,000 animals are killed for scientific purposes in Victoria alone, which has been increasing every year for the past 10 years according to the most recent data from 2014.



Ms Sedgwick said this does not include animal organs purchased from slaughterhouses.



While she described the mood as 'devastating', Ms Sedgwick said she will not stop pursuing the issue and urges all students not to participate in dissection.



Trevor Day, Deakin's executive dean of the faculty of science, engineering and built environment, told Fairfax Media that there was 'very limited use of live animals in teaching and training.'



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Aussie Teen Dodges Jail For Bashing Deaf Man

RAW VIDEO: Western Australia teen dodges jail for bashing Deaf man.



PERTH - A teenager has dodged a jail term after pleading guilty to bashing a Deaf man at a Perth train station, but he will face imprisonment if he offends again in the next year, a judge has warned.



Joshua William Bignell, 18, bashed Seow Oh, 28, fracturing his eye socket, in the eastern Perth suburb of Carlisle in June last year.



Bignell bashed and kicked Mr Oh from behind as he was walking to his car parked at the station. Bignell was originally charged with assault occasioning bodily harm but the charge was later upgraded to grievous bodily harm.

On Monday, in the District Court of Western Australia Judge Phillip Eaton handed Bignell a pre-sentence order, subject to three reviews over the next 12 months. Judge Eaton decided not to imprison Bignell immediately because he was young, had a troubled childhood and mental health problems and was "now in a stable situation".



If Bignell committed an offence in the next 12 months, it was likely he'd be sentenced to an immediate term of imprisonment, Judge Eaton warned. "You can just about bank on that," he said.



"If you're going well, I'll allow the order to continue. "If things are falling apart, then I won't hesitate to bring it to an end. "If you fail, Mr Bignell, then the consequences will be grim."



Judge Eaton said the maximum penalty for the offence was 10 years' imprisonment, meaning Bignell was "in the big league" after "fairly relentless offending" in recent years. ... Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/wa-teen-dodges-jail-for-bashing-deaf-man-20130225-2f1zl.html



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