Court considers minors as interpreters for deaf mother

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted April 7, 2022 12:07 PM

Born deaf, Renee Lange argued a federal judge in Wisconsin gave jurors an incorrect instruction on her claim that two cities violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act when police officers allegedly relied on her 17-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son to act as sign language interpreters during four incidents.If they were adults, Lange could have validly consented to using her children as interpreters. The question of law was whether there was a “consent-based exception” to a rule that bars …

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