Saturday, November 29, 2008

Nasty Judge Makes Deaf Woman Cry

Story here.

"It is unfair and I feel I have been discriminated against," she said. "I feel, as a deaf person, it is a slap in the face."

Provincial civil court Judge Donald Ingram briefly looked at Wood, who had become quite agitated, and then said: "I get your message. Anything else?"

(...)

Nicole Sander, the manager of interpreting services for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Society, yesterday tried to explain to Ingram that the province requires interpreters to be provided in court for deaf people, but he angrily cut her off and told her: "I don't want a speech."

The judge later conceded that the provincial court civil division now has a policy to provide interpreters for deaf people and told Sander: "Now, you've won your battle."

What an asshole. Being a judge doesn't mean you don't have to be civil and understanding. And listen to people remind you of the law so you don't ignorantly violate it yourself, and the rights of defendants as well.

Some "judge". Shouldn't a judge have good judgement?