Federal judge orders White House to provide ASL interpreters

Courthouse News Service reported this afternoon that a federal judge has issued a temporary order for the White House to provide ASL interpreters for its Covid-19 briefings. This order came as a result of a lawsuit filed by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) that demanded President Donald Trump and the White House to provide in-frame ASL interpreters. 

U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg wrote a 25-page opinion and I’ve read it. I’ll recap it. 

The opinion said the plaintiffs (NAD) have successfully shown that the failure to provide ASL interpreter is a violation of federal law, but there is more time needed to detail exactly what is needed. 

The judge said the White House has not provided in-frame ASL interpreters even though the governors of all fifty states and local city leaders provide it. 

The judge supported the NAD’s position that deaf people are suffering “irreparable harm” because they do not have access to information about their personal safety, public health, and the economy. 

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The judge said the Court disagrees with the White House’s argument that providing transcripts or closed captioning meets their obligations under federal law: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. 

The judge said Section 504 requires that disabled people have meaningful access to the federal government’s programs or activities, and pointed to the NAD’s argument that there are deaf people who have very little understanding of English or use it as a second language. 

The judge said even if the White House provides English transcripts, deaf people who rely on ASL can’t effectively understand the messages. 

The judge pointed to the recent lawsuit against Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) that resulted in an order for Gov. Cuomo to provide in-frame interpreters as an example that written English alone is not meaningful access. 

The judge said there is little debate that there is irreparable harm caused by deaf people being denied access to critical information about coronavirus-related updates. 

The judge said what is complicated is how to move forward in making an order for what the President and Vice-President of the United States should do. 

The judge said what is reasonable is to require the White House to offer in-frame ASL interpreters on its live feed that is posted on YouTube and on its delayed feed that is posted on social media. 

The judge said the White House can bring an ASL interpreter to be in the same room or to create a live PIP feed of an interpreter in another space. 

The judge said they won’t require media outlets to show the interpreter, but said the White House should make it available to the media. 

The judge said there will be another hearing in the future so the White House and the NAD can discuss the specifics of how to provide interpreters. The judge encouraged the parties to confer to reach an agreement on a format for the ASL interpretation.

The judge said he has made this order, but is allowing time for it to be “enforced” because the specifics need to be resolved. 

So, this is a big victory for the NAD in a historic lawsuit against the President of the United States, although the full realization of it is delayed. 

https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-orders-white-house-to-include-sign-language-in-covid-briefings/#click=https://t.co/kBakKaXagI

https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/NAD-et-al-v-Trump-et-al-PI-granted.pdf