Florida Courts Required to Accommodate Blind Litigants with Braille Documents
Florida Courts Required to Accommodate Blind Litigants with Braille Documents
The Florida Supreme Court has held that a legally blind litigant was entitled to mandamus relief to compel an appellate court to accept pleadings in Braille and to correspond with him in Braille formatted documents.
Demetrio R. Gabriele petitioned the Supreme Court to issue him relief against the Fourth District Court of Appeal’s refusal to accommodate his disability. The Supreme Court said it was agreed that Gabriele is legally blind.
It then stated that under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment he had a clear legal right to access to the courts. Next, the court said the Fourth district has an indisputable duty to provide Gabriele accommodations.
Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.540(a) mandates Florida will provide to “[q]ualified individuals…at the court’s expense… accommodations, reasonable modifications to rules, policies, or practices, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, in order [for those individuals] to participate in programs or activities provided by the courts of this state.” The court further noted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandated accommodation for persons with disabilities. The ADA analysis is not determined by the substantive merit or lack of merit of the underlying claim, the court wrote.
The Supreme Court held Gabriele satisfied the requirement for mandamus relief and it granted the mandamus petition as it pertained to Braille formatted documents. It withheld issuing the writ, for it exercised its discretion to rule on the merits of the underlying claim, and it found the merits of the challenges to his conviction are without merit. The Supreme Court concluded by stating it trusted the Fourth District would comply with the order when confronted with similar situations in the future. See: Gabriele v. State, 99 So. 943 (Fla. 2012).
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Related legal case
Gabriele v. State
| Year | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Cite | 99 So. 943 (Fla. 2012) |
| Level | State Supreme Court |
| Conclusion | Bench Verdict |