Judge and jury, that's what I do.
Judge and jury, that's what I do.
I don't feel great about it, but you question your sanity when by the third question we had to answer you are so far in the minority. Here is what we had to decide to the best of my recollection:
Question 1: Was the child discriminated against with the use of the desk according to the American's with Disabilities Act?
This one I was on the fence about. The problem with this was that the desks did not exist anywhere and had to be made by the school district just for the special ed classroom. Also regular students who exhibited the same behavior as the kids in the special desks did not get locked into a special desk. So on the highest level of definition I agreed it was discriminatory.
Question 2: Did the school district show intentional discrimination by using the chair AND did the school district know that it would cause long-term harm?
This is the one I got stuck on and argued about. All the paraprofessionals, teachers, etc. said the the desk was used as an adaptive restraint. The child could still get in and out of it on her own, the bar was mostly there until they were focused on their tasks and not trying to get out then it was taken off. The paid medical expert showed a chart of the child's "decline" since having to use the chair to prove long term harm but the data was taken from a presentation she saw of where most "normal" down syndrome kids should be at age 14. My problem was that the child was not a "normal" downs syndrome kid with the fetal alcohol syndrome and other issues, and as the defense's paid medical expert pointed out that peer reviewed studies (not data from a presentation) showed the child was on a normal track given her history. Plus multiple reports that were allowed in evidence from before her time at the school with the desk showed the same behaviors and issues.
Question 3: If Intentional Discrimination was shown, what damages should be awarded to the Plantiff. The sum had to be at least $1.
By the time we got here everyone was in the 1.75 to 2.2 million dollar range for damages and I was at a loss. I was "ok" with the school having to pay for the time she would have otherwise spent in elementary school before getting pulled out but not through adulthood. This was a point of no return but at least here I did convince them that if they were going to give the full amount there shouldn't be more tacked on. The 2.2 came from a list of all the services she would need until she was 60.
I take solace in the fact that I at least made them think a bit and even swung a few opinions at first, but ultimately most people just seemed like they were ready to get back to their lives. At the end of the day a civil case has a much lower burden of proof than what I was looking for so this could just be a "me" issue. All in all it was a very interesting experience, and though I'm not 100% with the verdict I take comfort in the fact that we have an appeals process that can hopefully give this one last objective look. I was proud of myself for not letting my emotions get the best of me, and I feel like most took the jury very seriously. At the end of the day we had different opinions and it will continue to get sorted out.
Tubby put a man to death.
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