COURTROOM 21 TO USE HIGH-TECH ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN PIONEERING EXPERIMENTAL TRIAL

(Williamsburg, VA) On Saturday, April 1, 2006 at 9 a.m., the Courtroom 21 Project will conduct a pioneering experimental assistive technology trial designed to provide equal access to the courts for persons with disabilities. The case is expected to be notably significant in light of our aging population. Many of the case’s participants – judge, counsel, witnesses and jurors — have special needs.
The simulated case, United States v. Culinary Enterprise of America d/b/a Mom’s Place, is a case brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) against a fictional fast food restaurant chain. The trial is designed to test how assistive technology can be used in giving equal access to justice for judges, lawyers, witnesses, and jurors who have special needs in the areas of mobility, sight, and hearing.
The case stems from wheelchair bound Frank Horton attempting to take his blind daughter, Jesse, to dinner at Mom’s Place. In addition to the wheelchair, Frank has Ben, a service dog, to warn him of pending grand mal seizures. When they arrive at the fast food chain, he discovers that it is almost impossible to enter the restaurant and get to the order counter. The staff refuses entry to Ben after discovering that he is not a “seeing-eye” dog and Jesse discovers that there are no Braille menus. Subsequent inquiries to the corporate headquarters prove the chain purposely neglects to accommodate the needs of some patrons with disabilities, considering it too expensive and time-intensive for staff and disruptive to other customers. After the Hortons filed suit, the Attorney General of the United States intervened pursuant to the ADA and took over the case. The trial will be conducted as if it were being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.