{"id":18881,"date":"2012-05-24T15:44:27","date_gmt":"2012-05-24T20:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=18881"},"modified":"2012-05-24T15:58:47","modified_gmt":"2012-05-24T20:58:47","slug":"were-deaf-mans-rights-violated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/05\/24\/were-deaf-mans-rights-violated\/","title":{"rendered":"Were deaf man’s rights violated?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: You can watch interview in sign langugage on video but not<\/em>
\n captioned. Look for link on bottom of this article.<\/em><\/p>\n

Were deaf man’s rights violated?<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 23, 2012
\nBy Randy Wallace<\/p>\n

“It’s like I’m nothing; it’s just that simple. I feel like I’m
\nnothing,” Andy Scofield said through a sign language interpreter.<\/p>\n

Why would Scofield, a fourth generation deaf person, feel that way? He
\nsaid it’s because of what happened when he and his three children took
\ntheir deaf dog, Glacier, for a walk.<\/p>\n

The children’s mother is also deaf, but all three kids can hear.<\/p>\n

“I was very excited because I felt like we were going to go out on a
\nfamily walk,” Scofield said. “You know, walk our dogs together.”<\/p>\n

While walking down the street, the family said a black dog came running
\ntowards them.<\/p>\n

“I see a black lab coming so I tell my sister, \u2018Get my dad’,” said
\n13-year-old Syrus Scofield, Andy’s son.<\/p>\n

The kids get their dad’s attention as they see two women and a man
\nrunning towards them.<\/p>\n

“I was pointing to the dog saying he needs to have a leash, he needs to
\nhave a leash on this dog,” said Scofield.<\/p>\n

According to Scofield and his kids, the black lab’s owner initiated a
\nfight.<\/p>\n

“He tried to throw a punch at my dad, he kind of fell down my dad
\nthought it was a good opportunity so he got on top of him saying I
\ndon’t want to fight,” Syrus Scofield said.<\/p>\n

“I put my hands in the air and said I don’t want to fight, I don’t want
\nto fight and when I went to look away, obviously concerned about my
\nkids and the dog, he punched me in the nose,” Scofield said.<\/p>\n

Scofield was bleeding profusely. It was all over his clothes. The
\nfamily called 911.<\/p>\n

“I was telling the ambulance that I wanted an interpreter and they said
\nyou need to wait till the police show up, I said OK,” Scofield said.
\nWhen a Precinct 4 deputy constable showed up the deaf father said he
\nrepeatedly asked for an interpreter.<\/p>\n

“He really needed an interpreter,” Scofield’s son Syrus said. “He
\nasked the cop multiple times I need an interpreter, ok ok he kept
\nsaying that ok we’ll get you one.”<\/p>\n

“I was sitting in the ambulance bleeding still and the police officer
\nwalked around and I tried to explain and he was not listening to
\nanything I had to say,” Scofield said.<\/p>\n

Scofield and the Precinct 4 deputy constable agree on one thing.<\/p>\n

The officer used Andy’s 13-year-old son as an interpreter.<\/p>\n

“I was trying to explain to him my son is only 13-years-old, he can’t
\ninterpret, I need an interpreter,” said Scofield.<\/p>\n

Scofield said the deputy constable took a statement from the other man
\nwho said Scofield initiated the fight not him.<\/p>\n

“I kept telling him interpreter, interpreter this is the sign I said it
\nrepeatedly,” said Scofield.<\/p>\n

Instead of getting Scofield an interpreter, the deputy constable left.
\nHe took no pictures, collected no evidence and didn’t even bother to
\nfile a report.<\/p>\n

For that Precinct 4 Chief Mark Herman said the deputy constable will be
\ndisciplined.<\/p>\n

But the chief insists using Scofield’s 13-year-old son to interpret
\nmeets Department of Justice guidelines.<\/p>\n

Using family and friends is a common practice but that’s a no, no said
\nDeitra Stewart, a communication compliance specialist.<\/p>\n

“You look at the legal definition, federal definition family members
\nand friends would immediately be disqualified because you can not
\nremain impartial,” Stewart said.<\/p>\n

When a neighbor who works in law enforcement heard about Scofield’s
\nplight he complained to Precinct 4.<\/p>\n

So the next day another deputy constable shows up.<\/p>\n

“I asked for an interpreter and they said no we’re just taking
\npictures, you don’t need one,” Scofield said.<\/p>\n

Scofield said it was nothing more than a replay of the day before.<\/p>\n

The officer used the deaf man’s 13-year-old son to interpret, then took
\na statement from the other dog owner who said Scofield started the
\nfight not him.<\/p>\n

The constable’s office told us and Scofield the DA’s office refused to
\nfile charges calling it a case of mutual combat.<\/p>\n

“And I kept telling them how can you reject it without hearing anything
\nI have to say,” Scofield said.<\/p>\n

Scofield said he asked the DA’s office for an interpreter but got no
\nanswer.<\/p>\n

The DA’s office told us Scofield’s case is still under review.<\/p>\n

As for his request for an interpreter, the DA’s office said it’s up to
\nlaw enforcement to get statements, not them.<\/p>\n

Both county agencies question why Scofield doesn’t just write his
\nstatement.<\/p>\n

A misconception the deaf constantly encounter.<\/p>\n

“Writing it down is another issue because sign language is not English
\nso for most people you’re asking them to write a foreign language,”
\nStewart said.<\/p>\n

“My kids were there they witnessed this whole thing happen and now my
\nkids are wondering what is the law going to do for them, Scofield said.<\/p>\n

The National Association for the Deaf, which said it’s providing legal
\nrepresentation for Scofield, told Fox 26 Investigates, “It is
\nunacceptable for law enforcement officers to communicate only with some
\npeople and ignore those who are deaf because their method of
\ncommunication is different such as through the use of American Sign
\nLanguage.”<\/p>\n

“When the police come even if a husband beats up a wife but they can
\ncommunicate with the husband they get the story from that person and
\nnot the victim,” Stewart said. “It’s an on-going issue.”<\/p>\n

Being deaf, Scofield said doesn’t mean you don’t matter.<\/p>\n

“I’ve heard so many stories from deaf people and that’s why I want this
\nto be loud to shake it up because we’re people too,” Scofield said.<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.myfoxhouston.com\/story\/18609804\/2012\/05\/23\/was-deaf-mans-rights-violated<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: You can watch interview in sign langugage on video but not captioned. Look for link on bottom of this article. Were deaf man’s rights violated? May 23, 2012 By Randy Wallace “It’s like I’m nothing; it’s just that simple.…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[1629,13977,4621,23,87,24,13978,13979,444,13980,20,40,13976,11715,191,17,39],"class_list":["post-18881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-american-sign-language","tag-andy-scofield","tag-article","tag-asl","tag-children","tag-deaf","tag-deafs-right","tag-deitra-stewart","tag-dog","tag-fox-houston","tag-houston","tag-interpreter","tag-mark-herman","tag-national-association-for-the-deaf","tag-sign-language","tag-texas","tag-video"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-4Ux","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19419,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/07\/27\/deaf-man-says-officials-gave-him-no-help\/","url_meta":{"origin":18881,"position":0},"title":"Deaf Man Says Officials Gave Him no Help","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"July 27, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Deaf Man Says Officials Gave Him no Help By CAMERON LANGFORD July 24, 2012 HOUSTON (CN) - After a neighbor punched a deaf man in the face, Harris County prosecutors and constables refused to provide an interpreter to take his statement, but relied on his attacker's story to decline to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19597,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/08\/13\/hearing-impaired-man-says-constables-failed-to-provide-interpreter\/","url_meta":{"origin":18881,"position":1},"title":"Hearing impaired man says constables failed to provide interpreter","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"August 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Hearing impaired man says constables failed to provide interpreter 8\/9\/2012 By John Suayan, Galveston Bureau HOUSTON - A Spring man who is hearing impaired has filed suit against the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office for failing to provide him with an interpreter.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2293,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/10\/02\/welcome-back-to-north-houston-deaf-poker-league\/","url_meta":{"origin":18881,"position":2},"title":"Welcome Back to North Houston Deaf Poker League","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"October 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"WELCOME BACK TO NORTH HOUSTON DEAF POKER LEAGUE DATE: OCTOBER 6, 2007 TIME: 5:00 PM WEBSITE: www.scofield-league-poker.com Hello to Deaf Network subscribers: I am proudly to announce that I have a new website name www.scofied-league-poker.com. 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