Calloway v. Glassboro Department of Police, 89 F.Supp.2d 543 (PA 2000)

A Deaf person who was questioned at police station sued for violation of Disability and Rehabilitation Acts. On defendants' motions to dismiss, the District Court, Orlofsky, J., held that: (1) investigative questioning at police station was program, service, or activity of police department, covered by Acts; (2) individual defendants cannot be held liable for violations of Acts; (3) police department could not be held liable under §  1983 absent showing that any discrimination was result of police custom or policy; (4) plaintiff was not entitled to recover mental anguish damages; (5) no private cause of action for damages exists for violation of New Jersey statute which provides for appropriate assistance to deaf persons in certain legal settings; (6) plaintiff was not falsely imprisoned; and (7) interpreter was not liable for alleged negligence.

The court found that the Americans With Disabilities and Rehabilitation Acts prohibit discrimination against the deaf in the context of a station-house investigative interview but that the Acts do not allow for the imposition of individual liability on the officers and other persons involved.