"At his trial, Felix Garcia had no sign language interpreters, could not understand the testimony against him, nor the questions asked when he was on the stand...
Because we can’t say with certainty how many deaf prisoners exist, it’s impossible to prove that deaf people are a disproportionately incarcerated population. However, there are risk factors for the early deafened that arise in childhood and mirror the “pipeline” systems we understand to affect racial and socioeconomic minority populations in striking numbers...
Deaf inmates are punished for missing count or mealtimes, though the announcements are made over loudspeakers they cannot hear. They are beaten by guards for misunderstanding orders, and, when they successfully lip-read one interaction and fail the next, they are beaten for “feigning” their hearing loss. In addition, because prisons rarely provide certified ASL interpreters, the inmates struggle to defend themselves at disciplinary proceedings and have limited or no access to medical, mental health, or justice center professionals"
FB: "The ADA applies in prison, theoretically, but oversight is limited, given that it is extremely difficult for inmates to seek legal recourse. Assistive technology, including videophones with which to contact the outside world, are rarely available, and hearing aids are taken away as a form of punishment. Partly because of this lack of access to technology, the outside world hardly ever hears about the abuse of deaf inmates."
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