For most warm-blooded Americans, the experience of being
incarcerated is quite a scary one.
Steel bars, soap on a rope, and orange jumpsuits are never fun, but
spending a few days in county lock-up is more traumatizing if you
happen to be deaf.
Cue the case of Lenny Steptoe.
Steptoe was arrested last year on charges of writing bogus
checks. When he was booked at the Harris
County Jail in Houston Texas, he was allowed to make phone calls just like any
other inmate would. The Harris County
Jail provided Steptoe with a text phone to communicate with his family. The only problem: text phones are
aged devices, and not compatible with the video phone that Steptoe’s family
owns.
Although this video segment produced by KHOU Houston is sloppy and poorly narrated, it hits on an important issue for hearing impaired
disabilities. Many deaf individuals have reported discrimination and improper access in prisons. In
October of 2007, the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition sued the Denver City Jail
for discriminating against two deaf inmates by not providing access to
interpreters, and placing them in isolation.
One of the inmates committed suicide while in prison.
According to the National Association of the Deaf, deaf people serving prison terms are frequently denied basic due
process rights and access to rehabilitation programs and prison
services because prison administrators fail to understand their special
communication needs
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