A federal judge has granted class action status to a lawsuit filed on behalf of deaf and hard-of-hearing Illinois Department of Corrections inmates. They say the prison system denied their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal laws. The complaint says that Corrections has at times refused to provide American sign language interpreters and make other accommodations and that endangered prisoners' safety.
“Many of the problems we identified involve safety issues. For instance, if there’s an emergency they don’t have visual alarms. We also want to be able to ensure that prisoners are safe, even if they are deaf or hard of hearing.”
That was Barry Taylor of Equip for Equality, a disability rights group working on the case. One inmate at Graham Correction Center in Hillsboro says he was denied interpreters to help him deal with prison health care staff. He said he believes poor communication led to his repeated problems with uncontrolled diabetes. The state's prison agency declined to comment on pending litigation.
