LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A pair of deaf and hearing-impaired inmates in Kentucky sued the state, seeking to force the Department of Corrections to provide interpreter services for medical visits, video phones that allow deaf callers to see sign language and other hearing devices.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Frankfort, the inmates said the Corrections Department discriminated against them by refusing to provide the accommodations required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Without the devices, the inmates said they can’t adequately communicate with prison staff, other inmates and their lawyers, which deprives them of rights and privileges granted to other inmates.
“It’s like being in solitary confinement even though you’re in the middle of people,” said Deborah Golden, an attorney with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs in Washington, D.C., who represents the inmates.