{"id":23321,"date":"2013-06-04T03:35:08","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T08:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=23321"},"modified":"2013-06-04T03:55:17","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T08:55:17","slug":"solitary-watch-reports-on-abuse-of-deaf-disabled-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/06\/04\/solitary-watch-reports-on-abuse-of-deaf-disabled-prisoners\/","title":{"rendered":"Solitary Watch Reports on Abuse of Deaf & Disabled Prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Deaf Prisoners in Florida Face Abuse and Solitary Confinement<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 21, 2013<\/p>\n

By James Ridgeway and Jean Casella<\/p>\n

In the a Florida prison called the Reception and Medical Center, a corrections officer appears at a cell door and begins mocking fake sign language to the man inside, who is deaf. Then he pulls Sam Hart out of the cell and escorts him for a haircut. After half his hair is shaved off one side of his head, the guard orders the haircutter to stop.<\/p>\n

As Hart describes in a letter, the officer then says, \u201cLook, not only is he deaf but now he even looks dumb.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hart, who was born hearing and can speak and read lips, replies, \u201cDon\u2019t play with me, I do not play with you and I do not disrespect you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFuck you,\u201d says the officer. \u201cMother fucker.\u201d The next day the same officer stops by Hart\u2019s cell. \u201cDid you get to show it to the warden, dummy?\u201d he asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe abuse experienced by deaf prisoners housed in the Florida Department of Corrections defies imagination\u201d Talila Lewis, founder and president of HEARD (Helping\u00a0 Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf ), a group that supports deaf prisoners, wrote in the op-ed pages of the Sun Sentinel, the south Florida newspaper. She continued:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) has systematically created a culture of fear and hopelessness for disabled prisoners. The DOC\u2019s failure to\u00a0 provide adequate accommodations for and protections to this vulnerable population is beyond reproach.\u00a0 Countless deaf prisoners, their family members, and advocates have expressed concern for the safety and well-being of these prisoners in Florida\u2019s state prison facilities.\u00a0 Many of Florida\u2019s deaf prisoners, fearful of\u00a0 brutal retaliation and assured of prison official\u2019s apathy or complicity, have all but given up hope of ever living safe from fear of sexual and physical assault.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lewis said her information is based on 21\u00a0 deaf prisoners out of a total of 40 in Florida, held\u00a0 in six different prisons across the state. Overall, Lewis writes, \u201cHEARD\u2019s Deaf and Deaf-Blind Prisoner Database includes information on more than 400 men and women, in 38 states, the District of Columbia, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The abuse and violations occuring in Florida are, by far, the worst that we have seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis said she has sent letters to the Governor Rick Scott, Department of Corrections head Michael D. Crews, and state prison inspector general\u00a0 Jeff Beasley. So far she has received no replies. She also wrote to and met with officials in the Justice Department\u2019s disability rights section, and received no response from there, either. Inquiries by Solitary Watch to Ann Howard, press spokesperson for the Florida Department of Corrections, so far have not been answered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past year, one deaf prisoner [later revealed to be Sam Hart] risked his life to report to the Office of the Inspector General horrendous physical and sexual abuse of other prisoners with disabilities as well as other serious violations occurring at the prison [Tomoka Correctional Facility],\u201d Lewis wrote in her op-ed. She continued:<\/p>\n

Though this prisoner\u2019s complaint resulted in at least two officers being fired and numerous prisoners being transferred out of the facility, the Office of the Inspector General informed staff at Tomoka that this prisoner was responsible for lodging this \u201canonymous\u201d complaint.\u00a0 As a result of this breach of confidentiality, this prisoner\u2019s life has been threatened by staff and prisoners at Tomoka.\u00a0 Just last week, despite numerous requests from advocates not to send him back to this facility, the Florida Department of Corrections sent this prisoner back to what can only be described as a living hell for this man who sacrificed his own safety to protect others.\u00a0 As of the writing of this letter, he has not been heard from by any of those community members with whom he consistently maintains contact.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lewis told Solitary Watch she \u201cfears Hart will be killed just as soon as he is released from solitary in late May.\u201d<\/p>\n

In their letters to the governor and other officials, HEARD documented conditions and events at Tomoka over the past year, based on the diary-style reports provided by deaf men held there. Some excerpts from these reports appear below:<\/p>\n

This\u00a0 place is infested with the mice and rats that I told you about before. In fact its more infested with mice and rats since the last time I told you about it. They have had time to breed. Its so full of mice and rats that you have to stay awake when the lights go out or they will actually crawl up on the bunk with you\u2026They [the cells] have foot lockers bolted to the walls that set higher then the bottom bunk that almost level with the top bunk that these mice and rats will climb up on, run along the foot lockers and jump off in the bunk where you are laying\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026Deaf prisoners filing grievances were beaten by other prisoners, threatened with and put into solitary for 60-90 days\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026A man was stabbed in the head and chest because he was thought to be a \u201csnitch\u201d\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026Deaf [man] got robbed of his wedding ring and a chain\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026.One deaf-blind prisoner was robbed again by two men and another extortion attempt by a prisoner\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2026.The man assigned to help the blind inmate has been stealing this blind man\u2019s money and stamps when they come in\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Lewis summarizes: \u201cOne deaf-blind prisoner at TCI has the intellectual capacity of a young child. He is constantly subjected to sexual assault. Multiple elderly (70+ years old) wheelchair users are housed here and are beaten by their impaired assistants. These impaired assistants regularly withhold food and refuse to take blind or wheelchair bound prisoners to the bathroom or shower if these individuals do not perform sexual acts for or with these and other persons. They have been known to spend days in their own feces and urine, afraid or unable to leave their cells. Two of our deaf prisoners attempted to help the blind guys when they could by helping them get showers from time to time. These prisoners (blind and wheelchair users) are beaten (bones have been shattered and heads split open) when they complained to guards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis says that on September 19, 2012, HEARD wrote to Ken Tucker, then secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, informing him of the abuse of deaf, elderly, and disabled prisoners under his care. \u201cA little more than a week after we sent the letter to Secretary Tucker, a guard threw the only TTY [special telephone for the deaf]\u00a0 in the facility to the ground and shouted, \u2018Now try to call someone!\u2019 Around the same time, the deaf man who wrote the most detailed of the letters was sent to another camp, and many of the deaf men who were in a unit together at Tomoka were split up, with the most severely disabled prisoner\u2013a deaf-blind prisoner with diagnosed mental retardation who was taken care of by other deaf at Tomoka\u2013being placed alone in the worse dorm on the compound.\u201d<\/p>\n

On October 18, 2012, HEARD also received a message from another man in Tomoka stating similar facts that \u201c[name omitted] was raped and all of his things stolen. Please help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around Christmas, Felix Garcia, a deaf man held at Tomoka,described another deaf prisoner being put in solitary confinement because a cell phone was found in his locker. According to Lewis, \u201cHe says that a gang member in the dorm that planted this phone, and these cell phones are coming in by the guards. It\u2019s common knowledge that guards will charge inmates $20 for 5 minutes use on a cell phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

On January 5, 2013, deaf prisoner Robert was reportedly locked up for a cell phone planted in his locker. When cell phones are found in the facility, not only are prisoners removed from the dorm and subjected to 30 days in solitary, but their visiting privileges are banned for the rest of their sentences. It seems that there is no investigation when these cell phones are found, despite the fact that these men are deaf, cannot communicate on such a phone, and are unable to text due to illiteracy.<\/p>\n

————————<\/p>\n

To learn more about Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf (HEARD)<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.behearddc.org<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HEARDDC<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.twitter.com\/behearddc<\/a>
\n202.455.8076 voice
\n202.436.9278 VP<\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/solitarywatch.com\/2013\/05\/21\/deaf-prisoners-in-florida-face-brutality-and-solitary-confinement\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deaf Prisoners in Florida Face Abuse and Solitary Confinement May 21, 2013 By James Ridgeway and Jean Casella In the a Florida prison called the Reception and Medical Center, a corrections officer appears at a cell door and begins mocking…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[18803,18810,24,11160,18805,18809,18822,12008,1367,18806,18814,18813,18812,18353,18816,8622,18818,18815,18819,18807,18811,4542,18817,1754,18808,18804,18821,18820,60],"class_list":["post-23321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-civil-libertiescivil-rights","tag-corrections-officer","tag-deaf","tag-disability-rights","tag-disabled-prisoners","tag-dumb","tag-federal-bureau-of-prisons","tag-felix-garcia","tag-florida","tag-florida-prisons","tag-governor-rick-scott","tag-heard","tag-helping-educate-to-advance-the-rights-of-the-deaf","tag-illiteracy","tag-jeff-beasley","tag-justice-department","tag-ken-tucker","tag-michael-d-crews","tag-prisoner","tag-prisoner-abuse","tag-reception-and-medical-center","tag-retaliation","tag-sam-hart","tag-sexual-assault","tag-solitary-confinement","tag-solitary-confinement-tagged-with-deaf-prisoners","tag-sun-sentinel","tag-talila-lewis","tag-tty"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-649","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8135,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/10\/15\/the-secret-world-of-deaf-prisoners\/","url_meta":{"origin":23321,"position":0},"title":"The Secret World of Deaf Prisoners","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"October 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Secret World of Deaf Prisoners The Crime Report, Commentary, James Ridgeway, Posted: Oct 14, 2009 Review it on NewsTrust Editor's Note: The deaf face a nightmare when they fall into the criminal justice system, writes investigative journalist James Ridgeway. 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