ACLU granted class certification to represent deaf prisoners in Georgia

The ACLU and one of its attorneys, West Resendes, who is Deaf, was granted class certification to represent deaf people currently incarcerated within the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) in a lawsuit that accuses the prison system of failing to provide accommodations and services required under federal law.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Middle District of Georgia on behalf of Ricardo Harris and six other “deaf and hard of hearing individuals incarcerated at various (GDC) prison facilities.”

U.S. District Judge Tilman E. Self III heard arguments from the ACLU and the GDC about whether deaf prisoners should be considered a “class,” and granted class certification at the end of December (2021).

Resendes granted us an interview. He will explain class certification.

Alex: Federal Judge Tilman granted class certification for you to proceed with representing current and future deaf inmates within the Georgia prison system. Can you explain what class certification is and why you wanted this.

West Resendes, ACLU Attorney: Sure. I will explain what class certification is. “Class” does not refer to school here – it means a group of many people. We took class action because it is one way to address problems that impact many people at the same time. In Georgia, the Georgia state prison system, it’s not accessible to deaf and hard of hearing people. There are 34 different facilities. Suppose we have one deaf person file a lawsuit. Then there’s another hard of hearing person who is suing. There would be many individual cases. It’s a waste of time because they all have similar problems. So it is better to gather and sue together. It’s more powerful, easier, and it allows the court to resolve issues by looking at the entire system instead of solving things for just one deaf individual and not doing the same for others.

Alex: The ACLU said in court that they know of at least 156 deaf and hard of hearing inmates that are spread out in 34 facilities in the Georgia prison system. The ACLU showed evidence in court that deaf prisoners are suffering from ongoing issues of having little or zero access to communication.

Alex: Can you describe what are the common or worst examples of discrimination that you’ve seen?

West Resendes: It really ranges. It starts with when the person arrives in custody. There’s no way to communicate with family or friends. There’s no videophone access. You can see that hearing prisoners are lined up and can carry long conversations and connect with others, but deaf people are stuck. That has an impact on their mental health. It also has an impact on their ability to get out of prison because they need to have an address and to figure out where they can go. So, there’s no telephone access. Then there’s prison classes and programs. If a deaf person wants to take classes or a GED program, or to get therapy or anger management, or plan for what to do after prison, there are no interpreters provided. Not for medical appointments, dental appointments, no communication access. This has happened – during the pandemic – there were people lined up to get their vaccines. But there was no information (in ASL) about the vaccines. So deaf inmates didn’t know what the vaccines were for, and that’s scary. There are a few other things happening in prison but the heart of the issue is no communication access.

Alex: Resendes said some GDC facilities provide videophone or VRI access, but the quality of the service is very inconsistent and sometimes deaf prisoners are denied access. Other major issues with deaf inmates, according to court documents, are the use of waist chains, placing deaf prisoners in solitary confinement, or a lack of information in ASL about the prison’s grievance process or disciplinary hearings process.

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Alex: The ACLU’s lead plaintiff is Ricardo Harris, who is the same person who have said he is wrongfully convicted of murder and is fighting to prove his innocence. I asked Resendes whether this particular class action lawsuit had any impact on the Harris case.

Alex: Will this lawsuit have any impact on Harris’ fight for his innocence? Or is it just related to accessibility as a deaf person?

Resendes: Unfortunately, there’s no relation to Rico’s case. This class action is related to experiences in prisons, with what happened within prisons, not what happened before that or with the courts or police. We know that many deaf people had bad encounters with police. They feel frustrated by having to lip-read or there might be a “signing cop” or an unqualified interpreter that is assigned. That leads to bad results that are very difficult to fix through the legal process. So I’m strongly advising that deaf people, if you happen to encounter police officers, to demand a qualified interpreter. You can ask them to show a card that they are qualified. The second thing is to ask for an attorney. It’s really best not to talk to the police without an attorney.

Alex: We see that Ricardo Harris’s role is to be a representative of Georgia deaf prisoners. The other plaintiffs have varying levels of hearing loss and speaking abilities. The ACLU said they wanted to show the court that people in the deaf community are not all the same.

The lawsuit process started in 2018 and went through delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic. West said now his team is continuing to collect information about the prison environment for deaf inmates and will present it in court in the future.

Resendes: That’s our focus for the next few months. We will talk with deaf and hard of hearing people. We will also have experts who will examine various aspects of the deaf and hard of hearing experience. That entire process of collecting information is called “discovery.” One thing I want to mention, if you are watching this, and know of deaf or hard of hearing people in prison who are not getting an accessible experience, you can call me on videophone at 415-570-8011. This is specifically for communication access issues in Georgia prisons.

Alex: Thank you, West Resendes, for the interview.

I reached out to the GDC for comment, and a spokesperson said “The GDC does not comment on pending litigation.”