Aid ordered for deaf, blind inmates in hearings
A federal judge says California’s prisons are failing to provide blind and deaf inmates with the equipment and assistance they need to participate in parole hearings that could lead to their release.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland, who has presided over the case since it was filed in 1994, said Wednesday that major changes were needed because of the state’s long-standing “failure to adopt policies and procedures to ensure that (prisoners) with hearing and vision disabilities receive the reasonable accommodations they need” to prepare for parole hearings, take part in the hearings and appeal unfavorable decisions “to the same extent as non-disabled prisoners.”
While the Board of Parole Hearings provides sign language interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing, Wilken said, it has been unwilling to provide video recordings that the prisoners could review afterward.
Blind and visually impaired prisoners need help in preparing written documents they have to sign and present at parole hearings, and the state has done little to assist them, Wilken said. She said the prison system finally hired a vision consultant in December to assess the needs of blind inmates, but has not announced how long the assessment will take and could end it at any time unless ordered to continue.
The judge ordered the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which runs the prison system, to prepare a plan within 60 days to make video recordings and transcripts of parole hearings available to deaf and hard-of-hearing inmates, as well as English translators for those who need them.
She also gave the department 60 days to issue procedures that will enable blind and visually impaired inmates to read and write parole-related documents. The plan must include access to audio output, magnifiers and other visual aids, Braille touch reading and education on use of those facilities, Wilken said.
And she said attorneys who are assigned to represent the inmates must be trained on working with those who have visual or hearing disabilities.
California, which has 90,000 inmates in state prisons, holds about 9,000 parole hearings a year for those who have been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after a certain number of years. While state law says parole-eligible inmates are presumed to be suitable for release, the Board of Parole Hearings, appointed by the governor, has historically denied parole more than 80% of the time.
Under an initiative approved by the voters in 2008, inmates denied parole can be required to wait 3-15 years for their next hearing. The governor can also overrule the board’s decision to release a prisoner, and Gov. Gavin Newsom and his predecessors have exercised that authority in prominent cases, such as those involving followers of cult leader Charles Manson.
The parole board’s decision is “the difference between release into the community and many more years in prison,” said Gay Grunfeld, a San Francisco attorney for the inmates. She said several hundred prisoners in California are blind or visually impaired and about 50 use sign language to communicate, though she was unsure how many are eligible for parole hearings.
Wilken’s ruling “will allow individuals with disabilities to seek their freedom on an equal footing (with) individuals without disabilities, and will help improve the rights of all people with disabilities inside our state prisons,” Grunfeld said.
In response, Mary Xjimenez, spokesperson for Newsom’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the parole board “remains committed to conducting fair hearings and ensuring access to the hearings for all participants. We are assessing the potential impact of the order and exploring available legal options,” which could include an appeal of the ruling.
Wilken, appointed by President Bill Clinton, has issued similar orders in the past but said in her latest ruling that the state has failed to comply.
In 1999, she found “overwhelming and uncontradicted evidence” that California prison and parole officials had denied equal treatment to visually and hearing-impaired inmates. She told the state to make improvements but found in 2006 that few changes had been made.
After another court order in 2007, which included a requirement of a computerized system to identify disabled inmates and their needs, Wilken said the parole board finally adopted a plan in 2010 to enable those inmates to participate in hearings. But in Wednesday’s ruling, she said California is still failing to provide them with the assistance they need.