The Prison Law Office and Rosen Bien Galvan and Grunfeld LLP filed a federal class action lawsuit in 1994 on behalf of people with disabilities, including those with vision, kidney, hearing, mobility, speech, and/or learning disabilities, who were in CDCR custody.  We alleged that people with disabilities did not have equal access to programs, services, and activities, both in prison and while on parole, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The Court found that CDCR was violating the ADA and Rehabilitation Act, and issued an injunction to improve access to prison programs for prisoners with physical disabilities at all of California’s prisons and parole facilities. The case is reported at 942 F.Supp. 1252 (N.D. Cal. 1996), aff’d 124 F.3d 1019 (9th Cir. 1997).

Since that time, the Prison Law Office has been working to enforce the terms of the injunction and ensure that people with disabilities are treated fairly in the California prison system.  A few examples of our recent advocacy and litigation efforts are listed below.

Safe Housing of People with Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

On July 14, 2020, we filed a motion challenging CDCR’s failure to safely house and provide accommodations to people with disabilities.  We submitted evidence that, for months, Defendants have placed class members at the California Institution for Men in inaccessible settings. In addition, class members who had never before tested positive for COVID-19, including those with significant underlying medical conditions and who are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, were housed in the same crowded dormitory as people with confirmed, active cases, sharing the same toilets, sinks, showers, dayroom, and sleeping areas, because Defendants had no other accessible housing for them. Unsurprisingly, they quickly became infected too.

On July 20, 2020, Judge Wilken issued an order requiring CDCR to establish and maintain adequate safe, accessible housing, including for purposes of medical isolation and quarantine, and directed the Court Expert to review the sufficiency of CDCR’s existing supply of accessible housing and provide his recommendations to the Court no later than August 19, 2020.

For select case filings, please click here.

Staff Misconduct Against People with Disabilities

On June 3, 2020, we filed a motion seeking a remedial plan to stop correctional officers throughout the California prison system from assaulting and retaliating against people with disabilities. The motion expands upon a motion filed on February 28, 2020, which described similar harm and seeks similar relief for people with disabilities at R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California. On July 30, 2020, Judge Wilken issued an order granting a preliminary injunction to protect incarcerated witnesses from retaliation.

For more information on this litigation, please click here.

Sign Language Interpretation for Deaf People

We repeatedly reported that Deaf people have been denied access to educational and rehabilitative programs due to CDCR’s failure to provide adequate sign language interpretation.  This placed Deaf people at a significant disadvantage before the Board of Parole Hearings, which may have resulted in Deaf people serving longer sentences than their hearing counterparts.  We demanded that CDCR hire more staff interpreters and allow Deaf people to be housed in more program-rich institutions.

In response, CDCR allocated an additional $1.5 million/year to increase the number of sign language interpreters, designated San Quentin State Prison for Deaf people, and held Deaf Culture Town Halls at all prisons designated to house Deaf people.