Probation Forms and the Deaf Offender: A Complex Matter With a Simple Solution

By Jean F. Andrews

Re-Offender (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Probation is a court order that allows a person convicted of a crime to remain out of jail. An individual on probation must follow certain court-ordered procedures and keep from getting into trouble with the law. Probation violations both occur when an individual either breaks the rules or fails to keep the terms of their probation, including getting arrested for another offense. Probation violations have significant consequences and penalties. When a probation violation occurs, it may result in the person returning back to jail.
For obvious reasons, offenders must understand the conditions of their probation and work with their probation officer to make sure these conditions are met on time. For instance, a court may mandate drug treatment or an anger management class, depending on the charges. For deaf offenders who are illiterate, understanding the conditions of probation, particularly reading the probation forms can be a nightmare. More often than not, deaf offenders are not provided with qualified interpreters consistently throughout their probation meetings. Further, the deaf offender may not be able to read the probation forms he or she must sign detailing the conditions for probation because they read below the 3rd grade reading level. And when the deaf offender takes the forms home, she or he cannot refer to them as a memory aid because forms are written at the 9th grade reading level or above as I found with one readability analysis of one probation form. That means you would need at least a high school reading level to comprehend this form.

Look. Even on a demo form, the perp is a Black male No comedy like reality. — BitcoDavid. Photo courtesy of Quick-Court.

To illustrate the linguistic complexity of probation forms, here is a sample sentence with a feared consequence.
Failure to answer all questions honestly or failing to fill out the forms by due date could result in a warrant for your arrest.
How can a deaf offender fill out the form honestly? How can he fill it out at all if he does not understand what he is reading? Such scenarios as this one are common. In one case, a deaf offender on probation was not aware of the fee schedule change as his probation officer failed to explain it to him and the deaf individual could not read the form he was given with the fee schedule changes listed on it. In another instance, an offender on probation was required to go to Anger Management classes but she could not get an interpreter nor could she read the class textbook which was written at the 9th grade reading level.

Image: Lawyers.com

Probation forms are filled with difficult vocabulary such as termination, requirements, receipt, written confirmation, brackets, regarding, issued, self-addressed stamped envelope, cashiers check, that a deaf offender with a low reading level would have difficulty understanding. The probation forms are also filled with complex sentence structures, if-then cause and effect clauses, time clauses, sequencing, structures which low level reading deaf offenders stumble through. As such, both the linguistic complexity and the content of the forms with its sequencing of events and ideas on what the deaf offender should do, should not do, and the when and where the forms must be filled out and what conditions need to be made are complex and confusing for the deaf offender. Hearing offenders who are illiterate can simply ask a family member or the probation officer to explain the rules because they have a shared spoken language. However, deaf offenders are “up the creek without a paddle,” when such probation forms are placed in front of them and they are not provided with a qualified sign language interpreter. They are left to flounder and fail and oftentimes they end up back in jail because they did not understand the conditions for probation.

The solution is simple: Provide qualified sign language interpreters in all interactions with signing deaf offenders and probation officers.

Jean F. Andrews is a Reading Specialist and Professor of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education at Lamar University.

[Editor's note: Jean has touched on many important issues with this piece, but another probation / parole issue that needs mentioning is the use of urinalysis for drug testing. These tests are known to be wildly inaccurate - all the more so when administered by a non-professional such as a probation officer or cop. Something as mundane as a poppy-seed bagel can be enough to get an offender violated and sent back to jail. People should know that they have the right to refuse a urinalysis test, and instead to opt for a blood test administered by a medical professional. --BitcoDavid]

 

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Deaf – Blind Inmates: Are They Being Served Appropriately in Jail?

By Jean F. Andrews

http://www.behearddc.org/

According to a recent newsletter by HEARD, as of March 31, 2013, there are 407 deaf and deaf-blind prisoners in 38 states, Washington, D.C. and in the Federal Bureau of Prisoners. Within these numbers, we do not know exactly how many are deaf-blind or deaf and visually-impaired inmates there are in prison.

Interpreting and Working with the Deaf-Blind

Deaf-blind and deaf-visually impaired inmates are most vulnerable to human rights abuses and often do not receive adequate accommodations in jails and prison. Take for example, the case of Ms. Jones, an African-American deaf-visually impaired woman who has been incarcerated numerous times, mostly for misdemeanors. Ms. Jones is profoundly deaf , has limited vision in both eyes, uses American Sign Language (ASL) as her primary language, and reads at the second grade level. To effectively use a sign language interpreter, the interpreter must sign very close to Ms. Jones’ face. She can use a videophone but she must be situated very close to the screen to see the signs of the other person.

Carolina Photojournalism

At each of her arrests, Ms. Jones was not provided with an interpreter. In her last arrest, she was charged with possessing drugs but none were ever recovered and she did not have an interpreter during the arrest to tell her side of the story. While in jail, she was not provided an interpreter during the booking or during the medical intake. She was not able to explain that she was diabetic and took insulin, and spent three days in jail without her insulin. While in jail she was given a copy of the inmate handbook and a number of forms to sign but she could not read them given her low reading level of second grade. No interpreter was provided to translate these documents. Consequently, she did not learn about the rules she was required to follow while in jail but instead had to depend on another inmate who had rudimentary fingerspelling skills. Upon release, she frequently violated her probation because she did not understand the fees and regulations she had to follow. Because she did not understand the rules of her probation, she violated them and was subsequently jailed.

How Stuff Works

Ms. Jones’ story points to the inequities of the criminal justice system particularly for those inmates who have more than one disability. Ms. Jones’ deafness, visual impairment, and diabetic condition combine to make special accommodations necessary in order for her to have her rights as designated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Policy  in jails and prisoners need to reflect awareness of these unique needs of deaf, deaf-blind, and deaf and medically fragile inmates,  and include training for jail officials in order to ensure deaf blind inmates are given their Constitutional Rights.

Jean F. Andrews is a Reading Specialist and Professor of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education at Lamar University.

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No Symposium Coverage Complete w/o the Tech

By BitcoDavid

One of the terp team at work. Photo: BitcoDavid

True. There were 2 ASL interpreters, and what I noticed there, was that not only did they take turns interpreting for the individual speakers, but they did this cool tandem thing for audience questions. An audience member would sign her question, and Terp 1 would say it in English, then Terp 2 would sign the speaker’s answer back to the questioner.

C.A.R.T. in action. Photo: BitcoDavid

C.A.R.T was also employed, and it’s the first time I have been privy to seeing C.A.R.T. in action. The operators – there were 2 of them, as well – would key in the spoken words, using a Steno machine. The output of the Steno was fed into the U.S.B. port on a laptop. The laptop drove a little DLP projector, onto a 60″ Da Lite screen. While what appeared to be the lead C.A.R.T. operator was keying in words, the backup operator would be using the Web on her own laptop, to look up words, spellings and other references.

My trusty little Sony Handicam, earning its daily bread. Photo: BitcoDavid

On top of all that, they had a PC at the podium, and were running constant PowerPoints from the overhead DLP, onto a separate screen behind the speaker.

My little guy needs some Abilify and a hit of Viagra after seeing this monster. Photo: BitcoDavid

I wanted you to see more C.A.R.T.

The backup operator. Photo:BitcoDavid

All things considered, I was impressed by the accuracy and speed of C.A.R.T. As you know, captioning is something that’s important to me. The manual method I use is absolutely accurate, assuming I can hear the dialog, but it’s very slow and labor intensive. The computerized method employed by YouTube among others is horribly inaccurate – relying, as it does, on speech to text conversion. I noticed that C.A.R.T. wasn’t 100% accurate, but all things being equal it was sufficient to the task, and with almost no noticeable delay.

Here’s the primary operator and her screen. At her lap level can be seen the Steno machine. Photo: BitcoDavid

BitcoDavid is a blogger and a blog site consultant. In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. He is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and a Pro/Am boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.

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Marsha Graham’s Presentation at the Symposium

By BitcoDavid

A particularly eerie image from the film Brazil. Credit, Filmicability

Marsha Graham, from AnotherBoomerBlog, has been a great supporter and an even greater asset to us, here at DeafInPrison.com. In her presentation at the Internationl Symposium on the Deaf and the Justice System, she drew a comparison between the Deaf and the insular Native American cultures she has also worked with, in Alaska.

She pointed out the similarities between the two cultures, stressing the linguistic and literacy limitations, making the point that if someone can’t understand what’s going on during a trial, they can’t be said to be competent in their own defense. She went on to stress the need for interpreters – or at the very least, some form of communication assistance – from the very first contact between law enforcement and members of the Deaf community.

Ms. Graham, also mentioned the case of Lashonn White, which we’ve covered, as well as the Felix Garcia Case. Ms. White, you may recall, was the woman who called the police after being attacked in her home. When the cruisers arrived, she ran out of her house, screaming and waving her arms – believing them to be her salvation. When she failed to stop her advance on the officers – unable to hear their commands to stop – they tased her multiple times, and put her in jail. She stayed there, unaware as to what was going on, for 4 days. Felix Garcia on the other hand is an individual whom we have been working – since our launch a year ago – to secure release for. Our contributor Pat Bliss, has been working directly with Felix on his case for many years prior to that.

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Marsha also gave DeafInPrison.com a little well needed shout-out, which we gratefully appreciate. She mentioned Pat Bliss and our publisher, Joanne Greenberg, by name.

She stressed the need for interpreters, emphasized the advantages of live interpreting over C.A.R.T. and spelled out examples of where the justice system failed to provide adequate services for the Deaf. She also spoke of her own deafness, and how that impacted her abilities as a trial lawyer when working in noisy courtrooms. She said that judges want to move cases along, and become annoyed when interpreters are late, or when seemingly competent defendants request them. I found myself reminded of that old song, The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, “The judge said guilty in a make believe trial, Slapped the sherrif on the back with a smile and said Suppers waiting at home, and I gotta get to it.”

BitcoDavid is a blogger and a blog site consultant. In former lives, he was an audio engineer, a videographer, a teacher – even a cab driver. He is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and a Pro/Am boxer. He has spent years working with diet and exercise to combat obesity and obesity related illness.

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When Will They Ever Learn…

By Jean F. Andrews

As The Crackerhead Crumbles

In their popular 1960’s folk song, Peter, Paul and Mary sing the ballad, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” In the ballad, is the echoing refrain, “When Will They Ever Learn,” that points a firm finger at a society engaged in the Viet Nam War, wondering sadly, Where have all the flowers, soldiers and graveyards gone?  This sweet refrain, can also be applied to the many police departments across the country in Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Colorado who repeatedly refuse to give deaf suspects and inmates sign language interpreters during questioning as well as during important events during the arrest and jail intake, processing, orientation and during needed educational and rehabilitation services. Consequently, across the country, police departments have repeated lost legal cases and have had to pay hefty settlements costing the tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mary Travers’ obituary page. Examiner.com

There is an easy solution.

Simply make it the police department policy to do the following as recommended by the Department of Justice.

A police officer, upon discovering an individual is deaf, by law, must offer the individual an opportunity to request a sign language interpreter. One way the officer may do so is by providing the deaf individual with a visual representation (illustrated below) allowing the deaf individual to make a choice. It depicts the ADA recognized symbol for sign language and includes two hands signing “yes” and “no”. The deaf individual can select “yes” or “no” by pointing to, circling, or signing the choice.

Deaf individuals too would be wise to copy this visual and keep in their wallet in the event they are stopped by a policeman.

 

 

Jean F. Andrews is a Reading Specialist and Professor of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education at Lamar University.

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Deaf Suspect Gets Settlement

By Jean F. Andrews

Englewood, Co.

The Video Interpreter symbol. Photo: Wikipedia

On August 13, 2011, William Lawrence was arrested for an outstanding warrant. Lawrence has been Deaf since birth and had diminished English capability. He was handcuffed and questioned with no interpreter present. Lawrence went several days, unable to communicate with anyone, and didn’t receive an interpreter until he was eventually transferred to Jefferson County Jail.

Englewood police used hand written notes, and spoke to his roommate as their methods of communicating with Lawrence, both of which are inadequate and violations of the ADA.

The settlement amount is undisclosed, but a condition of the settlement is that Englewood Police Department is now required to provide a certified ASL interpreter to Deaf suspects during arrest and questioning.

Englewood Police Department has made no statement but conditions for the settlement cleared them of any wrongdoing or further liability.

Jean F. Andrews is a Reading Specialist and Professor of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education at Lamar University.

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BICS and CALP

By Jean F. Andrews

National Summit at the University of Maryland Speaks to Vital U.S. Language Needs (Photo credit: University of Maryland Press Releases)

Jim Cummins the bilingual scholar and writer makes a distinction between Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). The reality for most deaf children (except those from deaf parents) is that they are learning BICS in sign and English. At the same time they are learning CALP in sign and English, that is how to sign complex, abstract information as well as how to read and write English. This just begins their frustration and struggle in finding environments both at home and at school where they have enough language exposure to fully acquire their languages in both BICS and CALP.

The Gazette.com

One tragic consequence of this derailed language learning journey  is that they stumble into adulthood with impoverished language proficiencies in both signing and in English which closes employment and higher education doors for them. And if deaf youth and adults  have interactions with police, jails and the courts, they are at high risk of not obtaining their Constitutional Rights because they do not have the ability nor the language abilities to understand what is going on around them. They do not understand the BICS or the CALP of the police or jail officers.

Contested Convictions – Police Interrogations

Oftentimes they will have enough BICS (social communication) to get by especially in routine, repetitive activities such as giving their name, address and birthday.  With their compliant head nods, and meager speech skills and writing skills they may give the appearance to police and jail officials they are understanding everything around them. What they have is BICS in spoken language, but they do not have the CALP language skills to cope with booking, classification, the medical interview or even understand the inmates’ handbook without the aid of a qualified sign language interpreter. Jail officials and police often overlook this fact because they are focused in only on the social speech and note writing the deaf person is capable of, in other words, the deaf person’s BICS or social communication.

Here is yet another example of the the increasing documented scenarios, that demonstrate how the police and jail officials do not understand the complex language and communication situation of deaf inmates.

See
Feds Probe Denver for Violating Deaf Prisoner Rights – from the Colorado Independent

Jean F. Andrews is a Reading Specialist and Professor of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education at Lamar University.

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English: A Major Obstacle For the Deaf Suspect and Deaf Inmate

By Jean F. Andrews

ASL_Painting.jpg (Photo credit: robert.barney)

Police and jail officers are often confused by the many forms of English that come from the mouths and lips, and off the fingers and hands of deaf suspects. Just because the deaf person can speak some words, and lipread the question, “what is your name,” or even sign some words in English with voice, it is often assumed the deaf suspect knows enough English to get by without a qualified sign language interpreter. In one case a neighbor of a deaf suspect knew some Fingerspelling and a police officer assumed she was signing and could interpret his questioning. Often police officers will take out a pad and paper, and begin questioning expecting the deaf suspect to be able to read and write. Even when only fragmented phrases are the result, the officers will believe communication is going along just fine as they add charades, gestures and facial expressions. This comedy of errors continues to the jail, where the suspect is booked, fingerprinted, photographed. Then the Jail officers will speak louder and slower, gesture, and come out with a flurry of forms for the deaf suspect to place his signature on. The expectation is that the deaf person can understand slower speech as well as having a high enough reading level to understand these forms. Further, deaf inmates are expected to read the inmate handbook. Who would want to be in jail and not know the rules and regulations?

2 sign language interpreters working together as a team for a student association meeting. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Because mainstreaming has often led to the dumbing-down of deaf education within public education, and the conventional policy of delaying the access of American Sign Language for deaf babies, we are seeing generations of semi-lingual deaf youth and adults who have impoverished skills in both English and ASL. It is the poor language environments that are holding them back in language acquisition. Instead of allowing deaf babies to grow and flourish cognitively, socially, emotionally and linguistically in bilingual ASL/English rich language environments, they flounder and flail in impoverished language environments where they get bits of speech and bits of sign thereby stifling their development of a whole visual language grammar upon which to build emergent English literacy as well as opportunities to acquire auditory/spoken language built on signed concepts. Many emerge from such poor language environments with a jumbled signing of English mixed with visual spatial elements of ASL signing. Most cannot read beyond the 3rd grade level. The result is devastating for them particularly in a jail or prison setting where English is the language used by police and jail officers.

One solution is to make it a police department and jail policy to provide qualified sign language interpreters for signing deaf suspects and inmates. Qualified sign language interpreters have the training and the skill to move their signing interpretation across the continuum from English-like signing, contact signing, and ASL for those suspects and inmates with varied signing skills. For deaf suspects and inmates with more severe language delays a Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI) may be needed.

A Video Relay Service session. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Providing the qualified sign language interpreter accommodation 24/7 may be impractical. But providing qualified sign language interpreters whenever warranted as in all communicative interactions that have serious consequence (i.e. parole hearings) or when the deaf person’s Constitutional Rights are in jeopardy (i.e. Miranda Warning) is critical. For instance, a police officer will want to get the deaf person’s side of the story during a domestic dispute or a suspected drug deal or during the booking stage, or when jail staff need to ask medical and psychological questions or during the classification process and so forth.

Understanding the obstacles deaf suspects and inmates face using English on the hands, on the lips, out of the mouth and in print is complex. More training is needed to disentangle the misconception that a little bit of English will get the deaf suspect and inmate by, in the jail setting. It simply won’t.

Jean F. Andrews is a Reading Specialist and Professor of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education at Lamar University.

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Booking, Medical/Psychological intake, and Classification: Why a Live Interpreter is Critical

By Jean F. Andrews

http://jeffco.us/sheriff/sheriff_T62_R121.htm

While it is commonly accepted to provide interpreters in court, deaf suspects and offenders still struggle to get sign interpreters for arrest, booking, medical/psychological intakes, classification, grievance committee meetings and for translation of the inmate handbook. Most vulnerable are hard of hearing persons who use sign language, and profoundly deaf persons with minimal social speech skills.

A dangerous trend seen in some police departments and jails is the use of video productions that are used in place of live interpreters. These videos are useful for review purposes but because they are not interactive, the video product does not allow the deaf person to ask questions to clarify misunderstandings. The videos give police and jail officials the false impression they are meeting ADA requirements. They are not. ADA is clear. The law mandates the Deaf person must have access to information in the same manner as a hearing person. So slick videos, charades and gestures with jail and police officers speaking slowly do not meet the letter of the law.

Yeah, I don’t think this’ll do ‘er. (BitcoDavid)
http://lordbassingtonbassington.blogspot.com/2012/02/satanic-influence-of-television.html

Granted, jails cannot provide sign interpreters 24/7, but they should be providing live sign language interpreters during times where interactive communication is critical – situations such as the booking, medical/psychological intake, classification and translation of the inmate handbook.

Police and jail officials can avoid costly lawsuits if they put in place policies that require live interpreters in these situations.

Jean F. Andrews is a Reading Specialist and Professor of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education at Lamar University.

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For Police Officers: VRS, VRI or Live Interpreter?

By Jean F. Andrews

A deaf person calls 911. Through a relay interpreter, she signs that her husband is beating her and she is afraid because he has pulled a knife. Now, she has locked herself in the back bedroom. Please send the police, she signs. Emotionally distraught, she sobs and hangs up.

http://www.springfieldmo.gov/911/jobs.html

The relay interpreter interprets this scenario to the police department’s dispatcher who takes down the name and address of the deaf individual. The dispatcher then contacts the police officers. At this point, she informs the police that the person who called is deaf and uses sign language.

When the police officers arrive at the home and meet the deaf person, invariably, they take out a paper and pencil and start to write notes. They assume that the deaf person is literate and will have no problem reading their paper notes or reading their lips. Even under a stress-filled, anxious and emotional situation as domestic violence, they assume that note writing works fine. However, a Deaf individual with a low reading level can’t read the notes. Neither can she lipread the officers. Whether you are deaf or hearing, few of us could write a coherent sentence under emotional duress. Communication typically breaks down.

What are the police officers’ to do?

Sign language interpreter (Photo credit: markvall)

In an ideal, ADA-compliant world, the dispatcher would have called a qualified sign language interpreter and have the interpreter meet the police officers at the home. This rarely happens. While many police departments now have contracts with 24/7 sign language interpreting agencies, typically police officers don’t call interpreters unless communication with the deaf person fails or worse, they assume that communication is happening when its not because deaf persons will nod as “if” they understand what is going on around them.

A qualified live interpreter should be present at the onset of any questioning involving a deaf person. Of course, an interpreter would not be necessary for a fender bender or a minor traffic violation, but they should be present in situations where the police officers question the deaf person regarding a serious event such as domestic violence or a burglary. Having a live interpreter present works best for the police officers too. They are better able to get reliable and complete statements from both the accuser and the victim more efficiently and more accurately than using charades, gestures, and facial expressions and written notes, which is much more time consuming.

A police officer may be familiar with relay operators on videophones on cell phones and ask the deaf person to call a relay interpreter to use. It is important to note that VRS (video relay service) is not appropriate in this situation. Indeed, the U.S. FCC (Federal Communication Commissions) mandates that VRS be only used in a situation where a deaf person would have to make a typical call through the telephone. VRS may not be used as a replacement for a live interpreter. And, according to the U.S. FCC regulations, deaf and hearing people in the same room are not permitted to use VRS to communicate, because the service is designated only for telephone calls and receives funding from Telecommunications Relay Service taxes. Furthermore, the FCC requires that if a VRS interpreter determines the callers are in the same location, they must advise both parties that the interpreter must terminate the call.

Here’s a handy Q & A fact sheet for police officers.

What is VRS (Video Relay Services)?

Image credit: Wikipedia

For deaf people whose primary language is American Sign Language (ASL), Video Relay Services (VRS) provide a tool for communicating with hearing people. VRS is a form of Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) that allows deaf people to access the telephone system. It allows them to use ASL instead of English (a text telephone or TTY) to call a hearing person over a conventional telephone line. VRS provides a faster, and more effective communication than does use of the TTY. It allows for the use of a high-speed Internet connection plus a web cam or videoconferencing equipment to access an interpreter or a Communications Assistant (CA) in a call center. It relies on the interpreter to relay information to and from a hearing person on their telephone. It also permits hearing person to initiate a call to a deaf person.
There is another auxiliary aid, service, or accommodation that has been used in certain circumstances, e.g., hospitals and prisons, called VRI (Video Relay Interpreting) that is different than VRS.

What is VRI (Video Relay Interpreting)?

http://www.atarizona.com/showtell/13videophone.php

VRI (Video Relay Interpreting) is another accommodation where the deaf person and the hearing person are in the same room with a videophone or web camera and a television or a computer screen. The video interpreter works from another site and also uses a videophone or a web camera and television or computer screen to facilitate communication between a hearing person and a deaf person who uses ASL. With the VRI, the interpreter hears the voice of the hearing person, then he or she translates the message into ASL into the camera for the deaf person who is watching this translation on the computer screen. Then the deaf person replies by signing to the camera whereas the interpreter speaks the aural interpretation into a microphone so that the hearing person hears the translation. Schools, universities, business, hospitals, medical offices, law offices, and prisons have utilized VRI services. It involves an agency setting up a contract with a VRI agency to pay for these services.

What are the Differences Between VRS & VRI?

VRI and VRS both use interpreters and videophones with webcams. However there are critical differences between VRI and VRS services related to location of the users and the fees for using the services.

For instance, with the VRS, the deaf person and hearing person are in different locations and are connected through the interpreter at a VRS call center. As mentioned above according to U.S. FCC regulations, deaf and hearing people in the same room are not permitted to use VRS to communicate, because the service is designed only for telephone calls.
In contrast to VRS, with VRI, both the deaf and the hearing person are located in the same room and the sign language interpreter is located in an offsite office. There are also differences on who pays for these services.

On the one hand, the VRS services are free. In fact, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) covers the costs of VRS calls through an Interstate TRS Fund. Calls are free to both parties and are relayed by the interpreter who is skilled and qualified in both receptive and expressive American Sign Language (ASL). However, the fees for VRI are paid by the agency requesting their use. For instance, if a police department purchases these services, they foot this bill.

What Does the Dept of Justice Say about the use of auxiliary aids and services?

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/08/terrill_terry_meisinger_fraud.php

In the 2010 revised Title II regulations, in the definition section, (28 C.F.R. 35. 104), “Auxiliary aids and services includes—1) qualified interpreters on-site or through video remote interpreting (VRI) services.”

“Video remote interpreting (VRI) service means an interpreting service that uses video conference technology over dedicated lines or wireless technology offering high-speed, wide-bandwidth video connection that delivers high-quality video images as provided in 35.160(d).

What Are the Deaf Community Views on VRI?

Member of the deaf community use ASL as their primary form of communication and have deaf friends with whom they communicates using ASL in person and through the videophone. They find VRS to be enormously beneficial not only to their deaf friends but through a relay operator they can communicate with hearing people such as in ordering a pizza, making a doctor’s appointment, and so on.
On the other hand, using VRI for medical, legal, and mental health settings is viewed controversial by some members of the deaf community because it does not provide communication access such as live interpreters can provide. VRI is particularly troublesome in medical settings because it is sometimes difficult for the patient to sign clearly into the camera or to see the interpreter. Also, the VRI contact has to be set up in advance and in a location with consistent, reliable, high-speed Internet. Many homes and businesses cannot meet these requirements.

I have observed that police departments, detention centers, jails and prisons have staff who lack training in the use of auxiliary aids including interpreters, VRS and VRI technology, from the dispatcher to the detective to the sergeant to the chief of police.

Deaf individuals are entitled to the same communication access as hearing people have and this typically means the contacting of a live qualified sign language interpreter as well as the judicious use of auxiliary aids such as VRS and VRI.

Jean F. Andrews is a Reading Specialist and Professor of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education at Lamar University.

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Third Grade Reading Level: What Does It Mean for An Adult Deaf Suspect?

By Jean F. Andrews

“American Sign Language” in SignWriting. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In reviewing confessions and interviews conducted in spoken and written English between the deaf suspect and the detective, judges and prosecutors have difficulty in understanding a deaf person’s linguistic competence. They just don’t get it.
Even when the videotape recording is replayed, the judge and prosecutor will listen to the talking of the detectives and use that auditory information to fill in information gaps of the interviews. They don’t focus on nor do they understand the actual psychological, cultural and communicative responses of the deaf suspect. And if the deaf suspect orders coffee with cream using intelligible speech, and smiles and nods during the interrogation to show compliance and obedience not necessarily comprehension, this even makes it more difficult for the prosecutor and judge to really understand how communication during the interrogation is just not happening.
A second hindrance to understanding this complex situation is when the deaf suspect tests out at the 3rd grade reading level on a standardized test. The reply of the prosecutor is, well… the suspect is married, has children, pays taxes, pays a mortgage, can even navigate drug deals and bank robberies, can cash hot checks etc. Therefore, he claims, this deaf suspect is very competent. Surely the deaf person is faking it on the test and really reads at a much higher level. Ah ha! He exclaims to the judge in Perry Mason fashion. This deaf suspect is a fake, a liar, and a malingerer.

Playing the Deaf Card (Photo credit: Truda Glatz)

What the prosecutor is confusing is a mental and functional competency issue with the linguistic issue. He does not understand the implications of what an English third grade reading level really means for a deaf adult suspect whose primary language is American Sign Language (ASL). It does not mean the deaf person cannot conduct adult types of behaviors such as marriage, parenthood, relationships, paying bills, rent, etc. He can with the help of his friends and using ASL. Indeed, the deaf suspect can function at a much higher level than an eight year old hearing child in the third grade who spends her time with paper dolls, and playing hop-scotch and dodge ball in the school yard and who is largely dependent on her parents for her needs. What the deaf adult and the hearing child share is having the same English-language reading and writing levels, not the same cognitive and behavioral functioning.

http://saltsidedownchocolates.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/chocolate-delivery-or-drug-deal/

What a third grade reading level means for a deaf adult is that he cannot depend on the English language to conduct an important interaction such as a detective investigation about a crime. It also means that if the detectives insist that he continue in English, then the confession can be thrown out in court. It means the deaf suspect cannot read the Miranda Warning or other documents that he is asked to put his signature on. Simply put, he needs a sign language interpreter for detective interactions just as he needs an interpreter for court proceedings.
While judges and attorneys understand the need for sign language interpreters in the court room, they often do not understand the critical importance of having a certified sign language interpreter during police interrogations, during the jail bookings, psychological and medical intakes, during jail and prison orientations, during grievance meetings, as well as during other important situations in during arrests and incarceration.
It’s the law.
Judges and lawyers need to listen. Linguistic competence is a cat of a different stripe than mental competence and everyday functional competence.

“Cat of a Different Stripe.”
http://www.freeoboi.ru/eng/wallpaper/8997.html

Vernon, M. & Andrews, J. (2012, July). Individuals With Disabilities and the Issue of False Confessions. The Champion, Vol. XXXVI. No. 6, 34-42.

 

View this document on Scribd

Jean F. Andrews is a Reading Specialist and Professor of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education at Lamar University.

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The Role of Early ASL Learning and Linguistic Competence of Deaf Individuals

By Jean F. Andrews

Map of the USA in ASL (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

American Sign Language (ASL) is seldom learned early by parents of deaf children when the diagnoses of hearing loss occurs. As a result, few deaf children have strong ASL role models in the home. This has important educational implications. But it also has criticaL repercussions when the deaf child grows into a deaf adult and gets caught in the criminal justice system.
In almost all (with the exception of one), cases where I interviewed deaf suspects or inmates, I have found that they had learned ASL after the age of five. Some even learned it later in junior high or high school. Most all had English reading levels of 4th grade or below.
ASL plays a critical role in a deaf individual’s overall linguistic competence in both ASL and in English. When they learn ASL late, this often delays their ability to learn English. Research has shown strong links between later ASL proficiency and English Literacy.

http://onebookoneweekoneyear.blogspot.com/

Lack of ASL proficiency also affects their abilities to effectively work with a sign language interpreter in a police, legal or correctional setting.
Part of the problem is that we have few strong ASL/English bilingual Early Childhood Programs so deaf children are delayed in access to ASL. Another part of the problem is that hearing parents are too busy to learn ASL. They work long hours in jobs where they cannot fit in a sign language class. As a result, their deaf child becomes their sign language teacher and this further delays the deaf child’s acquisition of concepts and language structures because they do not have strong ASL linguistic role models.
One solution to helping parents learn ASL is through online ASL classes. With today’s technology, the video quality is quite good and recent research by Dr. Curt Radford, Professor of Deaf Education at Utah State University has shown that online ASL learning is possible. His recent dissertation completed at Lamar University found that university students in the ASL online class did just as well as ASL students in face to face class.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_compatible

One creative outcome of Dr. Radford’s research is that he has recently developed an online ASL program for parents. It is reasonably priced and available 24/7 for today’s working parent. www.deafed.org
It may seem like a long stretch to connect early ASL acquisition and signing abilities of deaf adults in the criminal justice system who have difficulty understanding sign language interpreters. But the relationship is there. When audiologists, physicians, and educators deny the deaf children and his parents with information on the benefits of ASL as a language, they are not seeing the big picture. Deaf children need English and ASL as early as possible to achieve linguistic competence in both languages. And Dr. Radford’s parent ASL online course as well as other available online resources that achieve this same goal are good places to start.

Jean F. Andrews is a Reading Specialist and Professor of Deaf Studies/Deaf Education at Lamar University.

 

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Inclusion, Accessibility and Justice

 

Igor Sevcuk – Beyond Language 2002 (Photo credit: uair01)

I came home to find this posted on the DeafInPrison.com FaceBook page.

 

http://webhost.bridgew.edu/atwerskyglasner/inclusion.htm

 

Who I am:  Dr. Aviva Twersky Glasner, Ph.D. is a Criminal Justice Researcher and the proud mother of a deaf son.  My son goes to an ASL intensive school in Massachusetts, the Learning Center, and I have been learning sign language (I am still struggling) so that I can have conversations with him.  I have done extensive research and published in the area of deafness and the justice system and would like to hear from you.  The primary focus of this research is to learn about difficulties (if any) experienced as a result of the your deafness or other disability, making communication difficult.

they have embedded, a very compelling and interesting video. It is from YouTube, so captioning is available.

 

The site author goes on to ask the following of viewers,

 

1. Have you ever been stopped by a police officer?  If yes, why?
2. How did you communicate with the officer?  Was it difficult?
3. Did the officer get a sign language interpreter?
4. Have you ever been the victim of a crime or had reason to contact the police?
5. How did you communicate?  Was it difficult?
6. Have you had to interact with emergency service personnel, i.e. EMT’s or firefighters?
7. When interacting with either the police, EMT’s, firefighters or court personnel, did they ever say to you “read my lips?”
8. Did you request a sign language interpreter?  Did you get an interpreter?
9. Did any of these personnel try to enlist one of your family members or friends to act as an interpreter?

No log in links are provided, but the author has posted her e-mail at the bottom of the page.

 

 

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You Learn Lessons in Some Strange Places

I was at my endocrinologist‘s clinic this morning – wowing him with my stellar

Speak Out: Sign language interpretation (Photo credit: Grant Neufeld)

physicality – when an interesting exchange took place. It appears, that his patient immediately after me, required an interpreter. “Sign language?” I asked, obsessive individual that I’m known to be. “Nope, Spanish,” he said. “Problem is, they won’t wait – they’re such prima donnas,” he lamented.

He went on to tell me that that the interpreters and translators, employed by the hospital will stay as long as necessary when they’re actually doing their job, but they will only spend 15 minutes in the waiting room. “Then, they just up and split. They don’t care that we may have a problem case that’s holding up everybody else. They don’t get how hard it is, being a doctor, I guess.”

“No,” says I. “That’s not it at all. It’s the hospital itself. The bean counters upstairs feel that if an interpreter is sitting on her fundament in the waiting room, she’s not earning her pay. I’ll bet you anything they’re told they won’t be paid for time not actually interpreting.”

I went to the U.S. Department of Labor site, and found this link:

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Media-and-Communication/Interpreters-and-translators.htm

Two sign language interpreters working together as a team for a student association meeting. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

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Reading Levels and the Jail Medical Psychological Intake Form

This is the internationally recognized symbol for accessibility (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The majority of deaf adults cannot read the jail/prison medical/intake form without the aid of a certified sign language interpreter. However, rarely do jails and prison provide deaf inmates with interpreters. This can and does result in human tragedy.

The medical/psychological intake form is a one-page form that is given to the inmate during the booking or intake process when the individual is jailed. In our research using a computerized readability program, this form was found to be written at the 9.5 reading grade level. This means that a hearing student in the 5th month of the ninth grade could read it.

In fact, the average reading grade level of deaf adults is at the third to fourth grade level so it is impossible for them to read this document. Part of the problem is that the document is filled with complex grammar structures and complex vocabulary such as monitoring, medication, disabled, aggressive, suicidal, allergic reactions, depression, substance abuse. The criminal justice system should be providing a qualified sign language interpreter during this segment of the jail intake procedures because of the importance of getting accurate information and the life-threatening consequences .

On the form, there are typically two parts: In Part one, the form details the inmates’ medical history. For instance, the inmate will be asked to answer questions related to family medical history, any major surgeries recently have, any history of heart attack, diabetes, or high blood pressure, the types of medication currently taking, dosage and frequency of medication and the kinds of allergies the inmate may have. Other questions relate to history of alcohol, tobacco and drug use.

Prison 2 (Photo credit: planetschwa)

A second section relates to psychiatric history. The inmates are asked to answer questions related to any history of a mental health disorder, history of depression, any attempts at suicide, or have they been treated for a substance abuse in a treatment facility. The inmates must read a final statement saying they understood everything on this questionnaire and sign it with their name.
In one recent case, in a western state, a deaf man in a city jail was not provided an interpreter when shown the medical/psychiatric intake form. He smiled and nodded when the deputy checked off the yes or no boxes. The deputy assumed that the deaf inmate understood what he was being asked. The deputy also assumed that lipreading and reading were effective communication modes for this deaf man. The deaf inmate was placed in a cell apart from the hearing inmates because the jail officials assumed it would be safer for him.
The deaf inmate hung himself in his cell.

This human tragedy and blatant defiance of the jail/prison officials against the Americans with Disabilities Act point to the need for jails and prisons to have policies that mandate the use of certified sign language interpreters for signing deaf persons during the booking and medical/intake process.

Innocent deaf woman spends 60 hours in jail without interpreter – From Prisonmovent’s Weblog

 

Prisonmovement’s Weblog

This story is reblogged from Prisonmovement’s Weblog. It is more on the story of Lashonn White, a story we covered on August 8th.

 

“I mean imagine—all I did was come running, wave my hands and come running out, and the next thing I know I’m on the ground,” White explained to Halsne through a certified American Sign Language interpreter.

Here’s the link to Prisonmovement’s coverage.

 

http://prisonmovement.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/innocent-deaf-woman-spends-60-hours-in-jail-without-interpreter/

 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/106/043/884/justice-for-deaf-woman-tasered-and-jailed-by-police/?z00m=20380296

She was attacked in her home, and called Tacoma, WA. police via video interpreting service. The service – as they always do – identified her to police as a Deaf individual. When police arrived at her home, she ran out of the house seeking their protection. They yelled “Stop,” which she, of course, couldn’t hear – so they tasered her.

 

Halsne discovered that when someone who doesn’t speak English is booked into the Pierce County Jail, staff calls interpreters on the phone so they can explain basic information to the new inmate like charges, medical needs and the time of their initial court date.

Deaf inmates don’t get that same courtesy because the jail does not have a video phone which allows for sign language communications.

Now, unfortunate though it may be, I do understand their actions. Police are faced with life and death situations every day. They often don’t have the luxury of being able to use judgement beyond survival instinct. What I don’t get however, is how they can then lock her up, without an interpreter, for 3 full days.

 

Prisonmovement’s Weblog is – as most of you already know – one of our favorite sites, and they did an excellent job with this post. Please click on the above link and learn more.

 

English: A Video Relay Service session, where a Deaf, Hard-Of-Hearing or Speech-Impaired individual can communicate with a hearing person via a Video Interpreter (a Sign Language interpreter), using a videophone or similar video telecommunication unit. The hearing person with whom the Video Interpreter is also communicating can not be seen in the photo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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