Current:Home > FinanceWisconsin prisons agree to help hearing-impaired inmates under settlement -EliteFunds
Wisconsin prisons agree to help hearing-impaired inmates under settlement
View
Date:2025-04-12 18:29:42
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Department of Corrections has agreed to provide more help to hearing-impaired inmates as part of a settlement with federal investigators.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday that its investigators had been probing complaints from inmates at the Racine Correctional Institution, the Taycheedah Correctional Facility and the Felmers O. Chaney Correctional Center in Milwaukee that Corrections officials weren’t repairing inmates’ hearing aids and weren’t providing access to services such as sign language interpreters, text telephones and phones compatible with hearing aids.
“People with disabilities in Wisconsin deserve equal access, and that does not change when they are incarcerated,” said Gregory J. Haanstad, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
The settlement calls for Corrections to provide hearing-impaired inmates with appropriate aids and services, including sign language interpreters, video telephones and hearing aids when necessary. The agency must make reasonable modifications to its policies to accommodate hearing-impaired inmates, such as handcuffing them in front of their bodies so they can sign and allowing additional time for phone calls using an interpreter.
Corrections personnel also must set up a process for identifying hearing-impaired inmates when they enter a facility, provide training on the Americans with Disabilities Act to staff and pay three aggrieved inmates $15,000.
A Corrections spokesperson didn’t immediately respond late Monday afternoon to an email message seeking comment on the settlement.
The settlement marks another public relations black eye for an agency reeling from multiple deaths across the prison system in recent months.
Five inmates have died at Waupun Correctional Institution since June 2023, two by suicide, one of a fentanyl overdose, one of a stroke and one of malnutrition and dehydration. Prosecutors have charged the prison’s former warden, Randall Hepp, and either other Waupun staff members with misconduct in connection with the stroke and malnutrition deaths. Hepp has pleaded not guilty.
Federal investigators also have been looking into a suspected smuggling ring at the prison. A former employee at the prison pleaded guilty in mid-September to smuggling contraband, including cellphones, tobacco products and drugs, into the facility in exchange for money.
An inmate at Green Bay’s maximum-security prison was charged in early September with killing his cellmate because he was Black and gay, according to court documents.
Prosecutors in northern Wisconsin’s Lincoln County have charged a 16-year-old inmate at the state’s youth prison with killing a counselor during a fight in June.
veryGood! (82396)
Related
- 'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
- Harris heads to the US-Mexico border to face down criticism of her record
- Depleted energy levels affect us all. But here's when they could indicate something serious.
- James Corden Admits He Tried Ozempic for Weight Loss and Shares His Results
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- Madonna’s Stepmother Joan Ciccone Dead at 81 After Cancer Battle
- Tribal Members Journey to Washington Push for Reauthorization of Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
- North Carolina lieutenant governor names new chief aide as staff departures grow
- From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
- Suit up: Deals on Halloween costumes among Target Circle Week deals for Oct. 6-12
Ranking
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- 2024 People's Choice Country Awards Red Carpet Fashion: See Every Look as Stars Arrive
- FBI agent says 2 officers accepted accountability in fatal beating of Tyre Nichols
- The Bear's Jeremy Allen White Kisses Costar Molly Gordon While Out in Los Angeles
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- Kaitlyn Bristowe Is Begging Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos for This Advice
- Google expert at antitrust trial says government underestimates competition for online ad dollars
- California to apologize for state’s legacy of racism against Black Americans under new law
Recommendation
In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
Horoscopes Today, September 26, 2024
Selma Blair’s 13-Year-Old Son Arthur Is Her Mini-Me at Paris Fashion Week
This Social Security plan will increase taxes, and Americans want it
2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
Lady Gaga uncorks big band classics, her finest moment yet on 'Joker 2' album 'Harlequin'
North Carolina lieutenant governor names new chief aide as staff departures grow
Groups work to engage young voters in democracy as election processes come under scrutiny