Federal Judge Slams D.C. Jail Officials, Awards $70,000 to Deaf Man: Report

A deaf man who was incarcerated in a D.C. jail will get a $70,000 payday after a federal grand jury ruled that he was mistreated, according to a Washington Post report.

The federal jury decided today that the inmate had his rights violated by the D.C. Department of Corrections under the Americans with Disabilities Act, with U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson slamming D.C. jail officials in his written opinion for not even trying to determine what accommodations 47-year-old William Pierce needed due to his deafness after he was incarcerated in 2012, according to the report.

Instead, D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility officials "sat on their hands," Jackson wrote, adding that Pierce was ignored until he specifically requested auxiliary aids.

The ruling could have ramifications nationwide for prison and jail operators, prompting authorities to ensure that deaf inmates will get the necessary accommodations in the future, such as sign-language interpreters. In this case, jailers didn't want to pay $155 per hour for an interpreter, and this expensive lesson could prove to jail operators that it's not worth it to go cheap, American Civil Liberties Union legal director Arthur Spitzer said according to the Post report.

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