FCC Rule Change Poised to Help Deaf Inmates

September 28, 2022 by Madeline Hughes
FCC Rule Change Poised to Help Deaf Inmates
A jail at mid day. (Photo by Dan McCue)

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission is looking at ways to help deaf incarcerated people connect better with their families through improved telecommunications services, including video chatting, in prisons and jails throughout the country.

“Incarcerated people face considerable barriers to stay in touch with their loved ones, which include nearly 3 million children. The challenge of staying connected is even greater for incarcerated people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind, or who have a speech disability,” wrote Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in her monthly preview ahead of Thursday’s meeting.

This is part of the commission’s long-running look into the telecommunications rules in May 2021, with the goal of making services more affordable and accessible for the millions of incarcerated people across the country. This latest rule change that will be voted on Thursday would require all prisons to have more avenues to place calls, including requiring prisons with broadband connections to allow for video calls.

The rule change will also require all prisons to have Telecommunications Relay Services — a service that allows incarcerated people to place calls using text, which then requires a phone operator acting as a translator to read that text to the recipient of the call.

The commission will also continue looking into how to improve these services to facilitate communications.

“Consistent with the FCC’s statutory mandate to make sure people with disabilities have access to telecommunications services that are ‘functionally equivalent’ to what most of us enjoy, no matter where you reside, the commission will consider a proposal to require prison phone providers to offer greater access to all forms of relay services, along with other accessibility measures,” Rosenworcel wrote. “This order also includes measures to inject more fairness in the system, such as a reduction in prison phone rates for ancillary service charges.”

Advocates have been working to see these changes for more than a decade and hope the new rule changes bring some comfort to incarcerated people who face more challenges in prison because of their disability.

“For too long, disabled incarcerated people have been completely denied opportunities to maintain relationships with family, friends, advocates and attorneys, all while suffering extreme abuse, violence and isolation that is exacerbated for incarcerated disabled people,” said Roxanne Zech, an advocate with HEARD, a group working to help deaf inmates. “We hope that the FCC’s order will make it easier for incarcerated people with communication disabilities, their loved ones and advocates to get what they have long deserved.”

Zech explained deaf incarcerated people have challenges in their day-to-day lives, such as not being able to hear basic announcements and often not having anyone to talk to. So, phone calls to family and friends are often their only lifeline out, she said.

“Access to telecommunication is often the only means of communication. It creates opportunities for building and strengthening relationships, and gaining access to support and services from people with shared language and identities, which decreases their chance of returning to incarceration after release,” Zech said. “It also allows for incarcerated people to contact crisis hotlines that allow them to report systemic physical and sexual abuse and violence that is rampant in carceral settings.”

Madeline can be reached at [email protected] and @MadelineHughes

A+
a-
  • deaf inmates
  • FCC
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Regulation

    December 4, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    Administration Roles Out Plan to Cut 58M Tons of Methane Emissions by 2038

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Biden administration on Saturday announced its intention to curb methane emissions by some 58... Read More

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Biden administration on Saturday announced its intention to curb methane emissions by some 58 million tons by 2038. The new regulation, announced during the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, is being implemented as an administrative action and does not require... Read More

    November 30, 2023
    by Tom Ramstack
    Supreme Court Leans Toward Reducing Enforcement Authority of Federal Agencies

    WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed ready Wednesday to cut back on the authority of federal agencies to enforce their... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed ready Wednesday to cut back on the authority of federal agencies to enforce their regulations through fines or seizures of property. Questions from the conservative majority of justices during a hearing focused on whether the agencies were committing unconstitutional procedural... Read More

    November 27, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    Appeals Court Revives Refineries’ Hope of Securing Fuel Mandate Exemptions

    NEW ORLEANS — A divided U.S. appeals court on Wednesday struck down the Biden administration’s decision to deny small Gulf Coast... Read More

    NEW ORLEANS — A divided U.S. appeals court on Wednesday struck down the Biden administration’s decision to deny small Gulf Coast refineries with “hardship” waivers that would exempt them from the nation’s biofuel mandates. The underlying case revolves around the Clean Air Act and how the Environmental... Read More

    Broadcom Planning to Complete Deal for $69B Acquisition of VMWare After Regulators Give OK

    SAN JOSE, California (AP) — Computer chip and software maker Broadcom has announced it has cleared all regulatory hurdles and... Read More

    SAN JOSE, California (AP) — Computer chip and software maker Broadcom has announced it has cleared all regulatory hurdles and plans to complete its $69 billion acquisition of cloud technology company VMware on Wednesday. The company, based in San Jose, California, announced it planned to move... Read More

    November 16, 2023
    by Tom Ramstack
    Federal Trade Commission Offers Prize for Techniques to Control Voice Cloning

    WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission announced a $25,000 prize Thursday to anyone who can suggest an effective means of... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission announced a $25,000 prize Thursday to anyone who can suggest an effective means of protecting consumers from the artificial intelligence-enabled voice cloning that plays a key role in many scams. The “Voice Cloning Challenge” is the latest of many government... Read More

    Biden Administration Slow to Act as Millions Booted Off Medicaid, Advocates Say

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Up to 30 million of the poorest Americans could be purged from the Medicaid program, many the... Read More

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Up to 30 million of the poorest Americans could be purged from the Medicaid program, many the result of error-ridden state reviews that poverty experts say the Biden administration is not doing enough to stop. The projections from the health consulting firm Avalere... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top