DeafInPrison rough in Britain, Too

By BitcoDavid This article was brought to our attention by Handeyes from PEOPLE OF THE EYE. It originally appeared in Charlie Swinbourne’s Limping Chicken. According to research by the Howard League for Penal Reform, the British penal system is unable to meet the needs of Deaf inmates, and as a result, these inmates are not

Let the Taser do the Talking, Or…

By BitcoDavid Did you know that practically every police cruiser in this country is equipped with an on-board computer with a webcam and wireless Internet capability? Did you further know that Video Relay Services exist, virtually all across the Internet? Imagine this scenario. A young Deaf woman is a victim of domestic abuse. Her husband

When One Hand Refuses to Wash the Other

By BitcoDavid I was asked, the other day, why DeafInPrison.com – a site dedicated to the plight of the Deaf inmate – reports on such a diverse palette of issues. We cover the School to Prison Pipeline, Prison Reform, solitary confinement, mental health issues, Women in prison, the drug war, prison gangs, prison rape, wrongful

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. The relay

Digest Post – Sunday 1/13/2013

By BitcoDavid Truthout reports today, that the infamous supermax, Tamms, is officially closed. The solitary confinement maximum security facility in Illinois closed on January 4th. DeafInPrison.com would like to thank Solitary Watch for alerting us to the story. “There is not a single man left behind. The era of the notorious Tamms supermax prison is

Homeless Deaf Uses ASL Relay – From the NYT

By BitcoDavid Yesterday’s New York Times contained an essay on Abreham Zemedagegehu –  a homeless, Deaf, Ethiopian immigrant – who received an iPad from their Neediest Cases Fund, and uses it to communicate via Video Relay Service. For the past 100 years, The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund has provided direct assistance to children, families

How Cool is This!

By BitcoDavid I received the following e-mail the other day. Hello David I work for OnlineSpeechPathologyPrograms.net, a site that provides info on education and job opportunities for students in speech pathology and relevant fields. Since American Sign Language and other forms of signed communication are so useful for speech pathologists, we thought it would be

McCaskill Reinstated

By BitcoDavid According to the Washington Post, Angela McCaskill, the Chief Diversity Officer who was suspended in October of last year for signing a petition decrying Maryland’s same sex marriage law, has been reinstated to her position. The case was controversial because McCaskill – a representative of diversity at a school for the Deaf –

In Touch With Braille – Angela Orlando

By Jean F. Andrews [Jean’s Note: Angela Orlando tells a compelling story of how learning Braille enlarged her life as a deaf-blind woman. This interview was conducted by Cynthia Ingraham, a researcher, writer and teacher in deaf – blind education. ] [Editor’s Correction: This article on Angela Orlando’s prize winning essay was credited to Cynthia

Should We Decriminalize Drugs to Take The Power Out of The Drug War and The Mexican Drug Cartels?

By Glenn Langohr We now look at drug addiction as a disease in government and medical institutions, so when are we going to end the War on Drugs and how will we? The War on Drugs has only made drug use more desirable by making them more taboo, thus creating an underground culture where it