Tablet computers have revolutionized communication inside prisons for hearing prisoners. Prison systems from across the country — including in New York, California, and Illinois — have distributed tens of thousands of tablets to incarcerated people, which they can use to call home, watch movies, message loved ones, or attend virtual classes (although they are often charged predatory fees for accessing these benefits). As of 2022, 25 state prison systems had tablet distribution programs, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

But as the rollout of such tablets continues, many deaf incarcerated people have been left behind.

Disability justice organization HEARD points out that unknown how many deaf people are incarcerated in U.S. prisons, but a 2015 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that 6.2 percent of incarcerated people in state and federal prisons have a hearing disability, which would equal about 71,000 people.

Daniel Valenzuela, who is deaf, is incarcerated at Danville Correctional Center in Illinois. Last year, the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) distributed tablets to all incarcerated people. But IDOC blocks videophone capabilities, preventing Valenzuela from communicating in his primary language, American Sign Language (ASL).

In September, Valenzuela sued the IDOC director for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“I have six kids, four grandkids, and one of my sons is in the military. I cherish and love my family so much,” said Valenzuela in a press release announcing the lawsuit. “I just want to tell them happy birthday and I am so grieved when I can’t call because I don’t want them to think I forgot.”

There are at least three other deaf individuals at Danville who primarily use ASL to communicate, according to the complaint filed by Disability Rights Advocates, Equip for Equality, and the law firm Much Shelist.

“Across the Illinois Department of Corrections, people can use tablets to communicate with their loved ones, which has been a game changer in removing restrictions on communication,” Valenzuela’s attorney, Rachel Weisberg, the directing attorney at Disability Rights Advocates, told Truthout. “But for Mr. Valenzuela and other deaf people who use American Sign Language, that same access simply isn’t available.”

IDOC did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

Last year, in addition to distributing tablets to incarcerated people, IDOC announced it would provide every incarcerated person with 775 free domestic phone call minutes per month. In a press release, IDOC said that these initiatives, working in tandem, “enhance family connections and increase access to technology that supports rehabilitation.”

But deaf prisoners are excluded from accessing these critical programs.

Unlike hearing prisoners who can use their tablets to make calls from their cells, Valenzuela must get a guard’s permission to walk to another building to use the one videophone that’s available to him. In at least one instance, Valenzuela had to go out in the pouring rain to use the videophone, according to the complaint.

The videophone is often unavailable because the unit itself breaks down, the prison is on lockdown, or a guard denies his request, according to the complaint. Last year, Valenzuela was unable to speak with his family during the holidays because the phone was not working for 54 straight days, from November 2025 to January 2026. However, if the tablets malfunction, there are several backup phones that incarcerated hearing people can use, the complaint says.

“We’re asking for equal access, as that’s what the law requires,” said Weisberg. “Equal access is not static — it must reflect the benefits currently offered to others and account for the needs of people with disabilities as technology and communication systems evolve.”

These issues are not limited to Illinois. Advocates say incarcerated deaf people have to contend with discriminatory communication practices in prisons throughout the country.

“In prisons where we’ve seen scores of deaf/disabled people, there may only be 2 videophones,” Kah Mendoza, the communications coordinator for HEARD, told Truthout in an email. “We’ve seen deaf/disabled incarcerated people on lockdowns for weeks with no way to call home.”

HEARD is a deaf-led prison abolitionist organization that advocates for the rights of and provides support to deaf/disabled incarcerated people. Mendoza says the organization uses deaf/disabled to describe people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and/or experience any form of disability.

In 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a rule mandating that correctional facilities with more than 50 incarcerated people provide access to video calls for people who communicate in ASL. However, correctional agencies have ignored or attempted to sidestep the FCC mandate, said Mendoza.

Within prisons, deaf people are often isolated and excluded from programs and religious services, and unable to participate in counseling sessions or communicate with medical staff. They’re also at risk of being disciplined for their disability, said Mendoza. When prison officials don’t communicate with deaf/disabled people in ways they can understand, they may be written up for being “non-compliant,” he said.

In an essay published in The Marshall Project, Jeremy Woody wrote that when he was taken to a disciplinary hearing while incarcerated in Georgia, his hands were cuffed behind his back. A guard wrote, “guilty or not guilty?”, but with his hands restrained, he was unable to write his answer or communicate in ASL.

“They said, ‘OK, you have nothing to say? Guilty,’” he wrote. “That infuriated me. I started to scream. That was really all that I could do. They sent me to the hole, and I cried endlessly. It’s hard to describe the fury and anger.”

Last year, Disability Rights Advocates settled a lawsuit with the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) filed on behalf of deaf incarcerated individuals who alleged that they were unable to participate in programming and services because TDOC denied them ASL interpreters, videophones, and captioning.

The settlement requires TDOC to provide sign language interpreters for intake and orientation, medical and mental health appointments, educational and vocational programming, religious services, and discipline and parole-related proceedings. The agency must also provide videophones at every facility housing a deaf person.

Mendoza says by denying access to communication, “deaf/disabled incarcerated people can be effectively cut off from other human beings in ways hearing people do not experience.”

“Access to communication is not a luxury,” he said. “Deaf/disabled people should not have to fight repeatedly for basic access to information and communication while they are incarcerated. The responsibility should be on prisons and jails to provide reliable access, not on incarcerated people to overcome barriers that the system itself created.”

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