Discrimination at Prison

A Texas judge has ruled the state's prison system violated federal law in a discrimination case involving a deaf man. The Hughes Unit prison near Gatesville refused to provide Jeremy Durrenberger an interpreter when he visited to see an inmate. Durrenberger tried several times to get help, even making suggestions of how the issue could be easily resolved, but he was turned down. One corrections officer told Durrenberger he was “not disabled” because he did not use a wheelchair. The Judge noted that prison officials had not presented any evidence to show that accommodating him would impose any burden.