Among the limited rights of incarcerated individuals, those ensuring fair and human treatment are often the subject of debate and frequently go unenforced. In the past few years, complaints have arisen concerning the poor and unequal treatment of inmates with disabilities, sparking lawsuits and questions over whether U.S. prisons are complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which aims to protect individuals with disabilities in various areas of public life.
Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehab Act) to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in federal employment, federally funded programs, and programs conducted by federal agencies, including federal prisons. The ADA, applicable to state prisons, was initially passed in 1990 and updated in 2010 to include official standards for accessible design. The 2010 standards require at least 3% of cells to be accessible to people with mobility disabilities, and at least 2% to be equipped with communication accommodations for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. The ADA furthermore states integrated setting policies which assert that inmates or detainees with disabilities should not be placed in facilities that do not offer the same programs as where they would otherwise be held. Additionally, they should not be denied access to available programs and activities, including education, work release, visitation, and vocational opportunities.
Although the ADA and Rehab Act intended to accommodate incarcerated individuals with disabilities, without enforcement, they are rendered ineffective. In 2022, a lawsuit was filed against the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department for their detention facilities failing to comply with the ADA. A deaf inmate at a San Diego County jail reported that he was taken to the jail’s dentist for tooth pain, but could not communicate with the dentist or jail staff because he was not provided an interpreter. Fourteen other disabled plaintiffs testified that they experienced similar treatment, including two wheelchair users who were given inaccessible bunk bed assignments, one of whom was told he had two options, “sleeping on the floor, or trying to climb up to the third bunk.”
Similar violations of the ADA have occurred in detention facilities across the country. In Georgia, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Georgia, and the National Association of the Deaf brought a lawsuit on behalf of deaf and hard-of-hearing inmates overseen by the Georgia Department of Corrections. The suit, initially brought in 2018, is still ongoing, and as of April 2025, the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is pending. The plaintiffs claim that because the communication events are not accessible, they are not given notice of the prison’s rules and procedures, subjecting them to disciplinary actions for failing to comply with unexplained rules. Furthermore, the plaintiffs have been unable to attend activities and educational opportunities required for prerelease because of the lack of accessibility for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
A similar complaint was filed in 2023 against the Minnesota Department of Corrections for failing to notify individuals with disabilities about modifications to GED courses, practice tests, and exams, preventing them from applying for accommodations, such as extended time and breaks. Participation in educational courses can lead to a reduced sentence; therefore, by denying inmates accommodations, prisons could be keeping them incarcerated longer than they would have been had accommodations been provided. The Minnesota Department of Corrections subsequently agreed to comply with the ADA and provide accommodations so that inmates with disabilities can participate in GED courses. They also agreed to require training for facility personnel on the ADA and disability discrimination and pay over $70,000 in compensatory damages to the individuals affected by the discrimination.
Recently, additional claims have surfaced regarding ADA compliance in prisons, including denial of proper medical care to incarcerated individuals with disabilities. Although courts uphold ADA standards for equal access to public services, the claims must be specifically applicable to the ADA or the Rehab Act, and incarcerated people must adhere to a standard form for filing civil rights lawsuits. Given that many incarcerated individuals with disabilities lack general resources, let alone information on how to file a complaint, it is likely that many ADA and Rehab act violations go unchallenged.