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Attention Deaf & Signing Community, Advocates & Allies: Please Submit Comments on the FCCs Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Prison Telephone Rates to Support Access to Videophones, Captioned Telephones and Reasonable Rates for Deaf & Signing Prisoners and their Families1 On December 28, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to address the long-standing issue of high prison telephone rates. Hearing prisoners telephone calls can cost their family members as much as $17 for just 15 minutes of time. These excessive rates prevent families from maintaining contact with loved ones. Deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, speech impaired, and hearing prisoners with deaf family members endure an even greater financial burden with respect to telephone rates due to a number of factors, including (1) telephone rates being applied evenly to TTY and regular voice phone calls, the former of which is much more time-consuming; (2) failure of prisons to install videophones and captioned telephones; (3) security measures that either prevent deaf prisoners from calling relay operators or cause them to incur additional fees by requiring relay services; and (4) security measures that require deaf prisoners to only place collect calls. In short, individuals who are deaf,2 speech impaired, or use sign language to communicate with their family, are being denied equal communication access and are paying disproportionately higher amounts solely based on their or a loved ones disability. HEARD is therefore submitting a public comment to the FCC on behalf of more than three hundred and fifty men and women in our Deaf & Deaf-Blind Prisoner Project Database,3 but we need your help. From now until March 25, 2013, the FCC is accepting comments from the public about whether the FCC should lower the cost of phone calls from prison. The NPRM specifically requests information about telephone access and rates for prisoners with disabilities. This memo will explain how to write and submit comments to the FCC that will support equitable telecommunication access for deaf, speech impaired, and signing prison community members. Paragraph 42 in the FCCs NPRM is entitled Disabilities Access and it reads as follows: There is evidence in the record to indicate that inmates with hearing disabilities may not have access to ICS [Inmate Calling Services] at reasonable rates using TTYs. The record suggests that because the average length of a telephone conversation using a TTY is approximately four times longer than a voice telephone conversation, deaf and hard of hearing inmates who use TTYs have to pay more than their hearing counterparts. The record also suggests that TTY users have had to pay additional fees for connecting to a TTY relay operator. We seek comment on the types of ICS access that individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing experience during their incarceration. Where such access to ICS is provided, are the rates the same as those available to those without a disability? If the rates differ, what is that difference and what are the explanations for such difference? We note that section 276(b)(1)(A) specifically exempts telecommunications relay service calls for hearing disabled individuals from the Commission-established per call compensation plan ensuring that ICS providers are fairly compensated. How should the Commission take this exemption into account in examining rates? It is important that the FCC hear from the community during the public comment period. If you are a prisoner or family member of a prisoner who is deaf or speech impaired, this is your opportunity to inform the FCC about your experiences with prison phone rates and telephone/TTY/VP access. If you are a community member or ally, this is your opportunity to tell the FCC that prisoners should not pay the same rates to use TTYs and telephones; that relay numbers should not be blocked; and that family members of all prisoners should not have to pay unreasonable rates to maintain contact with their family in prison. Most importantly, tell the FCC that ICSs & prisons should be required to install videophones, captioned telephones, and other auxiliary aids for deaf, speech impaired and signing prisoners to ensure equal telecommunication access for ALL prisoners! HEARD suggests that you highlight the following points and encourages you to add specific details about your experiences:

Prepared by HEARD on January 30, 2013. HEARD is a nonprofit organization that works to remove barriers that prevent the deaf from having equal access to the justice system. HEARD created and maintains a comprehensive national database of deaf and deaf-blind prisoners. 2 For present purposes, deaf encompasses any individual with hearing loss sufficient to require auxiliary aids or accommodations. 3 This number includes prisoners who are Children of Deaf Adults and those with deaf family members who communicate in sign language.
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1.

ASL, not English is the primary language for many deaf people

Many Americans who grow up deaf use American Sign Language (ASL) as their primary or only method of communication. ASL is not a manual representation of English. ASL is its own language with a unique syntax and grammar. Unlike most spoken languages, ASL does not have a written component. As a result, many deaf individuals require sign language for effective communication, and can only communicate effectively through sign language. With the current prison telephone system, prisoners in forty-seven states and the federal prison system cannot communicate with their children if the child signs but cannot yet read. 2. TTY technology is antiquated and often incompatible with modern communications technology

Having been developed in the1960s as a basic mode of telecommunication for the deaf, the TTY has inherent limitations. The technology relies on typewritten words and an audio coupler to transmit signals to an operator or another TTY machine. No matter how fast a person types, these signals are sent at the rate of 45 characters per minute. As such, conversations via TTY are at least four times slower than voice-to-voice conversation, not including time required for connecting to the relay operator, translation. The TTY cannot connect to videophones, so many prisoners with signing family members have no contact with their family. This is especially problematic for District of Columbia prisoners who are housed in federal prisons as far away as Arizona, California & Florida. 3. Videophones rely on visual communication and are the preferred method of communication in the deaf community

Videophones (VPs) and captioned telephones are the better telecommunication option for many deaf people. Typewritten communication is not the equivalent of voice communication for individuals who communicate in sign language, and prisoners with residual hearing can follow telephone conversations on their own with some assistance. With the advent of new technology and relay services, including internet-based relay services and VP technology that allows sign language users to communicate in sign language in real-time, most TTY users have migrated to other forms of communication to access the telephone network. A 2012 report from the FCCs TTY Transition Subgroup of the Emergency Access Advisory Committee indicates that TTY use is decreasing by about 10% per year, and has cut in half over the past seven years. The same report indicates that TTY traditional relay is only 12% of the total relay volume. To ensure equal access to telecommunications, some prison and jail systems have installed VPs for signing prisoners. Regrettably, only a handful of prisons are equipped with VPs (e.g., VT, VA, WI) and no prison or jail is known to have installed captioned telephones, many using security as an excuse for discrimination (e.g., CA, NY, Federal BOP). Other facilities ensure that deaf prisoners have access to free TTY calls pursuant to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (e.g., at least one facility in PA). 4. Prisons often limit access to TTYs

Many prisons block toll-free numbers for security purposes, thus preventing deaf prisoners from using relay altogether (e.g., GA, MD). In addition, at many prisons, deaf prisoners must file written requests days in advance to use the TTY which is often stored in a counselors office (e.g., CA, DE, FL, MD, OH, Federal BOP). In states where rates are cheaper during the evenings and on the weekends, deaf prisoners cannot take advantage of these rates because staff is gone during those times. *********** If you want your comment to be included as an attachment to HEARDs Public Comment to the FCC, your comments must be received by March 8, 2013. If you are a prisoner or returned citizen, HEARD will delete ALL identifying information from your statement unless you tell us to submit your statement as is. You also may submit your comment directly to the FCC by following the directions below. If you submit your comment to the FCC, please let us know so we can ensure that it is included in the official record. DIRECTIONS FOR FILING YOUR COMMENT WITH THE FCC: You may file electronic or hard copies of your comments. Your comments are due by March 25, 2013. Put the Proceeding Number WC Docket No. 12-375 at the top of your comments. Electronic comments can be uploaded at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/. You will have to follow the online instructions to submit comments electronically. If you submit hard copies of your comments, you have to submit one original and one copy. Address all filings to The Commissions Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. Send comments by U.S. Mail to 445 12th Street, SW, Washington DC 20554. Send comments by services other than the U.S. Mail to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. Hand-deliver comments to FCC Headquarters at 445 12th St., SW, Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

For more information on prison telephone rates for hearing or deaf prisoners, visit www.phonejustice.org or www.behearddc.org. Send comments, information, and phone bills to HEARD at P.O. Box 1160, Washington, D.C. 20013 or info@behearddc.org.
Thank you for helping HEARD improve communication access for deaf, signing & speech impaired prisoners and their families!
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