Daniel Valenzuela, a Deaf man held at Danville Correctional Center, filed a federal lawsuit on September 2 accusing the Illinois Department of Corrections of blocking videophone software on newly issued inmate tablets, effectively cutting him off from equal phone access. Valenzuela communicates primarily using American Sign Language, and his complaint says he must rely on videophones located outside his housing unit and available only during restricted hours, while hearing prisoners can call directly from their cells whenever they want.
The lawsuit, filed against IDOC Director Latoya Hughes, invokes Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, according to Disability Rights Advocates. The complaint details how IDOC expanded its tablet-based telecommunications program in 2025 to let prisoners call from their housing units, but the hardwired videophones deaf prisoners depend on sat non-functional for 54 straight days between November 2025 and January 2026, according to the same filing. Rachel M. Weisberg, directing attorney at Disability Rights Advocates, said IDOC must ensure Deaf people can use the expanded telephone program on equal terms, as reported by The Chicago Reporter.
A Pattern Stretching Back More Than a Decade
Valenzuela's case did not emerge in isolation. It follows the 2018 settlement in Holmes v. Baldwin, a class action originally filed in 2011, which required IDOC to conduct hearing screenings, build individualized communication plans, provide sign language interpreters for medical and disciplinary hearings, and supply accessible communication technology and tactile notification systems, per the Uptown People's Law Center. That settlement also required ADA training for staff and covered accommodations needed for prisoners to participate in programs and services throughout the system.
Compliance has been rocky ever since. The settlement has been subject to enforcement proceedings, according to Justia Law. Two years later, in August 2022, a federal judge held IDOC in contempt of court for repeatedly ignoring orders and failing to develop implementation plans for health care and disability accommodations, the Uptown People's Law Center reported.
Two Men, Years of Waiting
The Chicago Reporter's investigation into the same broader failures profiled two Illinois prisoners identified as Joe and John, whose experiences illustrate how accommodation requests can stall for months or years even after they are formally identified. John, who is partially deaf and uses lip reading and sign language, was admitted to an IDOC facility in March 2022. He was assessed as hard of hearing in one ear in 2023, and a clinician recommended a hearing aid, a vibrating watch for tactile notifications, an amplified phone, a pager watch, and a hearing disability marker for his ID card and cell, per the outlet's reporting.
By April 2024, John still had not received the recommended accommodations, the Reporter found. He continued to miss mealtimes and alerts because he could not hear verbal announcements, and staff denied his pager watch request because the housing unit's inventory was exhausted. John eventually received a disciplinary ticket after failing to hear an officer's order and lost a prison job as a result; he filed multiple grievances appealing the ticket, which was ultimately expunged, though his security status remained elevated afterward, according to the same account.
Joe, another incarcerated Illinois man profiled in the investigation, was diagnosed with a torn meniscus, arthritis, and ulcerative colitis. He received a top bunk assignment, an elevator pass, and housing near the medical center and cafeteria, but was later relocated to a housing unit without elevator access, the article notes. Joe said the grievance appeal and escalation process can extend beyond nine months and usually ends without resolution.
A System-Wide Accessibility Gap
The Chicago Reporter also obtained IDOC custody survey responses through a public records request, which showed prisoners reporting a lack of basic accessibility equipment including grab bars and shower chairs, and one respondent reported waiting more than two years for glasses, dentures, and cochlear implants. Sophia Lau, an attorney at Equip for Equality, said IDOC already has the technology to make communication possible, per the same reporting. The National Center for Access to Justice has reported that people with disabilities in Illinois prisons are routinely denied ADA services and equal treatment, the outlet noted.
National data underscores how much is at stake. A Bureau of Justice Statistics survey found that nearly 2 in 5 (38 percent) state and federal prisoners had at least one disability in 2016. A separate study covering more than 20,000 people in U.S. prisons found at least one disability reported by an estimated two-thirds of the population, according to The Chicago Reporter. The same BJS data found that 25 percent of state prisoners reported ever attending special education classes; researchers noted female prisoners reported higher rates of cognitive and physical disabilities than men.
Disability status also intersects with race well before incarceration begins. Research published in the American Journal of Public Health, cited by the Pew Charitable Trusts, found that by age 28, cumulative arrest rates among young adults with disabilities reached 55 percent for Black individuals and 46 percent for Hispanic individuals. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people are three times more represented in jails than in the broader community, per The Chicago Reporter.
New Law Targets a Different Barrier
Governor JB Pritzker signed House Bill 1810 into law on August 7, 2026. The measure is titled the Equitable Access to Education, Employment, and Training for Incarcerated Individuals with Disabilities Act, according to the Illinois General Assembly. It addresses education, employment, and training for incarcerated individuals with disabilities.
The accommodation gaps extend beyond communication access. In March 2025, Equip for Equality and the law firm Much filed a separate federal lawsuit alleging IDOC violated the ADA by leaving 21 disabled prisoners in the deteriorating infirmary of the closed Stateville Correctional Center while non-disabled prisoners were transferred to safer facilities, according to FOX 32 Chicago. Plaintiffs in that case reported being locked in cells for up to 24 hours a day without adequate medical or hygiene access.
Taken together, the record shows a department that has repeatedly agreed to court-ordered fixes, and repeatedly fallen short of deadlines to deliver them. How quickly IDOC addresses the videophone restrictions Valenzuela describes, and how thoroughly the new TABE waiver law gets implemented across facilities, remain open questions as the litigation moves forward.
