As I mentioned in my last post, there has been an investigation underway, on Felix’s case by the State Attorney’s Office in Hillsborough County, Florida, for the last 14 months. They created a special unit to look at cases where there is a claim of innocence. His case is now closed. In other words, Felix […]
There has been an investigation and a review on Felix’s case regarding due process violation by the court not providing Felix with a sign interpreter at his 1983 trial. Hopefully, soon I will be able to share more about it.
Many police, criminal justice and court officials assume the since a deaf person asks for a paper and pencil or a computer screen that they can communicate through writing. This seldom is the case. They typically ask for paper and pencil or the computer screen because they have no other recourse. Routinely police officers and […]
Over the past few years, I’ve been asked to provide language evaluations in cases that involved crimes involving Deaf people against each other, typically domestic violence cases. In several of the cases, the Deaf person with better speech skills would gain control over the police questioning when the arrest occurred, with police becoming more sympathetic […]
We celebrated Rev. Martin Luther King’s birthday by watching the 90-minute PBS special documentary, ‘I Am Not Your Negro.’ The movie was part celebration, part eye-opener, and part sadness-filled and left us wondering, when will racial hatred stop? Why does the color of one’s skin have to matter? Why do we hate people who look […]
Consider this scenario. During a domestic dispute, a husband who is deaf hits his wife who is also deaf. This occurs in the couple’s kitchen with their young seven-year-old hearing daughter watching such a horrible incident. The assaulting husband flees out the door. The mother, badly bleeding from a mouth cut, calls 911 on video […]
By Jean F. Andrews For many Deaf individuals the parole process is a complex web. And for those Deaf persons who have poor English and sign skills and are not aware of their Constitutional Rights, the stakes are particularly high. What creates this web of confusion? For one, the rules and regulations of the parole […]
By BitcoDavid Next week, July 12th is a very important anniversary for me. 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. In fact, I almost died. Now, I realize that this post has nothing to do with our stated topics on DeafInPrison.com, but I had to put it up, somewhere. And this seemed […]
By BitcoDavid For a long time, I have been wanting to add more ASL videos to this site. I have done a few, and have also uploaded a few from other Signers. This is part of a Hashtag Program called “#Why I Sign.” I have left it uncaptioned, because I want to see how legible […]
By BitcoDavid During the past week, DeafInPrison.com experienced a technical problem with our Domain name and our DNS Name Server. It resulted in a period when many of you could not locate us in search engines, and culminated in 2 full days where the site wasn’t visible to anybody. You have my sincerest apologies, and […]
By Pat Bliss You sometimes wonder – will the moves, the accusations, the disruptions ever end for Felix? Well, here we are again having to have Felix moved from his home camp of Marion Correctional to protect his life. We had to move him fast, when he was at Tomoka C.I., because he divulged to […]
By Jean F. Andrews Sexual predation is considered to be a heinous crime rather than a disease. In a paper written by Dr. McCay Vernon – the late psychologist who specialized in mental health issues and deaf persons – pedophilia is a “a curse,” because crimes by sexual molesters arouse so much public anger, and […]
By BitcoDavid Pat Bliss sent me the following via e-mail: Felix arrived at the Wakulla prison yesterday to begin his new venture in Special Programming known as a transitional program or Lifer’s Program. He was sent there by the parole commission at his parole hearing in November 2014. It is an 18 month program. Last […]
By Pat Bliss TO MY SUPPORTER FRIENDS OF FELIX GARCIA! ON BEHALF OF FELIX AND MYSELF, I WANT TO WISH YOU ALL A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS! I CANNOT EXPRESS IN WORDS WHAT IT IS LIKE TO HAVE YOUR SUPPORT AND KNOWING THERE IS A COMMUNITY OUT THERE OF BELIEVERS IN FELIX’S INNOCENCE AND PRAYING FOR HIS […]
By Joanne Greenberg Mainstreaming blew in during the ’70s and ’80s on the same wind as the breaking up of state mental hospitals, and with the same emotions; end the stigma, expand what is “normal” to include everyone. Differences will disappear and a better society will result. The “gesturing” and facial expressions shouldn’t be a […]
By BitcoDavid This is the first live blog, testing my new newsbridge Internet setup. I’m here, the baby signer, and I’ve just learned week, power, computer, remember, and I can count to 100. It’s harder than you would think, but I’m picking it up. I’m determined to learn. Marsha Graham is very helpful, and she’s loaned […]
By BitcoDavid The Washington Post reports that William Pierce, a 44 year-old Deaf HIV patient has filed suit against the city of D.C. because he was denied treatment, unfairly kept in solitary, and handcuffed – essentially a gag for the Deaf. The ACLU, which is handling the case, has stated Pierce was denied access to […]
Shawn Francisco Vigil, died in prison. He was not provided an interpreter during the medical/psychological intake process, was placed in isolation and committed suicide. Below, the link to the Denver Post‘s coverage: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21565502/denver-settles-city-deaf-man-who-died-jail Jail officials had housed Vigil in a special unit away from the general population and failed to do any “meaningful analysis of […]
In this morning’s Houston Chronicle (Friday, Sept 7, 2012, B8), the editor describes an innovative and humane program that has been implemented by the Harris County Jail. The editor reports that the Harris County Jail has become a “de facto mental hospital” as “almost 25% of its inmates, many of them non-violent, suffer from mental […]
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