Opinion ID: 776026
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Written Policy

Text: 26 The Board's written policy is primarily contained in three documents: its Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan, its Administrative Directive, and its training documents, including guidelines provided to the Department employees. That policy was formulated to ensure that prisoners and parolees receive due process with respect to Board proceedings. Whether the Board succeeded in that objective is not of particular importance here. The ADA and Rehabilitation Act, as enforced through the Attorney General's regulations promulgated under the ADA, see 42 U.S.C. 12134(a), require more than compliance with due process requirements: they require that a disabled individual be provided with meaningful access to state provided services and set forth a number of detailed requirements that must be met. See Alexander v. Choate, 469 U.S. 287, 295, 83 L. Ed. 2d 661, 105 S. Ct. 712 (1985); see also Crowder v. Kitagawa, 81 F.3d 1480, 1484 (9th Cir. 1996). 17 The Board's written policy does not consider the particular needs of disabled prisoners and parolees. In particular, the policy does little, if anything, to address the needs of prisoners or parolees who have problems understanding complex information or communicating through the spoken or written word. 27 The Board's ADA policy relies upon form # 1073 at the notification stage and form # 1040 at the appeal stage. Form # 1073 purports to inform prisoners and parolees of their rights under the ADA. 18 Both forms are inadequate for the visually impaired, for those deaf individuals who do not understand written English, and for the learning disabled or mentally retarded who do not understand complex concepts. At the notification stage, the Board's only solution is to have a person serving the form explain it to the person served, if requested to do so; at the appeals stage, the Board does not even require that accommodation: so long as someone renders some assistance, the policy is satisfied. The Board does not train its officials or employees to communicate with disabled individuals, and does not evaluate their ability to do so. The district court found that the minimal due process measures taken by the Board were insufficient to comply with the ADA or to enable plaintiffs properly to invoke or assert their rights. 28 The guidelines prepared by the Board and circulated to Department officials contemplate two forms of accommodation: the provision of an attorney or of an interpreter. These accommodations are offered primarily at the discretion of the Department employees, and they need not be provided where the employee believes that the prisoner or parolee has little likelihood of success on the merits at the hearing. 19 Even when an accommodation is furnished it is often ineffective, and the lack of appropriate accommodations has resulted in prisoners and parolees waiving or misunderstanding their rights at the notification stage; being prevented from adequately preparing for hearings; failing to understand proceedings during hearings; and being unable to assert grievances on appeal. 20 29 The Board's written policy does not provide for the making of any effort to determine in advance whether a particular hearing facility is accessible for the mobility impaired. Instead, if a deputy commissioner is informed that there is a physical barrier to access, he will halt the hearing until a reasonable accommodation can be made. Such a procedure results in mobility-impaired prisoners and especially parolees spending extra time in custody awaiting their hearing. 30 In sum, the Board's written policy does not comply with the requirements of the ADA. As a general rule, injuries can stem from a failure to take action as well as from affirmative conduct. Here, plaintiffs were injured by the Board's failure to comply with the Act's requirements. They suffered discrimination on account of disability as a consequence, including the impairment or loss of services or programs provided by the Board. The Board's failure to comply also makes likely the recurrence of such injuries in the immediate future.