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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>I apologize for missing the distribution of this important press release earlier.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The full complaint is attached.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 15, 2023<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Media contact: Alexandra Werner-Winslow, <a href="mailto:alexandra@acluva.org">alexandra@acluva.org,</a> (804) 659-9570<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b>Virginia Department of Corrections denies equal services to visually impaired people who are incarcerated<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class=MsoNormal>RICHMOND, Va. – Today the ACLU of Virginia, the disAbility Law Center of Virginia, and the law firm of Brown, Goldstein, and Levy filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia against the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC), individual VADOC officials, and the Virginia Information Technologies Agency on behalf of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia and seven incarcerated blind men being denied equal access to services and programs available to sighted incarcerated people.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Michael McCann, Kevin Muhammad Shabazz, Patrick Shaw and William Stravitz are currently incarcerated at Deerfield Correctional Center; Nacarlo Antonio Courtney, William Hajacos and Wilbert Rogers are currently incarcerated at Greensville Correctional Center. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“The Americans with Disabilities Act requires correctional facilities like Deerfield and Greensville to provide the people in their care with equal access to jobs, programs, housing, medical services, and communication,” said ACLU-VA Senior Staff Attorney Vishal Agraharkar. “The failure of both facilities to provide equal access and services to all people in its care is not just unlawful: it’s unconscionable.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The complaint alleges that VADOC has relied on other incarcerated people to act as so-called “caregivers” for blind prisoners. To fill out such critical materials as requests for medical visits or grievance forms, blind prisoners must ask their “caregivers” to do it for them, as well as to read out loud to them everything from prison policies to private correspondence.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“Relying on other incarcerated people puts blind people in VADOC facilities at the mercy of sighted prisoners and forces them to give their peers access to their private information,” said Eve Hill, partner at Brown, Goldstein, and Levy. “Technology is readily available that VADOC could – and must – use to provide private and independent access to materials for blind people in VDOC custody.’”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Nor does VADOC guarantee blind people access to their “caregivers.” Mr. Rogers and Mr. Shaw, for example, were separated from their “caregivers” by prison transfers and the pandemic, forcing them to pay other incarcerated people to help them. Mr. McCann’s “caregiver” has a bunk on the opposite side of their housing unit, so every time he needs help, Mr. McCann must try to navigate object-strewn aisles. Accidentally bumping into corrections officers and other incarcerated people along the way has led to physical altercations that have injured Mr. McCann – although Deerfield officials refused to review surveillance video of one such assault when, due to his visual impairment, Mr. McCann could not identify his assailant.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibit covered entities like correctional facilities from excluding people with disabilities from services, activities, or programs. Yet Mr. Shaw was turned away from class when he attempted to sign up for educational programming, and the supervisor of Mr. Shabazz’s pod still refuses to consider his applications for a higher-paid work assignment on the grounds that his blindness poses a “safety risk.” Following his vision loss, VADOC removed Mr. Courtney from his work assignment entirely. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Mr. Hajacos, for his part, was given an ultimatum: he could move to a housing unit where he could keep his job, but lose his accommodations, or he could remain in his housing unit with his accommodations, where he would lose his job.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Perhaps most galling, VADOC has failed to provide medically necessary treatment for the very same visual impairments that it has used as a basis to deny blind incarcerated people equal access to jobs, services and programs. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Mr. Courtney, for example, has struggled since 2016 to receive regular appointments and medical treatment for the keratoconus that he was diagnosed with while in VADOC custody. Without it, his eyesight has deteriorated. Mr. Stravitz, too, was diagnosed with cataracts while in VADOC custody, and since he requires surgery, VADOC refuses to provide him with corrective eyewear. Ten months later, VADOC still had not scheduled – much less performed – the necessary surgery. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'> "It’s unacceptable that the Department of Corrections is refusing to provide critical medical services to those in their custody who have vision impairments,” said disAbility Law Center of Virginia Executive Director Colleen Miller. “The Department violates the law by failing to provide equal access and services to all people in its care.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>By failing to provide blind people who are incarcerated in its custody with equal access to services and programs that it makes available to sighted people, VADOC is violating the ADA, Section 504, the Virginians with Disabilities Act, and the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“These seven individuals and other blind prisoners in the Commonwealth of Virginia are subjected to discrimination that has caused and is causing them real harm, including inability to participate in rehabilitation and serious threats to their personal safety,” said National Federation of the Blind President Mark Riccobono. “This discriminatory and inhumane treatment must stop, and we are determined that it will.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The complaint calls on the court to order VADOC to cease violating the rights of blind incarcerated people in its custody, as well as to award monetary damages to the seven men named as plaintiffs.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'>###<span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>About the ACLU of Virginia</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> The ACLU of Virginia promotes civil liberties and civil rights for everyone in the Commonwealth through public education, litigation, and advocacy with the goal of securing freedom and equality for all. More information at </span></i><a href="http://www.acluva.org"><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>www.acluva.org</span></i></a><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>About Brown, Goldstein & Levy</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> Brown Goldstein & Levy provides the highest quality legal services to a broad range of clients, without sacrificing our deep sense of community and social responsibility. By elevating our clients’ voices and fighting for their rights, we seek to bring about a more just world – sometimes one dispute at a time, sometimes through systemic change. More information at </span></i><a href="http://www.browngold.com"><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>www.browngold.com.</span></i></a><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>About disAbility Law Center of Virginia</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> The disAbility Law Center of Virginia is the federally authorized protection and advocacy organization for Virginians with disabilities. More information at<span style='color:#4471C4'> </span></span></i><a href="https://www.dlcv.org/"><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>www.dlcv.org.</span></i></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>About the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia </span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>NFBV is a nonprofit made up of blind people of all ages, their families and friends. NFBV members and leaders provide advocacy and support to blind and visually impaired Virginians across the commonwealth and work together to promote full participation and integration of blind people in all areas of life, and we serve as an advocate for change when equal access and treatment of the blind is denied. More information at </span></i><a href="https://www.nfbv.org"><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>www.nfbv.org.</span></i></a><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><u><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Basic bios on each plaintiff:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><ul style='margin-top:0in' type=disc><li class=MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst style='margin-left:0in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'>Nacarlo Antonio Courtney</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'> is 31 years old and became blind in prison. He was appointed to be the motivational speaker in his housing unit in 2022. He calls his wife and two children every weekend, who he is looking forward to seeing when he is released in 2023. He hopes to start studying to become a civil rights attorney.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='margin-left:0in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'>William Hajacos</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'> is 48 years old and is both blind and deaf. He loves soccer and hopes to take a graphic design course at Greensville when granted the appropriate accommodations.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='margin-left:0in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'>Michael McCann</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'> is 43 years old and has been blind since he was five years old. He, his mother, sister, brother, and sister-in-law are longstanding members of the National Federation of the Blind. Mr. McCann hopes to take a horticultural course at Deerfield when he is granted the appropriate accommodations.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='margin-left:0in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'>Wilbert Rogers </span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'>is 65 years old. Becoming partially blind in the late 1990s, he has been fully blind for the last 15 years. He learned Braille because another incarcerated blind person taught him, and recited positive quotes to others in his housing unit each morning when he served as his pod’s mentor. His sisters, Brenda and Rita Rogers, are his caretakers at home and support during incarceration.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='margin-left:0in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'>Kevin Muhammad Shabazz</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'> is 35 years old and has been blind since age 17. Mr. Shabazz likes being around people and reading nonfiction when he is able to use assistive technology. He is a father to two daughters who he keeps in touch with as often as he can.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='margin-left:0in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'>Patrick Shaw</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'> is 60 years old and has been in VADOC custody for nearly 35 years. He experienced deteriorating vision for ten years before going completely blind in 2009. He is an honorably discharged army veteran who loves PBS, reading his Bible, calling his mother and sister, and – with the help of his caretaker – listening to rock music on his JP6 tablet, especially Radiohead.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class=MsoListParagraphCxSpLast style='margin-left:0in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'>William Stravitz </span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:106%'>is 57 years old and has rapidly been losing his vision over the last two years. He graduated from the University of Richmond in 1987 with his bachelor’s degree. He has spent several years as a tutor in VADOC custody helping other incarcerated people earn their GEDs, and now works in the prison library.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The full legal complaint document that was filed is attached.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Tracy Soforenko<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>President, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>202 285-4595<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:Tracy.soforenko@gmail.com"><span style='color:#0563C1'>Tracy.soforenko@gmail.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.nfb.org"><span style='color:#0563C1'>www.nfb.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.nfbv.org"><span style='color:#0563C1'>www.nfbv.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>National Federation of the Blind. Live the Life You Want<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>