Nicki Arron Bonner v. Mr. Lewis, Director at Adoc Cpo Crowley Cpo Vega

Nicki Arron Bonner is an inmate at the Arizona State Prison. He is deaf, mute, and suffers from a severe progressive vision loss which results in increasingly narrow tunnel vision. He has difficulty communicating with people who do not know American Sign Language. None of the personnel at the prison know sign language. Bonner has had several counseling sessions and administrative or disciplinary hearings while in prison. He has seen the prison psychologist. He has also received medical treatment, diagnosis, and medicine. In all of these contacts, he has been without the aid of a qualified interpreter.

Bonner claims that his inability to effectively communicate without a qualified interpreter severely inhibited his ability to participate in or benefit from these programs, hearings, or activities. He further alleges that he has made requests to prison officials for the services of a qualified interpreter “a thousand times” without results. Instead, prison authorities attempt to communicate with Bonner primarily through the use of a telecommunication device for the deaf. They also have designated prison inmates to serve as sign language interpreters.

The telecommunication device is…