Category:health
The Americans with Disabilities Act and Private Prisons
It is no secret that a person trying to meet their needs while incarcerated faces a daunting endeavor. However, these challenges are further complicated for someone living with a disability while held in a private prison. State and local facilities are no strangers to allegations of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as evidenced by a recent class action against the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ) and Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). An Illinois disability protection and advocacy agency called Equip for Equality brought an action alleging that the IDJJ and IDOC “failed to take meaningful steps to address the lack of special education services and high school education despite being legally obligated to follow state and federal laws.” While such litigation offers a narrow means of disability justice, this path is further narrowed when filing an ADA action against a private correctional facility. Private prisons, particularly with respect to ADA compliance, should be held to the same standards and means of accountability as public facilities.
How America’s Drinking Water Crisis Impacts Chicagoans
The movement to remove and replace lead pipes is nothing new in the United States. For decades, parts of the country have been working to get rid of lead pipes and replace them with alternatives that are much safer for human health. Progress, however, has generally been slow and lead pipes remain widely in use in many American cities. Earlier this month, President Biden announced the final deadline as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, giving the whole country ten years to expedite the process of removing and replacing all lead pipes.