The problem facing the deaf community is the injustice they face while in the criminal justice system. A person who is deaf or hard of hearing has at least 50% hearing loss in one ear (Ridgeway 2009), and some may be able to read lips. However, only half of all spoken sounds can be translated into American Sign Language (Ridgeway 2009), making it difficult for deaf people to communicate without using sign language. Since English and sign language are not the same language, many deaf people are illiterate due to a lack of schooling beyond a certain age. Even those who attended school until age 18 or older are often functionally illiterate, reading at a second-grade level or below, and having unintelligible speech (Vernon 2010). Additionally, there is a segment of the deaf population that is incompetent or minimally competent in terms of understanding the legal process; these individuals are defined as suffering from primitive personality disorder (PPD). For all of these reasons, some members of the deaf community are considered to suffer from linguistic incompetence, meaning that a defendant is found incompetent to stand trial because they do not understand the charges against them (Vernon 2005) . Deaf and hard of hearing people find themselves with few resources when they enter the criminal justice system. For example, because law enforcement is unfamiliar with deaf people and their culture (Vernon 2005), law enforcement often arrests deaf people like everyone else with their hands behind their backs, whereas if the only way for deaf people to communicate is with their hands, the police have taken away this communication, a fundamental human right. Police officers are often not trained in sign language; so they c...... middle of paper ......system on deaf culture. There are many things wrong with the criminal justice system and the way it treats deaf people, but as a society we can take the first step by learning about our neighbors, friends, relatives and strangers in the community deaf. We can learn about their culture and collaborate with them in the fight for justice. Works Cited Lewis, T. (2013). Injustice of telecommunications of deaf prisoners. Retrieved from http://www.behearddc.org/blogs-a-vlogs/74-first-blog.html Ridgeway, J. (2009). The secret world of deaf prisoners. Retrieved from http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/secret-world-deaf-prisoners-0Vernon, M and Miller, KR (2005). Barriers faced by deaf people in the criminal justice system. American Annals of the Deaf, Volume 150(3), 283-291. Vernon, M. (2010). The horror of being deaf and in prison. American Annals of the Deaf, Volume 155(3), 311-321.