PORTLAND — A federal jury has awarded $400,000 to a deaf man who was a former Oregon inmate after finding that state corrections officials violated his civil rights by failing to make proper accommodations for his disability.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that the jury reached the verdict Thursday in favor of David VanValkenburg.
VanValkenburg said the state didn’t provide him with a qualified interpreter for prison medical appointments and denied him a prison job and a class to help him prepare for his release.
Betty Bernt, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Corrections, said the state is reviewing its options for an appeal.
Jurors weren’t told that VanValkenburg was serving a sentence for sodomy and sexual abuse convictions involving crimes against a 10-year-old boy.
