People with disabilities are detained pretrial and incarcerated at higher rates than other groups, according to a new package of reports. And the percentage of people in jail with mental health disabilities continues to rise despite improvements to local justice systems, like bail reform, faster criminal case processing, and diversion courts.
Access Living, Activating Change, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and the Center for Racial and Disability Justice at Northwestern University have published a series of reports, with support from MacArthur, examining the overrepresentation of disabled people in local justice systems. These new reports highlight how the criminal justice system often fails to meet the needs of people with disabilities, and it offers opportunities to make the justice system more fair and more accessible.
Read the reports on the Safety and Justice Challenge website:
- Expecting Difference: Reorienting Disability Strategy for Jail Decarceration
(from Access Living) - Overrepresentation of People with Disabilities and Deaf People in Local Criminal Justice Systems
(from Activating Change) - Reducing Arrest and Jailing of People with Mental Health Disabilities, Including Those with Intersectional Identities
(from Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law) - An Intersectional Approach to Advocacy on Prison and Jail Conditions
(from Center for Racial and Disability Justice)
