Access to Justice: Disability and Incarceration

About Language

[1] Yolanda Moses, “Is the Term ‘People of Color’ Acceptable in This Day and Age?” SAPIENS, December 7, 2016, https://www.sapiens.org/column/race/people-of-color/.
[2] “Criminal Justice Facts,” The Sentencing Project, accessed May 2019, https://www.sentencingproject.org/criminal-justice-facts.

Executive Summary

[3] Jennifer Bronson, Ph.D., Laura M. Maruschak, and Marcus Berzofsky, DrPH, “Disabilities Among Prison and Jail Inmates, 2011-2012,” Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 249151 (December, 2015): November 2019, https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5500.
[4] Jon’a Meyer and Paul Jesilow, “Research on Bias on Judicial Sentencing,” New Mexico Law Review 26, no.107 (1996): https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1904&context=nmlr.
[5] Stephanie Wykstra, “Bail reform, which could save millions of unconvicted people from jail, explained,” Vox, October 17, 2018, https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/10/17/17955306/bail-reform-criminal-justice-inequality.
[6] Matt Daniels, “The Kim Foxx Effect: How Prosecutions Have Changed in Cook County,” The Marshall Project, October 24, 2019, accessed November 2019, https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/10/24/the-kim-foxx-effect-how-prosecutions-have-changed-in-cook-county.
[7] Samantha Michaels, “Chicago’s Jail is One of the Country’s Biggest Mental Health Care Providers. Here’s a Look Inside,” Mother Jones, January 18, 2019, accessed November 1, 2019, https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/01/chicagos-jail-is-the-one-of-the-countys-biggest-mental-health-care-providers-heres-a-look-inside/.
[8] Bronson, Maruschak, and Berzofsky, “Disabilities Among Prison and Jail Inmates, 2011-2012.”

Background: Learning to Recognize Disability and Developing a Cross-Disability Consciousness

A. Definitions of Disability

[9] “A Guide to Disability Rights Law,” U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, July 2009, https://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm#anchor62335. .
[10] “What is the Definition of Disability under the ADA?” ADA National Network, accessed November 2019, https://adata.org/faq/what-definition-disability-under-ada.
[11] “A Guide to Disability Rights Law,” https://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm#anchor62335. .
[12] “Questions and Answers about the Department of Justice’s Final Rule Implementing the ADA Amendments Act of 2008,” U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, accessed September 2019, https://www.ada.gov/regs2016/adaaa_qa.html.
[13] “A Guide to Disability Rights Law,” https://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm#anchor62335. .
[14] “Olmstead V. LC: History and Current Status, The Olmstead Supreme Court Decision in a Nutshell,” Atlanta Legal Aid Society, accessed November 2019, https://www.olmsteadrights.org/about-olmstead/.
[15] “Olmstead v. L. C.,” Oyez, accessed August 2019, https://www.oyez.org/cases/1998/98-536.
[16]Kevin Martone, Francine Arienti, and Sherry Lerch, “Olmstead at 20: Using the Vision of Olmstead to Decriminalize Mental Illness,” Technical Assistance Collaborative, September 4, 2018, http://www.tacinc.org/media/90807/olmstead-at-twenty_09-04-2018.pdf.
[17] “Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,” Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, accessed September 2019, https://dredf.org/legal-advocacy/laws/section-504-of-the-rehabilitation-act-of-1973/.
[18]“Do I Have to Reapply for Disability After Prison?” Disability Benefits Center, accessed July 2019, https://www.disabilitybenefitscenter.org/faq/reapply-disability-after-prision.
[19]“Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons,” United States Department of Justice, last modified August 6, 2015, accessed November 2019, https://www.justice.gov/crt/civil-rights-institutionalized-persons.

B. Looking at Disability by the Numbers

[20]Kids As Self Advocates and National Youth Leadership Network, “Respectful Disability Language: Here’s What’s Up!” Association of University Centers on Disabilities, 2006, accessed July 2019, http://www.aucd.org/docs/add/sa_summits/Language%20Doc.pdf.
[21]“Nearly 1 in 5 People Have a Disability in the U.S.,” United States Census Bureau, July 25, 2012, accessed September 2019, https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/miscellaneous/cb12-134.html.
[22]Danielle M. Taylor, “Americans with Disabilities: 2014 Household Economic Status,” United States Census Bureau, November 29, 2018, accessed August 2019,https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2018/demo/p70-152.pdf.
[23] Bronson, Maruschak, and Berzofsky, “Disabilities Among Prison and Jail Inmates, 2011-2012.”
[24]Margo Schlanger, “Prisoners with Disabilities,” Reforming Criminal Justice: Punishment, Incarceration, and Release 4, (2017): 295-323, accessed November 2019, https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1114&context=book_chapters.

C. The Roots Are Intertwined: The History of Systemic Segregation

[25] “Disability Impacts All of Us,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last modified September 9, 2019, accessed November 2019, https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html.
[26] Schlanger, “Prisoners with Disabilities,” 295-323.
[27] Martha Ross and Nicole Bateman, “Disability rates among working-age adults are shaped by race, place, and education,” The Brookings Institution, May 15, 2018, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2018/05/15/disability-rates-among-working-age-adults-are-shaped-by-race-place-and-education/.
[28] David Perry, PhD., and Lawrence Carter-Long, 2016, “Media Coverage of Law Enforcement Use of Force and Disability,” Disability and Police Violence White Paper, Ruderman Family Foundation,https://rudermanfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/MediaStudy-PoliceDisability_final-final.pdf.
[29] Amani M. Nuru-Jeter, PhD., Roland Thorpe, Jr., PhD., and Esme Fuller Thompson, PhD., “Black-White Differences in Self-Reported Disability Outcomes in the U.S.: Early Childhood to Older Adulthood,” Public Health Reports 126, no. 6 (2011): accessed October 2019, doi:10.1177/003335491112600609.
[30] “Criminal Justice Fact Sheet,” National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, accessed September 2019, https://www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/.
[31] “Criminal Justice Facts,” The Sentencing Project.
[32] Rebecca Vallas, “Disabled Behind Bars: The Mass Incarceration of People With Disabilities in America’s Jails and Prisons,” Center for American Progress, July 18, 2016, accessed November 2019, https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/criminal-justice/reports/2016/07/18/141447/disabled-behind-bars/.
[33] “Physiological and Psychological Impact of Racism and Discrimination for African Americans,” American Psychological Association, accessed November 2019, https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/racism-stress.
[34] Leila Morsy and Richard Rothstein, “Mass incarceration and children’s outcomes,” Economic Policy Institute, December 15, 2016, accessed November 2019, https://www.epi.org/publication/mass-incarceration-and-childrens-outcomes/.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Kristina Kopic and Taylor Nuevelle, Criminalization of Children with Non-Apparent Disabilities, Ruderman Podcast, 2017, podcast, https://rudermanfoundation.org/white_papers/criminalization-of-children-with-non-apparent-disabilities/.

E. The Medical and Social Models of Disability

[37] R. Cigman, “Inclusion,” International Encyclopedia of Education, 3^rd ed. (Elsevier Science, 2010) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780080448947005881.
[38] Michael Oliver, The Politics of Disablement (London: Macmillan Education Ltd, 1990) https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-349-20895-1.
[39] “Social model of disability,” Scope,accessed November 2019, https://www.scope.org.uk/about-us/social-model-of-disability/.

F. The Criminal Justice System and Disability Clash

[40] Elliot Oberholzer, “Police, Courts, Jail, and Prisons all Fail Disabled People,” Prison Policy Initiative, August 23, 2017, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/08/23/disability/.
[41] See, for example, https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/06/us/jail-health-care-ccs-invs/.
[42] Oberholzer, “Police, Courts, Jail, and Prisons all Fail Disabled People.” .
[43] Schlanger, “Prisoners with Disabilities.”
[44] “About the Cook County Department of Corrections,” Cook County Sheriff’s Office, accessed November 2019, https://www.cookcountysheriff.org/cook-county-department-of-corrections/.

Disability and the Sequential Intercept Model

What is the SIM?

[45] “The Sequential Intercept Model,”Policy Research Associates, accessed November 2019, https://www.prainc.com/sim/.

Point of Contact One: Law Enforcement

[46] Laura Usher et al., “Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Programs: A Best Practice Guide for Transforming Community Responses to Mental Health Crises,” CIT International, August 2019, http://www.citinternational.org/resources/Documents/CIT%20guide%20desktop%20printing%202019_08_16%20(1).pdf.
[47] Perry and Carter-Long,“Media Coverage of Law Enforcement Use of Force and Disability.”

Point of Contact Four: Re-entry

[48] Shannon Heffernan, “Illinois DOC Keeps People With Disabilities In Prison Beyond Release Dates,” WBEZ, May 16, 2018, https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/illinois-doc-keeps-people-with-disabilities-in-prison-beyond-release-dates/.

On-the-Record Stories

Patrick Pursley

[49] Sarah Liebowitz et al., “A Way Forward: Diverting People with Mental Illness from Inhumane and Expensive Jails into Community-Based Treatment that Works,” ACLU of Southern California and Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, July 2014, https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/media/publications/A%20Way%20Forward%20-%20Diverting%20People%20with%20Mental%20Illness%20from%20Inhumane%20and%20Expensive%20Jails%20into%20Community-Based%20Treatment%20that%20Works%2C%20ACLU%20%26%20Bazelon%2C%202014.pdf.
[50] Ivan Moreno, “Rockford man who spent 23 years in prison acquitted after ballistics retest proves innocence,” Chicago Tribune, January 16, 2019, https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-rockford-man-freed-after-ballistics-retest–20190116-story.html.

Finding a Solution: Our Recommendations

Recommendation 1

[51] Rebecca Vallas and Shawn Fremstad, “Disability Is a Cause and Consequence of Poverty,” Talk Poverty, September 19, 2014, https://talkpoverty.org/2014/09/19/disability-cause-consequence-poverty/.

Recommendation 2

[52] Rebecca Neusteter et al., “Gatekeepers: The Role of Police in Ending Mass Incarceration,” Vera Institute of Justice, August 2019, https://www.vera.org/downloads/publications/gatekeepers-police-and-mass-incarceration.pdf.
[53] Sandra Harrell, Allison Hastings, and Margaret diZerega, “Making PREA and Victim Services Accessible for Incarcerated People With Disabilities,” Vera Institute of Justice, October 2015, https://www.vera.org/publications/making-prea-and-victim-services-accessible-for-incarcerated-people-with-disabilities-an-implementation-guide-for-practitioners-on-the-adult-and-juvenile-standards.

Recommendation 3

[54] Rebecca Vallas, “Disabled Behind Bars: The Mass Incarceration of People With Disabilities in America’s Jails and Prisons.”
[55] Anna Guy, “Locked up and Locked Down: Segregation of Inmates with Mental Illness,” Avid Prison Project, September 8, 2016, http://www.avidprisonproject.org/assets/locked-up-and-locked-down—-avid-prison-project.pdf.
[56] “Impacted People, Community Groups, Policy Organizations and Elected Officials Call for Illinois Supreme Court Rule,” Coalition to End Money Bond, March 15, 2019, https://endmoneybond.org/2019/07/02/impacted-people-community-groups-policy-organizations-and-elected-officials-call-for-illinois-supreme-court-rule/.
[57] Willis R. Arnold, “Setting Precedent, A Federal Court Rules Jail Must Give Inmate Addiction Treatment,” National Public Radio, May 4, 2019, accessed July 12, 2019, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/05/04/719805278/setting-precedent-a-federal-court-rules-jail-must-give-inmate-addiction-treatmen.

Recommendation 4

[58] Israel Sykes et al., “Reflections on an Effort to Develop a Cross-Disability Consciousness Inclusive of People with Psychiatric Disabilities,” Disability Studies Quarterly 27, no. 4 (2007),http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/49/49.
[59] Ibid.
[60] “American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities,” Historical Society of Pennsylvania, accessed November 2019, http://digitalhistory.hsp.org/pafrm/org/american-coalition-citizens-disabilities-accd.
[61] Dr. Frank Bowe, “Article by Dr. Frank Bowe on the Disability Rights Movement,” FORUM, July 1978, http://digitalhistory.hsp.org/pafrm/doc/article-disability-rights-movement-july-1978.

Recommendation 5

[62] Claudia Center, “How Can Police Stop Shooting People With Disabilities,” ACLU, March 20, 2015, accessed July 12, 2019, https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/how-police-can-stop-shooting-people-disabilities.
[63] Bronson, Maruschak, and Berzofsky, “Disabilities Among Prison and Jail Inmates, 2011-2012.”
[64] “Sheriff’s Daily Report,” Business Intelligence Unit of theCook County Sheriff’s Office, August 15, 2019,https://www.cookcountysheriff.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/CCSO_BIU_CommunicationsCCDOC_v1_2019_08_15.pdf.
[65] Ibid.
[66] “Calling 911 and Talking with Police,” National Alliance on Mental Illness, accessed March 15, 2019, https://www.nami.org/find-support/family-members-and-caregivers/calling-911-and-talking-with-police.

Recommendation 7

[67] Alysson Gatens, “Law Enforcement Response to Mental Health Crisis Incidents: A Survey of Illinois Police and Sheriff’s Departments,” Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, December 14, 2018, accessed August 15, 2019, http://www.icjia.state.il.us/articles/law-enforcement-response-to-mental-health-crisis-incidents-a-survey-of-illinois-police-and-sheriff-s-departments.
[68] Crisis Assistance helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS),” White Bird Clinic, accessed November 2019, https://whitebirdclinic.org/cahoots/.

Recommendation 8

[69] Luke Bo’sher et al., “Accessibility of America’s Housing Stock: Analysis of the 2011 American Housing Survey (AHS),” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Research, March 19, 2015, https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/accessibility-america-housingStock.pdf. .
[70] Madeleine Hamlin et al., “No Place To Call Home: Navigating Reentry Housing in Chicago,”Roosevelt University Policy Research Collaborative and BPI For a Just Society, September 2018, https://www.bpichicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/No-Place-To-Call-Home.pdf.
[71] Ibid.
[72] King Harris, Victoria Morena, and Angela Rudolph, “Re-Entry Housing Issues in Illinois, The Current Situation, Challenges, and Possible Solutions,” Illinois Justice Project and Metropolitan Planning Council, accessed November 2019, https://www.metroplanning.org/uploads/cms/documents/re-entry_housing_issues_report_final.pdf.
[73] Ibid.
[74] Brent Adams, “Make a final push for fair housing for ex-offenders,” Chicago Sun-Times, August 21, 2019, https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/8/21/20813990/housing-discrimination-ex-offenders-cook-county-ordinance-landlord-op-ed.
[75] “FUSE,” CSH, accessed November 5, 2019, https://www.csh.org/fuse/.

Conclusion

[76] Taylor, “Americans with Disabilities: 2014 Household Economic Status.”
[77] Bronson, Maruschak, and Berzofsky, “Disabilities Among Prison and Jail Inmates, 2011-2012.”