|
thanks for forwarding this on, paul.
this is a phenomenon of capitalist economy and culture, and its criminal
justice systems. in australia developmentally disabled people probably
represent closer to 20% of the prison population and our gaols are filling
up and new ones being built. the prison system absorbs an increasing amount
of public expenditure that could be available for the sensible sort of
recommendations made by Dr Petersilia.
we also have a system that ensures indigeneous people are hopelessly
overrepresented and in some parts of the country, under mandatory
sentencing laws, the effect is that they are directly targetted for
incarceration.
the policy initiatives recommended here are important as immediate
responses. beyond this, however, i'd make socioeconomic and cultural
*conditions* of exclusion and alienation my starting.
mike
>Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 08:20:13 -0700 (PDT)
>X-MIME-Autoconverted: from QUOTED-PRINTABLE to 8bit by naga.mailbase.ac.uk
id QAA14602
>Subject: [berkeley-band] Study: Criminal Offenders with Disabilities (fwd)
>From: PAUL KENNETH LONGMORE <[log in to unmask]>
>To: disability-research <[log in to unmask]>
>X-Unsub: To leave, send text 'leave disability-research' to
[log in to unmask]
>Reply-To: PAUL KENNETH LONGMORE <[log in to unmask]>
>Sender: [log in to unmask]
>
>The University of California has just published, and issued a press release,
>on a study by Dr. Joan Petersilia, entitled "Doing Justice? Criminal
>Offenders with Developmental Disabilities." The press release is reprinted
>below:
>
>UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS RELEASE
>
>EQUAL JUSTICE ELUDES PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES,
>UC IRVINE RESEARCHER FINDS
>
>State Lacks Programs, Policies to Ensure Legal Access for
>Developmentally Disabled
>
>Irvine, Calif., Aug. 2, 2000 —Among California’s burgeoning prison
>population, an increasingly disproportionate number of people with
>developmental disabilities including mental retardation, cerebral palsy and
>autism is finding equal justice often is out of reach, according to UC
>Irvine researcher Joan Petersilia.
>
>Their rates of conviction and incarceration are higher than those of people
>without developmental disabilities; they are less likely to strike a plea
>bargain, to be granted probation or released on parole; and they’re often
>abused in prison. What’s more, police, courts and prisons are ill-equipped
>to handle them, and state regional centers that provide services for
>developmentally disabled people lack resources and training to deal with
>criminal offenders. As a result, those who run afoul of the law are likely
>to fall through the cracks of the criminal justice system.
>“They are at a disadvantage at every step of the criminal justice system,”
>says Petersilia, who is a professor of criminology, law and society in UCI’s
>School of Social Ecology. Her research report, “Doing Justice? Criminal
>Offenders With Developmental Disabilities,” is being released this week by
>the University of California’s California Policy Research Center. It
>summarizes Petersilia’s analysis of existing data and programs—both
>“woefully inadequate,” she says—for criminal offenders with developmental
>disabilities.
>
>While people with developmental disabilities comprise no more than 3 percent
>of the general population, they represent up to 10 percent of prisoners,
>according to Petersilia. Most of those arrested are mildly retarded, with
>an I.Q. between 50 and 70. Their disability often is not recognized by
>arresting officers; thus, they receive no special accommodation or
>assistance.
>
>“Without special accommodations—such as legal advocates to help them
>understand police and court procedures—people with developmental
>disabilities are unable to access the justice system. Effectively, they
>receive harsher penalties,” Petersilia says.
>
>Compounding the problem is a lack of clearly defined oversight for services
>for mentally retarded people charged with crimes.
>“There is no state agency that assumes this responsibility,” Petersilia
>says. “It is nobody’s problem, nobody’s fault.”
>She notes that several of the state’s regional developmental services
>centers—notably South Central Los Angeles, Valley Mountain (Stockton), Kern
>and San Diego—have initiated training programs and policies to assist those
>arrested. But receiving services from the Department of Developmental
>Services is voluntary, and Petersilia estimates that just 22 percent of
>eligible mentally retarded people avail themselves of the regional center
>services.
>
>Real change in the way people with developmental disabilities are treated in
>the criminal justice system must begin with state leadership, Petersilia
>emphasizes. Her recommendations include the following:
>
>· Training advocates in both mental retardation and criminal justice to
>assist developmentally disabled people before they’re questioned by police.
>· Enhancing the authority and funding of regional centers to deal with
>mentally retarded offenders.
>· Educating mentally retarded people, their families and care providers to
>help them avoid criminal activities and protect themselves from criminal
>victimization.
>· Providing sentencing options appropriate for mentally retarded people,
>including community-based rehabilitation programs.
>
>Petersilia is co-chair of the National Research Council’s Law and Justice
>Committee and former president of the American Society of Criminology.
>
>A summary of her research findings is available on the California Policy
>Research Center Website at http://www.ucop.edu/cprc/PetersiliaMR-DD.html
>or http://www.ucop.edu/cprc/Petersilia-mr-dd.pdf
>
>You can contact Joan at:
>Joan Petersilia, Ph.D.
>Professor of Criminology
>School of Social Ecology
>University of California, Irvine
>Irvine, California 92697-7080
>
>(949) 824 6438
>[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------<e|-
>Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds!
>1. Fill in the brief application
>2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds
>3. Get rates as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR
>http://click.egroups.com/1/6630/3/_/434651/_/965279075/
>--------------------------------------------------------------------|e>-
>
>berkeley=band is the East Bay arm of the
>San Francisco Bay Area Network on Disability
>
>
>
>
*********************
mike clear
critical social science
university of western sydney
bourke st richmond, nsw 2753
australia
phone: 61+2+45701913
fax: 61+2+45701531
TTY 61+2+ 4570 1616
TTY 61+2+ 4570 1900
email:[log in to unmask]
http://www.hawkesbury.uws.edu.au/research/groups/CSSRG/
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|
