Disability, discrimination and the criminal justice system

Abstract

This paper examines the experience of disabled people in the British criminal justice system, paying particular attention to people with learning difficulties. Two aspects of the criminal justice system are discussed. The first concerns the nature of specific legislation which impacts on disabled people. The second refers to recent cases where there has been a miscarriage of justice. Several of the individuals wrongly convicted in such cases have had learning difficulties. The paper argues that disabled people experience discrimination within the criminal justice system, Tackling this discrimination must form part of the agenda for civil rights for disabled people.

Learning disabilities and criminal justice: custody sergeants’ perceptions of alleged offenders with learning disabilities

“…In the aforementioned statement, the sergeant expresses a conflict of interest, whereby addressing a suspect’s welfare might potentially compromise the investigating officers in their work, especially in their attempts ‘to win the psychological war over the suspects’Chappell (1994: 28). The aforementioned quote also refers indirectly to the sergeant’s professional identity, who defines their role in terms of facilitating investigations and assuring the value of any evidence that is gathered through interactions between police officers and the alleged offender.…”

“…Chappell (1994) lists a number of cases where solicitors too have failed in identifying a learning disability. Hence, it appears doubtful to call the involvement of a solicitor a safety net.…”

“…When people with learning disabilities come to the attention of criminal justice authorities, responses tend to be extreme with the offender being either acquitted or given the maximum punishment with no or little chance of rehabilitation (Cockram 2005). In addition, Chappell (1994) highlights that people with a learning disability are at greater risk of being affected by miscarriages of justice, mainly through being wrongly convicted. Furthermore, it has been stressed that although legislative changes demonstrate greater formal and official awareness of alleged offenders with special needs, a great number of them still remain undetected when engaging with the criminal justice system and may, therefore, be denied access to support and appropriate treatment (Talbot 2008).…”

Prenatal Genetic Technologies and the Social Control of Pregnant Women: A Review of the Key Issues

“…Although reproductive genetics focuses attention on attempts to contain if not eliminate bodily diversity and to standardize an ideal body, genetic notions place disabled bodies in desired contexts-out of work (Abberley, 1996;Barnes, 1992;Oliver & Barnes 1998;Pinder, 1995), in care (Chappell, 1994;Drake, 1996), having behavioral therapy (Durand, 2001), dependent on others (Morris, 1991;Keith and Morris, 1995) and not reproductive (Finger, 1990;Kallianes & Rubenfeld, 1997), and physically or verbally resistant (David & Watson, 2002)-and exclude them from other contexts-in gainful employment, living autonomously, and in the community.…”