Ending Criminalization and Incarceration
People of color with disabilities and Deaf people are arrested and incarcerated in the U.S. at disproportionately high rates. But, they have largely been ignored by efforts to end mass incarceration. Activating Change is centering people with disabilities and Deaf people in the movement to end criminalization and mass incarceration.
Racial and Disability Disparities in Our Criminal Legal System
Racism and ableism work together within the American criminal legal system to disproportionally harm people of color with disabilities and Deaf people. The system over polices and over arrests communities of color. At the same time, the United States has criminalized behaviors associated with disabilities. This has resulted in racial and disability disparities in arrests, sentencing, and more.
Disability has been excluded from justice policymaking and advocacy. Without the intentional consideration of disability and race, the solutions to mass incarceration that are being implemented today will continue to fail people with disabilities. There will be two tiers of justice and the disability disparities we see will worsen. There will be two tiers of justice and disparities will worsen.
Our Solutions
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Jail Decarceration
People with disabilities and Deaf people face outsized and unique harms when interacting with the criminal legal system. We are working in the Safety and Justice Challenge to advance disability justice within the three pillars of this initiative: achieving meaningful jail population reduction; addressing racial and ethnic disparities in these systems; and promoting deeper community engagement by governments.
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Integrate a Disability Lens in Criminal Legal System Reform Efforts
There are many organizations across the country driving the movement to end mass incarceration and reform the criminal legal system. Many of them lack an. explicit disability focus. Through campaigns featuring people with disabilities and Deaf people with lived experiences with the criminal legal system, we are generating momentum and commitment within these organizations to center disability in their work. We are fostering dialogue and providing training and guidance to increase their knowledge of the intersection of ableism and racism, integrate disability into their analysis of problems and solutions, increase their accessibility, and build relationships with people with disabilities and disability organizations. By focusing on organizations who are already positioned to affect systemic changes that will transform our criminal legal system, we can have a greater impact the justice issues facing people with disabilities and Deaf people, especially from communities of color.
Ending Incarceration Webinars
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![Overrepresented and Overlooked: People with disabilities and Deaf people in the criminal legal system Part 1 Jan. 10, 2023 - 2 PM ET]()
In this webinar, Activating Change staff provided an overview of disability disparities in jail-impacted communities; discussed how ableism, audism, and racism intersect and drive widespread criminalization of people with disabilities and these disparities; and provided examples of barriers throughout the criminal legal system that lead to people with disabilities and Deaf people experiencing worse outcomes. Our presenters include Liam Esposito, Kaitlin Kall, Supreet Minhas, Nancy Smith, and Olga Trujillo.
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![Overrepresented and Overlooked: People with disabilities and Deaf people in the criminal legal system Part 2 Jan. 31, 2023 - 2 PM ET]()
Part two of this webinar series, our panel discussion featured people of color with disabilities who shared how ableism, audism, and racism have intersected in their lives. Our guest panelists also spoke about how these conditions of marginalization produce outcomes connected to higher rates of arrest and criminalization. Presenters include Olga Trujillo (moderator), Max Barrows, Renee Lopez, and Brandon “BL” Williams.
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![The Mass Incarceration of People with Disabilities and Deaf People Presented December 5, 2023]()
In this webinar, our presenters - Jordan Landry and Kaitlin Kall - will provide an overview of the mass incarceration of people with disabilities; discuss how ableism, audism, and racism intersect resulting in vast disparities; and unpack some of the specific harms and injustices faced by people with disabilities and Deaf people when they encounter the criminal legal system.
