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sunlit_musicHi everyone,
Here's a must see article - it's on the abuse and discrimination faced by prison inmates with intellectual disabilities:
http://justiceaction.org.au/cms/mental-health-copy-of-main-menu-403/137-beyond-bars-10
People with an intellectual disability are also often very vulnerable inside NSW prisons. Understanding the rules of prisons (the spoken and the unspoken rules) can be very hard for anybody who is not familiar with the prison system, and is often exceptionally difficult for people who have an intellectual disability. Not following the official rules can get prisoners with an intellectual disability into trouble with custodial staff, and not following the prison code, and the unofficial rules can get prisoners with an intellectual disability into trouble with other inmates.
Although there are some units specifically for people with intellectual disability within the NSW prison system, the majority of prisoners with an intellectual disability are not placed in these units. This is partially because these units are small, partially because intellectual disability is quite hard to screen for, and partially because it is often not identified by prison authorities when people are received into custody.
People with intellectual disabilities face hurdles of intellectual disability, on top of the dilemmas and dangers of being in prison.
While I believe that people who commit crimes should receive the penalties appropriate for their crimes (whether it's fines, community service, jail), that doesn't mean that their human rights should be ignored. We're all entitled to having our human rights respected, regardless of who we are or what we've done.
Trampling over human rights of others can lead to trampling of more people's human rights (including the rights of innocent people). I think if a society protects the rights of criminals, they're more likely to respect the rights of everyone else.
Here's a must see article - it's on the abuse and discrimination faced by prison inmates with intellectual disabilities:
http://justiceaction.org.au/cms/mental-health-copy-of-main-menu-403/137-beyond-bars-10
People with an intellectual disability are also often very vulnerable inside NSW prisons. Understanding the rules of prisons (the spoken and the unspoken rules) can be very hard for anybody who is not familiar with the prison system, and is often exceptionally difficult for people who have an intellectual disability. Not following the official rules can get prisoners with an intellectual disability into trouble with custodial staff, and not following the prison code, and the unofficial rules can get prisoners with an intellectual disability into trouble with other inmates.
Although there are some units specifically for people with intellectual disability within the NSW prison system, the majority of prisoners with an intellectual disability are not placed in these units. This is partially because these units are small, partially because intellectual disability is quite hard to screen for, and partially because it is often not identified by prison authorities when people are received into custody.
People with intellectual disabilities face hurdles of intellectual disability, on top of the dilemmas and dangers of being in prison.
While I believe that people who commit crimes should receive the penalties appropriate for their crimes (whether it's fines, community service, jail), that doesn't mean that their human rights should be ignored. We're all entitled to having our human rights respected, regardless of who we are or what we've done.
Trampling over human rights of others can lead to trampling of more people's human rights (including the rights of innocent people). I think if a society protects the rights of criminals, they're more likely to respect the rights of everyone else.
