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Disabilities In Prisons

1005 Words5 Pages

The stigma and the detriments of being mentally disabled in the United States are rarely discussed amongst politicians. Mental health is seen as a taboo topic, which once opened all chaos shall be released. It is because of local, state, and federal politicians lack of courage to tackle this chaotic issue that the continued unfair treatment of mentally disable people is continued. This ignorance of politicians violates a principle that should never be violated, that a human’s dignity should never be ignored no matter the circumstance. Mental health is a can of worms that needs to be opened. Mental health is too often overlooked causing the members that fall under the umbrella of having a mental disability to be treated with injustice. One of the injustices being sent to prison instead of getting the help they deserve. Discrimination and mistreatment of Americans with disabilities in the prison system has a long lasting detrimental effect despite the efforts made by the American with Disabilities …show more content…

Changes need to be made to this system so the just and fair treatment of these people can be established. Closures of state funded psychiatric hospitals should be ceased. There is strong correlation between the closures of these hospitals to the intake rate of mentally disabled persons in prisons. The hospitals are established with one goal in mind: to rehabilitate and facilitate those in society who are mentally disabled. The criminal justice system was not established with this goal in mind. The criminal justice system has the goal to detain violent threats to society. In a prison setting the disabled person is not getting the proper medication they deserve to help ease their condition. If the inmates received and took their proper medication the prisons would not be dealing with high spending rates to maintain the environment of the

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