Disability Rights and the Criminal Legal System

The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.

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What's at Stake

The ACLU supports reducing the use of the United States’ jail and prison systems to warehouse people with mental and physical disabilities. We support efforts within the criminal legal system to identify and work with a person’s disability in rehabilitative efforts.

The ACLU supports reducing the use of the United States’ jail and prison systems to warehouse people with mental and physical disabilities. We support efforts within the criminal legal system to identify and work with a person’s disability in rehabilitative efforts.

a hand holding an American flag and a rainbow flag in front of the supreme court building
Individuals at a criminal justice and disability rights demonstration, with signs reading "Respect Disability Rights."

Credit: Damian Dovarganes, Jacquelyn Martin / AP Photos

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