How many death row prisoners are disabled?
May 9, 2017 7:33 AM Subscribe
Kenneth Williams was the fourth person executed by the state of Arkansas this April. "Three experts examined Williams and determined that he met the criteria for the definition of intellectual disability, which should have protected him, but the Supreme Court declined to stop his execution." David M. Perry writes for PSMag: What percentage of people sentenced to die in the United States are disabled? Our best guess: all of them.
This seems very suggestive about crime in general, honestly. I wonder how many blue collar crime prisoners generally are disabled? I bet it's lots there too, and I bet it's the same set of things - people who had untreated disabilities as children or who suffered disabling injury or trauma at some point.
The other thing is, I think this country really has gone basically Nazi. No one could stop that governor from executing people in a rush, short of staging a physical coup against him, and yet what kind of place does that? It's illuminating. This really must be what early stage fascist takeovers in history were like - where terrible, terrible things happen and because of the blockage of political channels, no one can stop them unless there is a literal, physical uprising, and people are not ready for that, and then it's too late. If there was ever a "first they came for...", it was the murders of those prisoners. First they came for people who were socially despised and we just let it happen.
posted by Frowner at 9:26 AM on May 9, 2017 [8 favorites]
The other thing is, I think this country really has gone basically Nazi. No one could stop that governor from executing people in a rush, short of staging a physical coup against him, and yet what kind of place does that? It's illuminating. This really must be what early stage fascist takeovers in history were like - where terrible, terrible things happen and because of the blockage of political channels, no one can stop them unless there is a literal, physical uprising, and people are not ready for that, and then it's too late. If there was ever a "first they came for...", it was the murders of those prisoners. First they came for people who were socially despised and we just let it happen.
posted by Frowner at 9:26 AM on May 9, 2017 [8 favorites]
As an attorney in the disability field, absolutely nothing in this article surprised me. While I have met people with IQ scores in the 60s who could absolutely understand the difference between right and wrong, most of my clients are in the average range and don't understand what's going on at their disability hearings, even with me explaining beforehand what's going on and the judge actively trying to keep things on their level throughout. There is no way that most people, let alone folks with cognitive disabilities or attention deficit issues is going to follow along in a criminal court proceeding. I'd go farther and say that anyone who has improperly medicated chronic pain or diabetes isn't either.
While I get the conflicts between disability advocacy and criminal defense, I loathe the "we are just like everyone else" approach to difference. Abled people aren't better than the rest of us, they're not more valid, and there is no default way to exist in the world. The idea that we should all strive to "overcome" and be exactly like abled people is insulting, and it others those of us who can't do that, for whatever reason. The "overcoming" frame is basically a reinforcement of abled norms.
posted by bile and syntax at 9:50 AM on May 9, 2017 [16 favorites]
While I get the conflicts between disability advocacy and criminal defense, I loathe the "we are just like everyone else" approach to difference. Abled people aren't better than the rest of us, they're not more valid, and there is no default way to exist in the world. The idea that we should all strive to "overcome" and be exactly like abled people is insulting, and it others those of us who can't do that, for whatever reason. The "overcoming" frame is basically a reinforcement of abled norms.
posted by bile and syntax at 9:50 AM on May 9, 2017 [16 favorites]
Mr. Roquette is one of the smartest people at fixing stuff I know. He has some sort of learning disability. Probably dyslexia. I think his siblings may suffer similar things. He isn't in touch with his family because he was treated very badly by them. One brother has been arrested a few times. His sisters did well. One is an architect.
He's very clear on what's right and wrong, but anything too sophisticated is hard on him.
I help him with his paperwork stuff. Sometimes it's hard because other people try and take advantage of his good nature. He's kind and helpful to a fault.
The wrong company probably is what ruined the one brother's life.
By the way, another person I knew who had rather similar disabilities is someone I helped get through the first part of community college. She really made something of herself. She became a college instructor.
I feel a certain sense of pride in having helped her to get there.
A disabled person can do well. It doesn't HAVE to mean a life in the margins, or a life of crime, but a person like that needs more help and needs both formal and informal social support.
It means people stepping up and helping.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 12:09 PM on May 9, 2017 [3 favorites]
He's very clear on what's right and wrong, but anything too sophisticated is hard on him.
I help him with his paperwork stuff. Sometimes it's hard because other people try and take advantage of his good nature. He's kind and helpful to a fault.
The wrong company probably is what ruined the one brother's life.
By the way, another person I knew who had rather similar disabilities is someone I helped get through the first part of community college. She really made something of herself. She became a college instructor.
I feel a certain sense of pride in having helped her to get there.
A disabled person can do well. It doesn't HAVE to mean a life in the margins, or a life of crime, but a person like that needs more help and needs both formal and informal social support.
It means people stepping up and helping.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 12:09 PM on May 9, 2017 [3 favorites]
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posted by davejay at 8:29 AM on May 9, 2017 [4 favorites]