About Decriminalize Developmental Disabilities
We are people, government employees, university researchers and professors, psychologists, law enforcement officers, attorneys, and authors.
We stand for the reform of injustices in the criminal justice system with regard to the vulnerable population of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Currently, the criminal justice system makes little or no attempt to understand this population or to recognize their unique needs, supports and challenges. Criminal prosecutions of these individuals often lead to disastrous consequences for children and their families without any benefit to the public.
Our goal is to make changes that will save these individuals from the unnecessary cruelty the criminal justice system is putting them through. Implementing this goal will require educating legislators, prosecutors and judges about this population and their need to be understood, rather than prosecuted, by the legal system. Our mission is to ensure equal access to justice, ADA accommodations and effective education and treatment for defendants with I/DD who are involved with the criminal justice system.