Prison life in the U.S. is tough. But when you have an intellectual, developmental, or cognitive disability – as hundreds of thousands of Americans behind bars do – it can make you especially vulnerable.
In March, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the federal agency tasked with gathering data on crime and the criminal justice system, published a report that found roughly two in five – 38% – of the 24,848 incarcerated people they surveyed across 364 prisons reported a disability of some sort. Across the entire incarcerated population, that translates to some 760,000 people with disabilities living behind bars.
