Abstract
The following article is an exploration of the intersection between special education—namely, the long-repudiated practice of removing children with moderate disabilities from general education classrooms and placing them into “self-contained” classrooms away from their peers—and the involvement of those children in the criminal legal system. The article analyzes the parallels between the “othering” effect of segregating children with disabilities in schools, and the eventual segregation from their communities that they face in juvenile detention facilities. In a juvenile justice system where a disproportionate number of its children have been diagnosed with some form of intellectual or behavioral disability, this article implores the reader to ask whether the public education system is complicit in setting children with disabilities on a path to incarceration, and what changes in attitude and policy will be required to change this. Finally, this article provides a stark reminder of the fact that the problems which face children with disabilities are only compounded by issues of race and class, to which legal counsel and the public education system must not turn a blind eye.
Recommended Citation
Madison Neale,
Breaking Barriers: Examining the Impact of Special Education Services on Juvenile Justice Involvement,
27
Rich. Pub. Int. L. Rev.
223
(2024).
Available at:
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/pilr/vol27/iss2/8