Essay on "Criminal Justice Issues ADA"

Essay 4 pages (1296 words) Sources: 4

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Criminal Justice Issues

ADA and Criminal Justice Agencies - in the United States, the 1990 American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a huge step forward in Civil and Individual Rights that protects against discrimination and requires access to all public organizations. To broaden this, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) includes a major list of life activities and enhances the requirements for accessibility. Political and social changes after the Americans With Disabilities and other political changes have allowed people with differences to be more apparent in society as well as taking a more interactive role in all phases of society. Individuals in wheelchairs or with prosthesis interact with sight or hearing impaired individuals, and integrate with people of all walks of life in public and private buildings. The political and social structure -- requiring that these individuals have full access to all of society's basic standards, also result in the curriculum change necessary to both understand and embrace those differences within the school system (O'Brien 2004).

Broadly defined, an individual has a disability if they have something physical or mental that prevents them from engaging in a major activity that most people take for granted. The law already addresses equal employment opportunities, (Title 1 of the ADA), but other parts of the ADA are more focused to what is known as "reasonable accommodation." This means that if an individual is otherwise qualified for a position, their disability, or impairment, must not be a factor in being hired, promoted, or otherwise actualized within the position. For criminal justice, just as for other businesses, this translates into making reasonable accommodations -- modifying facilities, schedules, equipment or policies. However, and this is key, providing these accommodations is not required by law if it causes the organization undue hardship, which could be budgetary, logistical, or organizational. if, for instance, a building has 500 employees, 1 of whom qualified under the ADA. This employee needs a special and unique doorway to get into their particular office. This is a reasonable accommodation that should be accomplished without due hardship or budgetary issues. However, if that same employee required not only one door, but a special elevator, transportation, a schedule that meant they could not perform duties as needed by the public, and equipment that would cost several hundred thousand dollars, it is likely this would not fall under the ADA (Russell, 1992). The key is reasonable and the law is meant to enhance, not detract from the performance of a particular job. It is also designed to protect individuals who have unique skills from being excluded because of their disability.

For the criminal justice profession, ADA allows individuals with disabilities who are interested in the field to have a way to contribute their expertise to society and, also important, to become more visible. This visibility is quite important -- it allows children and adults to understand and interact with persons who may have a disability, but are otherwise completely free to perform important work; the more visible and enveloping society is about making accommodations, the more everyone sees that society is diverse, and productive, and the more a role model persons with disabilities can be. For example, in certain geographic areas, people may not be exposed to individuals who must use a wheel chair. Seeing that minor accommodations are all that are necessary to allow these individuals to perform duties, manage, in fact, do anything anyone else could do within the business or public-service world only enhances the very purpose of the ADA (Enforcing the ADA, 2000).

REFERENCES

Enforcing the ADA. (July 2000). U.S. Department of Justice -- Civil Rights Division.

Cited in:

http://www.ada.gov/pubs/10thrpt.htm

O'Brien, R., ed. Voices from the Edge: Narratives about the Americans with Disabilities

Act. Oxford University Press, 2004.

Russell, M. (1992). The Americans With Disabilities Act and Criminal Justice: An

Overview. The AEGIS Law Library. Cited in:

http://www.aegis.org/law/journals/1992/ALAW0024.html

Part… READ MORE

How to Reference "Criminal Justice Issues ADA" Essay in a Bibliography

Related Essays:

ADA and Forensic Psychology the Americans Term Paper

ADA & Forensic Psychology

The Americans with Disabilities Act, often referred to as the ADA, has empowered and enabled many disabled Americans to attain positions that they were often unfairly… read more

Term Paper 2 pages (650 words) Sources: 2 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Psychology as it Is Applied Research Paper

3. Investigate the legal issues regarding police psychology. Include the background and purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the role of forensic psychological testing in law… read more

Research Paper 4 pages (1230 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Creating a Police Department Capstone Project

Silver Spring Police Department

[Sealed proposals for Implementing a police department in Silver Springs, FL. Silver Springs Police Departments shall be received at Silver Springs Police Department, c/o Jessica Johnson… read more

Capstone Project 20 pages (5079 words) Sources: 20 Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Juvenile Death Penalty Term Paper

Juvenile Death Penalty Sentencing Is Cruel and Unjust Punishment

In America, twenty-five states permit the execution of juveniles, twenty-one states set the minimum age for execution at 16 and four… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (1651 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Supreme Court Decisions That Shape Federalism Research Paper

Criminal Justice

Supreme Court Decisions That Shape Federalism

Gonzales v. Oregon, 546 U.S. 243 (2006), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which ruled that the United States… read more

Research Paper 2 pages (685 words) Sources: 2 Topic: Law / Legal / Jurisprudence

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>