CRIPJUSTICE.ORG

Willie B Smith III

Willie B Smith III was a 52 year old man in Alabama with significant intellectual disabilities who was executed by lethal injection on October 21st 2021. He was represented by incompetent attorneys, one of whom was later disbarred. Further, under today’s legal standard, he would not have been eligible for the death penalty given his […]

Ernest Lee Johnson

Ernest Lee Johnson

Earnest Lee Johnson was a 61 year old man with psychiatric disabilities that was executed October 5th 2021 by lethal injection. In 1994 he was convicted of a triple murder in Columbia Missouri. In 1995 he was sentenced to the death penalty and his final words were he was sorry for what he had done […]

Forcing treatment isn’t the answer to psychiatric disabilities

“A system that relies on the legal authority to compel people to go to a psychiatric facility and be held against their will is complicit in the perpetration of violence against marginalized people. When the players in a system perceive someone as “dangerous” based on bias that reflects systemic racism, classism and ableism, the most […]

Nicolas Chavez

(Houston) Nicolas Chavez was a 27-year-old man with psychiatric disabilities. On April 21, 2020, the police were called when he was seen running through traffic appearing to be suicidal. The police allege that Chavez approach the officers with a bar and so they fired at him with a taser. They allege that he then tried […]

Linden Cameron

(Salt Lake City, Utah) Linden Cameron is a 13-year-old boy with autism. On Friday, September 4, 2020, a Salt Lake City police officer shot a 13-year-old autistic child several times on Friday after his mother called 911 to ask for a crisis intervention team. Linden is currently hospitalized with injuries to his shoulder, ankles, intestines, […]

Salt Lake City Police Shot a 13-Year-Old With Autism. Now They Refuse to Explain Why

(Salt Lake City, Utah) “On Friday, a Salt Lake City police officer shot a 13-year-old autistic child several times on Friday after his mother called 911 to ask for a crisis intervention team to take him to the hospital during a mental health episode. Linden Cameron…is currently hospitalized with injuries to his shoulder, ankles, intestines, […]

Nathaniel Julies

Nathaniel Julies (Eldorado Park, South Africa) was a 16 year-old with Down Syndrome. On August 26, 2020, he went out to get biscuits. He started running toward a police van when he got excited seeing sirens. When he did not understand police orders, he was shot and killed by the police. Two police officers have […]

Daniel Prude

Daniel Prude (Rochester, New York) was a man with psychiatric disabilities. On March 23, 2020, he ran out of the home without almost no clothing. His brother called 911 for assistance. The police arrived and restrained him, when Daniel went into cardiac arrest. The police first claimed his death was from a drug overdose. However, […]