On the cover of the May-June 2010 issue is Shawn Thompson‘s dispatch from Samboja Lestari, a controversial reforestation project in Borneo that aims to preserve orangutan populations, repair rainforests damaged by illegal logging, and support local farmers by fostering interdependence between the wildlife, forest, and people. Some say it could revolutionize conservation projects around the world; others aren’t convinced. Also in this issue: Lauren McKeon reports from Yellowknife on the shocking state of its prison, where lack of resources for psychiatric assessments has turned a whole wing of the facility into a de facto mental health ward. Stuck in legal limbo, the prisoners there wait—and then wait some more—for justice. And Patricia Bailey examines the work of a young crop of filmmakers who have come to be known as Quebec’s “new wave.” Eschewing the commercial, nostalgic hits of recent Quebec cinema, this new generation of directors and writers are embracing a stark aesthetic that illustrates the social alienation sweeping Canada’s Francophone province.

There’s lots more: Scott Weinstein calls out the  Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combaat Anti-Semitism; Andrea McDowell argues that we need better ways to counter misinformation about wind energy; Eva Salinas reports on the post-earthquake cleanup in Chile; Rob Thomas profiles a graffiti artist who ditched his toxic art supplies and started making his own eco-friendly paints; Darryl Whetter says Canadian Literature has become less feminist; Dorothy Woodend says the small size of Canada’s film community is hindering real criticism; and Dayanti Karunaratne investigates whether bamboo textiles  are really more environmentally friendly than their conventional counterparts.

PLUS: Gillian Bennett with tips on protesting the G20 in safety and style; Alex Consiglio on legendary pro-pot lawyer Alan Young; Lyndsie Bourgon on bike sharing programs; Anya Wassenberg on a U.S. Supreme Court battle between Ontario and Michigan over the future of the Great Lakes; Daniel Tseghay on the 50th anniversary of the “Year of Africa”; Graham F. Scott on the Harper government’s “women and children” agenda at the G8 and G20; Vivian Belik on minority governments; Jenn Hardy on Montreal band Po’ Girl; Chantaie Allick on Ottawa’s Snapdragon Gallery; Navneet Alang on how online communities throw together people who would never meet in real life, and more.

With a new short story by Jonathan Bennett and new poetry by Caroline Szpak.

Augustus Hill had it easy. At least he had a wheelchair inside Oz. Real disabled inmates aren't so lucky. Image courtesy Home Box Office

If, as a disabled person, you think you’re still getting the shaft out in the real world, then you better thank the Lord you didn’t land in prison. Though twenty-five-to-life can be utterly soul-destroying for anyone, no one has it worse than the disabled inmates around the world.  For them, even basic human rights are hard to come by.

In 2008, the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] of Southern California and the Disability Rights Legal Center commissioned a study that found deplorable conditions in LA County jails.  The study found that disabled inmates struggle every day to overcome physical barriers to toilets, shower stalls and visitor areas, according to the LA Times. The study also revealed that cells for disabled inmates had broken plumbing, lacked natural light and had only limited access to recreational areas. LA’s disabled prison population is also limited in job and educational training, since those sections of the prison are often located in inaccessible areas. That wasn’t the worst of it. Disabled inmates, in sworn declarations, said they had their wheelchairs and crutches confiscated because guards failed to classify the prisoners as being truly disabled, thinking the devices were weapons As a result, inmates were forced to crawl around in their cells. The LA Times also interviewed a paraplegic man who asked to use the washroom while being booked on petty theft charges. The guards told him he would have to hold it because the washroom wasn’t accessible. The man eventually lost control of his bowels and was forced to sit in his own feces for six hours. The study prompted the ACLU and the Disability Rights Center to file a class action lawsuit against the LA County Sheriff’s Office for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. As of right now, both organizations are still waiting for their day in court–a year later.

But abuse of disabled inmates is not limited to Los Angeles.  In  May 2009, The Independent reported that a disabled inmate, held at HMP Parkhurst on the Isle of Wright in the U.K., couldn’t clean himself for a year because staff outright refused to carry him to the shower, while another inmate couldn’t have a shower for six months because the three staff members who were “trained” to push his wheelchair were unavailable. The director of the Prison Reform Trust has called on the Ministry of Justice to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act and the director general of the National Offender Management Service acknowledged that the prison had “fallen below standard.” The general manager hopes a new management team and a redesign of the prison will help rectify the situation.

Canada is hardly immune. Though Canadian prisons are supposed to provide a basic level of medical care, 52%  of its institutional healthcare facilities failed to be accredited in 2006 because they didn’t meet basic standards. Failing to pass out all required medication at regular dosage times and failing to check insulin levels, were only some of the named offences.

Inmate abuse at such systemic and international levels is especially heinous given that many of the world’s prisons hold a disproportionate number of disabled inmates. In Canada, estimates put the number of prisoners with intellectual disabilities at almost 10% and those with learning disabilities at more than 55%.  I couldn’t find estimates for prisoners with physical disabilities. In the U.S., 40% of all people with serious mental illness are in jails and prisons, which translates to 10-30% of all inmates in the overall prison population, depending on the prison.

Essentially, this is re-institutionalization.  Prison guards are taking the place of  the attendant care staff that are often unavailable.  Also, assistive devices are often confiscated as weapons when disabled people are arrested and it can take a court injunction before inmates who rightfully need them get them back. The prison system in North America is already so overburdened and under-funded, regular inmates are sometimes housed in gymnasiums instead of cells and staff are grossly outnumbered.  If there aren’t enough resources for able-bodied inmates, it’s difficult to anticipate that anyone will give disabled inmates due care.

Still, someone has to wake up and put this pattern of double-punishment to an end. While able-bodied inmates are punished for their crimes and have to acclimatize themselves to the gangs and violence, disabled inmates are punished for their crimes and for being disabled. If prisoners are treated as the lowest class in society, then disabled inmates must be society’s pond scum.   It’s scary to think that in the 21st century,  a disabled inmate probably has a better chance dying as a victim of a neglectful judicial system, than an able-bodied inmate does from a shank to the chest.