• Don_Dickle@lemmy.worldOP
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    1 month ago

    OK just so I get this straight as a healthy 40 years black lesbian if I ever get caught up in the legal system I can walk in with a cane or walker or something else showing i am fucked up but i am not. And I will get a lesser sentence?

    • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      No guarantees. Look at Weinstein. Sucker is still in jail.

      It’s all about believability vs the crime, with any biases in the jury and judge.

      They’re is a fairly common thing where the harder it is to imprison someone based on their disability, the more likely they are to get more lenient sentences, but that’s still not foolproof.

      If you’re faking it, chances are that no judge is going to be fooled unless there’s a long history of disability. Juries might be easier to fool to some degree, but you’d still need to convince them that your disability is evidence you didn’t commit the crime to be able to rely on it, and that’s going to be hard.

      It’s otherwise rolling dice that are weighted against you.