Issues related to interactions with police, the trial process, sentencing, and placement within prisons or alternative community settings are discussed. Particular attention is focused on the Miranda warnings, competency to stand trial, plea bargaining, eight amendment issues, and alternatives to incarceration. The review indicates that individuals with disabilities face many problems within the criminal justice systems; they are not often identified accurately or when identified, their needs might not be addressed because of misunderstanding as well as financial constraints. New initiatives include a 2-hour segment about disabilities in the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy curriculum for new police officers, a mentally retarded defendant program in Florida, a probation program for mentally retarded clients in Arizona, and a New York Commission on statutory changes regarding the rights of mentally retarded individuals. However, most of these program modifications focus on the mentally retarded. Individuals with low incidence disabilities such as blindness and deafness and those with multiple disabilities need to be considered also. 75 references