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quick, once-a-day look at disability rights, self-determination
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movement toward full community inclusion around the world.
Tuesday, July 6, 2004
Year V, Edition 965
Today's front section features 8 news and information
items, each preceded by a number (#) symbol.
Click on the "Below the
Fold" link at the bottom of this section for 36 more news items.
QUOTES OF THE DAY:
"All I ever wanted was
justice."
--Helen Childs, whose son, Paul, was shot to death on July 5,
2003 by a Denver Police officer when he failed to follow orders to drop a
kitchen knife (First story)
"It's a lost cause in Las Vegas."
--Paul Martin, president of
Nevadans for Equal Access, talking about the lack of accessible parking at
Nevada's federal buildings (Second story)
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# CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Helen
Childs Finds Justice One Year After Son's Death
By Dave Reynolds,
Inclusion Daily Express
July 6, 2004
DENVER, COLORADO--One year after
her son, Paul Childs III, was shot to death by a Denver Police officer, Helen
Childs spent time Monday at the teen's gravesite in Fairmount Cemetery.
"It just seems like yesterday," she later told a reporter of the death that led to changes in how the Denver Police Department uses lethal force, how it handles suspects with disabilities, and how it is overseen and viewed by the public.
On Saturday, July 5, 2003, Ashley Childs phoned 9-1-1 to report that her 15-year-old brother, who had mental retardation and epilepsy, was carrying a kitchen knife around the house in a threatening manner. The family wanted police to come and calm Paul because he liked the officers and would often talk with them.
Helen came out of the house to greet police and explain the situation, but officers pulled her out of the way.
When Officer James Turney, who had given Paul a ride home a few weeks earlier, arrived at the scene, he approached Paul in the house and told him to drop the knife which the teen was clutching with both hands in front of his own face. When Paul failed to drop the knife, Turney fired four times, killing him.
The incident led immediately to public outcry, along with calls for Turney's firing.
While an official inquiry cleared Turney of criminal charges, Manager of Safety Al LaCabe determined that Turney had violated the department's "use of force" policy by unnecessarily forcing a confrontation with Childs. In April, LaCabe suspended Turney 10 months without pay. When Turney returns to the department, he will not be allowed to patrol Denver streets.
The city also paid Helen and Ashley Childs $1.325 million to settle a lawsuit Mrs. Childs had planned to file against the city with the help of famous trial attorney Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Helen and her attorneys received a $726,115 check last Wednesday as part of the first installment. She will also receive a monthly annuity payment of $3,783.72 for the next 20 years. Ashley will receive $5,000 per year for the next four years.
In response to the incident and the lawsuit, Mayor John Hickenlooper set up a panel to look into improving the city's handling of similar cases. As a result, at least one-half of Denver Police officers will receive training in crisis intervention techniques over the next two years, a hundred more Tasers will be issued to patrol officers, and a mental health worker will be hired to train officers how to deal with people who have developmental disabilities and mental illnesses in crisis situations.
There will also be more public scrutiny of incidents in which force is used on suspects. The city is currently looking at other cities for models on how to handle public oversight of such incidents.
"Justice. That's all I wanted," Helen Childs told the Denver Post last week.
Related:
"Year later, reforms bring solace to Childs" (Rocky
Mountain News)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/04/red/0706c.htm
"City
studies police oversight" (Denver Post)
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~2250123,00.html
"The
Death of Paul Childs III" (Inclusion Daily Express)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/crime/childs.htm
---
# ACCESSIBILITY / ADVOCACY
Blame Terrorists For Lack Of
Accessible Parking At Nevada Federal Buildings;
Don't Know Who To Blame For
Bus Access Troubles
July 6, 2004
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA--Last week,
Paul Martin, president of Nevadans for Equal Access, spent some time with Las
Vegas Review-Journal columnist Jane Ann Morrison, to show her some of the
problems with accessibility in Nevada.
Morrison learned, and shared with her readers, that none of the federal buildings in the state have parking that is accessible and convenient for people with disabilities. The General Services Administration, which oversees federal buildings across the country, told her that new security measures restrict all federal building parking to employees only.
"It's a lost cause in Las Vegas," said Martin.
What is not lost, Martin and other disability rights advocates hope, is the case for accessible buses and bus stops in the city.
It turns out that several people with disabilities are not able to access the new Metropolitan Area Express bus system, in part because the fresh asphalt paving at the stops leave a sharp 4 to 5 inch drop, which is dangerous to wheelchairs. Some riders cannot access the new high tech buses because the designated spaces on the buses are too narrow for their wheelchairs.
"Presumably those people have oversized chairs for a need, but that's just a guess," wrote Morrison. "Maybe they deliberately use oversized wheelchairs just to aggravate the RTC (Regional Transportation Commission).
Related:
"Handicapped access battle lost at federal buildings,
just starting with buses" (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/04/red/0706b.htm
Nevadans
For Equal Access
http://www.nvequalaccess.org
---
# EUTHANASIA / LAWS
Report: Euthanasia Is Being
Practiced With Disregard To Laws
July 6, 2004
AMSTERDAM,
NETHERLANDS--Euthanasia is being practiced around the world -- with little or
no regard for laws prohibiting it or protecting certain groups -- according to
a report in Saturday's edition of Zenit.org, an international news service
related to the Catholic Church.
Euthanasia, the act of killing a person whose death is "preferable to their suffering", is illegal in most of the world. Those governments that do allow euthanasia, or assisted suicide, often have legal protections in place to make sure people's lives are not taken if they are not in the final stages of terminal illnesses, or if they want to take their own lives because they are depressed.
Disability rights groups have opposed euthanasia because of a long history of people being killed because others believe they are "suffering" from their disabilities, and of people with disabilities being pressured to chose to die because their lives are considered a "burden" to themselves, their families, or society.
The Zenit report cited articles in major medical journals which show that doctors who legally assist in euthanasia in the Netherlands and Belgium are failing to report the numbers to authorities.
Even in countries that do not allow euthanasia, a number of doctors are admitting that they have helped "hasten death" or have referred people to "euthanasia clinics" outside their own borders. Those who are discovered rarely face charges.
Other high profile cases are coming to light, many of which have been featured by Inclusion Daily Express, which show that several people who have been "assisted" in their suicides were not in the final stages of a terminal illness. One of the most recent was Australian euthanasia campaigner Nancy Crick, who took her own life last year while surrounded by dozens of supporters, even though she and others knew she did not have cancer.
Related:
"Legal or Not, Euthanasia Moves Ahead"
(Zenit.org)
http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=56300
---
# CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Governor Spares Convict's
Life Because Accomplice Has Mental Retardation
By Dave Reynolds,
Inclusion Daily Express
July 6, 2004
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA--On June
21, 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that executing criminals considered
to have mental retardation is "cruel and unusual punishment" in violation of
the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.
In the two years since that ruling, dozens of former death row inmates have had their death sentences reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Last Friday, the life of Darnell Williams was spared, in part because of the Supreme Court's decision, even though no one has suggested that he has mental retardation.
Williams and Gregory Rouster were both convicted of murder related to the August 12, 1986 shooting death of Rouster's former foster parents, John and Henrietta Rease.
Rouster, who has since changed his name to Gamba Mateen Rastafari, was 18 years of age at the time of the crimes. The Clark County Prosecutor noted that Rouster had been a ward of the state since birth, that he had no family support, but did have a history of mental illness, emotional problems, a "speech defect" and "excessive drug and alcohol intake".
Prosecutors argued that Rouster went to the couple's home to make them pay an allowance he believed they owed him from state foster care checks, and that Williams went with him. The Reases were shot with both a .32 caliber and a .22 caliber handgun.
In May 1987, Rouster and Williams were sentenced to die for the murders.
Even though prosecutors claimed Rouster was the leader in the crime, his death sentence was changed to life in prison after the 2002 Supreme Court decision because he reportedly has mental retardation.
Williams' case continued through the appeals process until last Friday, when Governor Joe Kernan changed his sentence to life in prison.
Williams was scheduled to die by lethal injection this Friday, July 9.
"Those who bear the most responsibility for a crime should pay the highest penalty," Kernan explained. "Because Rouster cannot be executed for the crime, it is unjust for Williams to be executed."
Kernan made his decision after receiving a unanimous recommendation on Tuesday from the state parole board seeking clemency for Williams.
Williams' defenders said they were relieved, and that the decision gives them time to continue to push for his eventual release.
Related:
"Kernan commutes sentence of death row inmate"
(Associated Press via Indianapolis Star)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/9/159462-4129-127.html
---
# EDUCATION
"'A' Is For Acceptance"
July 6,
2004
TORONTO, ONTARIO--The following four paragraphs are excerpts from a
story found in Saturday's Globe and Mail:
The sounds of children's laughter, teachers' encouraging cries and the slap of beanbags as they land on the floor echo through the room. And instead of the squeak of running shoes on the hardwood floor, there is the whirring of wheels.
That's because Mika and nearly half of the children buzzing around the room are using walkers and wheelchairs. They have cerebral palsy. The other children, shrieking around them, are sitting on scooter boards and maneuvering their way around the gymnasium. The scooter boards help make the game more even.
All of the children are part of a program at Toronto's Bloorview MacMillan Children's Centre, a rehabilitation hospital, in which able-bodied children attend a school for children with disabilities, a step that teachers hope will result in an integration that goes beyond the four walls of the classroom.
The reverse-integration program is unlike other models: Instead of disabled pupils being integrated into a regular classroom, this program brings able-bodied pupils into a setting where disabilities are the norm.
Entire article:
"'A' is for acceptance" (Globe and Mail)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/04/red/0706a.htm
What do you think: Is "reverse integration" an acceptable option to
have children with disabilities included with those who do not have
disabilities? If you have seen this practice in action, what do you think were
the pros and cons? Check in with other readers on the Inclusion Daily Express
Discussion Board:
http://members5.boardhost.com/InclusionDaily
---
# TODAY'S FEATURED DISABILITY HISTORY WEBSITE
Historic
Asylums
This site's focus on architectural preservation is not intended in any way to be taken as support of institutionalization in general, or as a current or new use for these buildings.
http://www.historicasylums.com/
---
# From the IDE Archives -- One year ago:
Baghdad Psych Facility Is Missing Medications, Files,
Patients
July 7, 2003
BAGHDAD, IRAQ--The Mercury News ran a story
Monday about the Al-Rashaad State Hospital for the Mentally Ill located in
Baghdad.
Looters hit the facility as Baghdad fell nearly three months ago, taking virtually everything that was not nailed down, including individual medical records, appliances and patients' medications.
About 500 patients are still missing, presumably walking the streets begging for food, water and shelter from the 115 degree heat.
"We need beds, blankets, sheets, but most of all electricity and ice," said Jinal Falha, a nurse.
According to the report, the International Committee for the Red Cross is helping the staff rebuild. They are working to get generators running so the hospital will have electricity.
Entire article with link to 7 photographs:
"Mental hospital in
dire shape" (The Mercury News)
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/6248770.htm
Related resource:
Disabilities And The "War On Terror" (Inclusion
Daily Express)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/war.htm
---
IDE ARCHIVE SEARCH
Have Google look for specific words
or phrases in Inclusion Daily Express editions going back to December
1999:
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/search.htm
---
# BELOW THE FOLD
Click here for the rest of today's
disability-related news:
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/04/btf/07060444.htm
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