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New York Lawmakers Approve Law Named For Restraint Victim
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 23, 2007

ALBANY, NEW YORK--The New York Assembly voted unanimously Monday to approve "Jonathan's Law", just a few days after the state's Senate did the same.

Assembly Bill 6846 and its companion Senate Bill 3105 would give parents and guardians access to child abuse investigation files and medical history records at state-run institutions. It would also require facility officials to notify parents and guardians when abuse and neglect incidents occur.

The measure now goes to Governor Eliot Spitzer for his signature. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported last week that Spitzer might oppose the legislation over concerns about employees' rights.

Michael and Lisa Carey, whose 13-year-old son Jonathan had autism and could not talk, have been championing the legislation. Jonathan died on February 15, employees from the state-run Oswald D. Heck Developmental Center physically restrained him in the back of a van. After Jonathan stopped breathing, the two staffers spent the next 90 minutes shopping and running errands instead of administering CPR, calling for help, or taking the teen to an emergency room.

Police arrested Edwin Tirado Jr., 35, and Nadeem Mall, 32, and charged them with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the case. Both have pleaded not guilty.

The Careys had been pushing for parents to have greater access to information about their children's treatment at residential facilities for some time. In 2004, they pulled Jonathan out of a Dutchess County facility, claiming he was abused and neglected by staff there. They have since sued the facility and started their campaign for "Jonathan's Law".

"Jonathan's life and his death is about sparing others lives from further harm or unnecessary death," Mr. Carey said at a news conference last week.

Related:
"Text of 'Jonathan's Law'" (State of New York Legislature)

http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=S03105&sh=t
"Senate passes Jonathan's Law" (Capital News 9)
http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/politics/?ArID=209919&SecID=285
"Grieving Parents Hope Lawmakers Will Change Rules On Treatment Disclosure" February 27, 2007 (Inclusion Daily Express)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/archives/07/02/26/022707nyjonathan.htm

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