|
Minutes of
the January 29, 2008
By Linda
Byrne
MEMBERS IN
ATTENDANCE:
-
Jen
Honig, Co-Chair, Mental Health Legal Advisor’s Committee
(MHLAC)
-
Stan
Eichner, Co-Chair, Disability Law Center (DLC)
-
James
Aprea, Mass Office on Disability
-
Bethany
Brown, Attorney General’s Office
-
Linda
Byrne, DLC
-
Sandra
Carter, MHLAC
-
Polyxane Cobb, Advocate
-
Howard
Cooper, Todd & Weld, LLP
-
Jonathan Dosick, Disability Policy Consortium, Committee
for Fresh Air Rights
-
Jane
Edmonstone, Legal Assistance Corp. of Central Mass
-
Deborah Filler, Cambridge & Somerville Legal Services
-
Kevin
Hall, Citizens Commission on Human Rights
-
James
Hanrahan, Bowditch & Dewey
-
Sharon
Heim, Esq.
-
Ariel
Linet, MHLAC
-
Engie
Mota, DLC
-
Deborah Segal, DLC
Introductions, Reports & Announcements:
 Co-Chair, Jen Honig, called the meeting to order at
10:10 am and welcomed all to today’s meeting. Introductions
were made, and the following announcements were made:
Aversives
Hearing
Poly
commented on the Aversives Hearing held at the State House on January 16,
2008. She, as well as Stan, Jen and other CLRD
members, discussed their observations of various House and
Senate members who expressed their views on JRC’s aversive
practices.
Various CLRD members discussed the challenges anti-aversive
advocates face regarding the passage of the bills.
Shocking Students – “A Mistake”
In addition
to the above discussion, Poly, Stan and others spoke of the
JRC incident which occurred this past summer. In August
2007, an outside phone call came into JRC instructing staff
to shock two students who presumably had made sexual
overtones. It is alleged that the person who
called in and ordered the GED IV punishment was a previous
student who had been bullied by the two students. The first
student was shocked a total of 77 times and was restrained.
The second student was shocked 29 times. Many JRC students
maintained that the two students had not committed any
violation. Students who witnessed the shocks were also
harmed emotionally. It was then acknowledged by JRC that the
incidents had been “a mistake”. Since then, the video tape
which captured these shocking incidents has had other
footage taped over it.
CLRD’S Presentation: SMOC vs. Town of Framingham:
Howard M.
Cooper and James D. Hanrahan, lawyers for South Middlesex
Opportunity Council, a 40 year old anti-poverty agency, have
filed an important civil rights case on behalf of the
disabled in the United States District Court in Boston
against the Town of Framingham and others. The lawsuit
contends that there has been an effort in Framingham to keep
social service providers from locating in the community
based upon a belief that the Town has already done more than
its part to accommodate the needs of the disabled and that
such agencies are a financial drain on the community.
To learn
more about the services SMOC provides, as well as the
complaint that has been filed, please log onto
www.smoc.org .
The
meeting ended at 12:00 p.m.
[Please Note: CLRD’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday,
March 4, 2008 at Skadden, Arps at One Beacon Street, in
Boston.] |