Justice For All
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Thurmond: Amend ADA. CCD: No Way!
Please enail Glen Sutcliffe at govrels(AT)primanet.com to sign on
to the CCD letter opposing S.2266. Here's the details:
Republican Senators Strom Thurmond and Hesse Helms propose to amend
the Americans with Disabilities Act to restrict who is covered.
Their bill is the "State and Local Prison Relief Act," or S.2266.
In June, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, said that prisons
are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and disabled
prisoners
have a right to equal access to essential facilities and services under
the disability statutes.
This week, Senators Thurmond and Helms introduced the State and Local
Prison Relief Act -- a bill that would exclude all prisons, jails and
juvenile facilities housing physically and mentally disabled children and
adults and employing disabled workers from coverage under the ADA and
Rehabilitation Act.
Senator Thurmond referred to disabled prisoners seeking special
privileges but the reality is that disabled men and women in prisons and
jails face dangerous physical obstacles when seeking access to such basic
facilities and services as toilets and showers, dining halls, medical
clinics, emergency alarms and exits, and rehabilitative programs. For
example:
- a semi-quadriplegic prisoner in an Indiana county jail who was
confined
to a wheelchair and wore colostomy and urostomy bags for removal of his
body waste was kept in a jail cell with no running water and only an open
drain in the floor to dispose of the contents of his bags for three
months
although other jail cells with running water were available.
- in a Michigan jail, a bilateral amputee fell into a toilet and onto
the
floor when he attempted to transfer from his wheelchair because the
toilet
lacked both handrails and a seat and was set into a narrow stall into
which
he could not maneuver his wheelchair.
As drafted, the State and Local Prison Relief Act would remove
psychiatric and other hospitals housing criminal defendants undergoing
competency evaluations, as well as other mentally disabled populations,
from ADA coverage.
The bill would also remove disabled prison and jail employees from ADA
coverage.
We have seen with recent legislation that once prisoners have been
successfully targeted, moves are made to limit the rights of other
disfavored groups. Once prisoners are exempted from ADA coverage, there
is
a danger of further restrictions in coverage, perhaps leading to:
- termination of more governmental services now covered under Title II
of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, such as education,
public health services and voting.
- inaccessible treatment centers, group residential and day care
facilities, child protection services, hospitals, veterans' programs and
developmental centers for persons with retardation.
The bill was introduced on July 7, 1998 by Senator Strom Thurmond. It
will probably be added to the appropriations act for the Justice
Department
when it comes to the Senate floor in July (this month). The final
appropriation bill must be passed before the end of September.
Justice For All thanks Glen Sutcliffe, NAPAS and CCD for following S.
2266.
We urge you to sign on to the following letter, and to let your Senators
know of your opposition to S. 2266.
--Consortium for Contacts: Citizens with Curt Decker (202) 408-9514 Disabilities Bob Herman (202) 416-7699 _________________________________________________________________________
July xx, 1998
The Hon. XXX U.S. Senate XXX Hart/Dirksen/Russell Washington, DC
Dear Senator:
The undersigned members of the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) strongly oppose S. 2266, the State and Local Prison Relief Act, which would amend the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. CCD is a working coalition of over 110 national organizations, which advocate for the rights and interests of people with disabilities. In addition to CCD, members of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), Mental Health Liaison Group (MHLG), and the National Organization Representing AIDS (NORA) have signed onto this letter as well.
S. 2266 is in response to the recent Supreme Court decision in Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Yeskey. In a unanimous decision, the Court ruled that prisoners with disabilities have a right to equal access to essential facilities and services under the disability statutes. And in writing the opinion of the court, Justice Scalia stated: "the ADA plainly covers state institutions without any exception that could cast the coverage of prisons into doubt."
In addition to the plain language of the ADA supporting the Supreme Court's decision, overwhelming evidence establishes the need for legal protection. For example, in a recent article published in New Mobility, a disability culture & lifestyle magazine, Jean Stewart writes of a federal class action suit in which the lead plaintiff was deaf. "Throughout the plaintiff's incarceration she and her co-plaintiffs were denied interpreters, making it impossible for her to participate in or understand grievance, disciplinary and parole hearings, educational classes , and medical or psychiatric appointments. Officials refused to provide or repair hearing aids and denied deaf prisoners TTYs for telephone access."
In other cases, advocates report that inmates with physical disabilities who use wheelchairs are routinely denied adequate access to toilets, showers, appropriate medical care, and early release programs and services on the same terms as other inmates without disabilities. These and other examples prove that inmates with disabilities are serving harsher sentences not because of objective criteria, but because they have a disability. S. 2266 would essentially codify practices that implicate life and death concerns but may or may not be ultimately found to amount to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.
Finally it is doubtful that in the waning days of the 105th Congress, hearings will be held to justify amending statutes of such monumental social significance. S. 2266 could open the door to other hasty amendments without proper process, and throw into chaos the orderly implementation of the ADA, a law many years in the making and the subject of numerous hearings and legislative compromises.
Senator, we urge you to oppose this bill when it comes to the Senate floor.
AIDS Action Council AIDS National Interfaith Network Alliance for Rehabilitation Counseling American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy American Association on Mental Retardation American Civil Liberties Union American Congress of Community Supports and Employment Services American Council of the Blind American Counseling Association American Family Foundation American Foundation for the Blind American Network of Community Options and Resources American Psychiatric Association Anxiety Disorders Association of America Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law Center for Women Policy Studies Child Welfare League of America Committee for Children Council for Exceptional Children Epilepsy Foundation Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health International Dyslexia Association Justice For All Learning Disabilities Association Legal Action Center National AIDS Fund National Alliance for the Mentally Ill National Association of Developmental Disabilities Councils National Association of People with AIDS National Association of Protection & Advocacy Systems National Association of School Psychologists National Association of the Deaf National Center for Learning Disabilities National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare National Easter Seal Society National Mental Health Association National Minority AIDS Council National Native American AIDS Prevention Center National Parent Network on Disabilities National Rehabilitation Association NISH Paralyzed Veterans of America Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America TASH The Arc United Cerebral Palsy Association U.S. Conference of Mayors Very Special Arts
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Please email (govrels(AT)primanet.com) or Fax (202-408-9520) Glen W. Sutcliffe at NAPAS to sign on to the letter to oppose the weakening of ADA and oppose S. 2266.
And let your Senators know you oppose S.2266.
ADA: America Wins!
-- Fred Fay jfa(AT)mailbot.com Justice For All Moderator http://www.mailbot.com/justice--------- End forwarded message ----------
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