Wheelchair Pride is blogging about Cory Miller, the 16 year old with CP in Havana, Illinois who has been attacked three times in the past two years by juveniles who have kicked him in the groin, held his head under hot running water, taken his belongings, fed him a heated white powder and pushed his wheelchair to a park where they assaulted him.
Yet no one has been held accountable for these hate crimes in the small town. Wheelchair Pride has posted a letter by Ruth Burgess Thompson, the the new Executive Director of the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois , to the mayor of Havana. It can be read here. She expresses her outrage at the failure to hold those responsible for these acts accountable, as well as noting the community's rally on Cory's behalf. (see video below)
The description of the attacks against Cory at RightJuris.com shows that these attacks have escalated. In the latest incident, on July 3, 2010, a substance was sprayed into Cory's eyes. His stepmother stated that Cory was spat on and sexually assaulted by the perpetrators, who wore surgical gloves, after they undressed him.
“Five of them took him out of his wheelchair, which they would have had to unbuckle his seat-belt and his feet. The teenage boys picked him up and took him into a bathroom.
They undressed him completely, even took off his shoes and socks.”
A Justice for Cory Miller page has been set up on Facebook. You can join it here.
Showing posts with label Hate crimes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hate crimes. Show all posts
Monday, July 12, 2010
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Things you can expect when you write a blog
Just reading Googling God , where he was writing about comments you can expect if you write a Catholic blog.
And let me tell you, I also get gems because I write about disability issues:
FedUp has left a new comment on your post "8 year old girl handcuffed at school":
That thing should have been euthanized before it was born. And it's parents should be shot for polluting the gene pool like that. Absolutely disgusting.
And yes I reject comments like this. Readers don't see many of the comments I get along these lines. But I'm using this one to make a point.
It's why I write about the dehumanization of people with disabilities, euthanasia and hate crimes. And the Holocaust.
And let me tell you, I also get gems because I write about disability issues:
FedUp has left a new comment on your post "8 year old girl handcuffed at school":
That thing should have been euthanized before it was born. And it's parents should be shot for polluting the gene pool like that. Absolutely disgusting.
And yes I reject comments like this. Readers don't see many of the comments I get along these lines. But I'm using this one to make a point.
It's why I write about the dehumanization of people with disabilities, euthanasia and hate crimes. And the Holocaust.
Friday, February 29, 2008
New to the blogroll : Crimes Against People with Disabilities
In response to the underreporting of crimes against people with disabilities, a new blog has been started. I just put it on my blogroll. It's called Crimes Against People with Disabilities
The way it works is that you can submit links, articles, etc. It's described as an ongoing blog carnival, without any specific dates. Go there to find out how to submit information and help gather stories, facts and links in support of a database for the US.
I've written on this blog (see label below) about hate crimes before. It's a serious problem that needs to be addressed via legislation- and brought out for discussion.
The way it works is that you can submit links, articles, etc. It's described as an ongoing blog carnival, without any specific dates. Go there to find out how to submit information and help gather stories, facts and links in support of a database for the US.
I've written on this blog (see label below) about hate crimes before. It's a serious problem that needs to be addressed via legislation- and brought out for discussion.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
If there was a camera there
When I found the piece in the news about Brian, another quadriplegic, being dumped out of his wheelchair by a deputy to "check" his disability, my stomach sickened. I warned Meredith when I saw her that I'd posted a video and what it showed. And then I told her that the news coverage, as hard as it is to see, is a positive step in bringing this kind of behavior out into the light.
I, too, have been confronted by people physically over the decade I've been in a wheelchair. Part of it came from being a quadriplegic in a manual chair. I often had people say to me "Oh you can't be a quadriplegic. Christopher Reeve is one and he's totally paralyzed." Many folks don't understand the variations in spinal cord injuries. (Even in this article, it says that Brian is a quadriplegic, but still able to drive. )
Some quads can look like paraplegics to people if they don't understand the disability. Once I had bones in both wrists broken because a man assisting me "lost patience" with how slowly I "chose to move" and pulled away my wheelchair. I fell onto the ground landing on my wrists. On another occasion a woman pushed food into my face to see if I would "knock off pretending I couldn't lift my arms". And many times I've had change thrown at my face by impatient clerks who think I'm deliberately moving slowly. (And, yes, I've been dumped out of my wheelchair too. )
This kind of physical stuff happens. There isn't always a camera. And let me tell you, this woman deputy's words are classic and her behavior is classic, arrogantly proclaiming "I don't believe what you say about your disability - let's see". I've been questioned incessantly over the years about my disability, but there are these folks who cross the line and become physical. It's sickening to watch and my heart goes out to Brian. No one should be treated like this.
But the point is it's happening out there. Turning our heads away doesn't make it go away. It's time to speak up about it, bring it out into the light of day for what it is.
Because, before anyone assumes that a low level quad isn't really a quad, let me tell you that hand/arm impairments do affect one's ability to get around and do things in our quick paced world and, I suppose if it comes to that, to defending ourselves. Having paralysis in all four limbs renders one more vulnerable. Period. I'm not going to suggest anyone duct tape their hands or spend a day in a wheelchair because that just doesn't do it in my opinion. But I've lived with it for over a decade and I know what it's like to go out into an uneducated world and deal with people who are judging what I can/can't do and take out their ideas on me.
My friends, it sucks. It doesn't always reach this level of behavior, but it sucks. I wish people would educate themselves about disabilities and ask questions if they don't understand. Most of the injuries I've received over the years have been as a result of peoples' impatience on this very issue. And even though their behavior doesn't reach the level shown in this video, it can still cause injuries.
Watching how the media picked up this video and article and how it spread is a positive sign that we are making strides, that this kind of behavior is abhorrent to most people and that those who choose to engage in it face discipline or criminal charges.
What happened to Brian is an assault to him. And to all of us. Not just people with disabilities, but to each and every one of us. It's about not being treated with human decency.
"She certainly wasn't treating me like a human being," Sterner said. "When I saw that one deputy laugh that's when my blood started to boil. That's ridiculous to have that happen to me, then have somebody having a good time laughing about it."
I, too, have been confronted by people physically over the decade I've been in a wheelchair. Part of it came from being a quadriplegic in a manual chair. I often had people say to me "Oh you can't be a quadriplegic. Christopher Reeve is one and he's totally paralyzed." Many folks don't understand the variations in spinal cord injuries. (Even in this article, it says that Brian is a quadriplegic, but still able to drive. )
Some quads can look like paraplegics to people if they don't understand the disability. Once I had bones in both wrists broken because a man assisting me "lost patience" with how slowly I "chose to move" and pulled away my wheelchair. I fell onto the ground landing on my wrists. On another occasion a woman pushed food into my face to see if I would "knock off pretending I couldn't lift my arms". And many times I've had change thrown at my face by impatient clerks who think I'm deliberately moving slowly. (And, yes, I've been dumped out of my wheelchair too. )
This kind of physical stuff happens. There isn't always a camera. And let me tell you, this woman deputy's words are classic and her behavior is classic, arrogantly proclaiming "I don't believe what you say about your disability - let's see". I've been questioned incessantly over the years about my disability, but there are these folks who cross the line and become physical. It's sickening to watch and my heart goes out to Brian. No one should be treated like this.
But the point is it's happening out there. Turning our heads away doesn't make it go away. It's time to speak up about it, bring it out into the light of day for what it is.
Because, before anyone assumes that a low level quad isn't really a quad, let me tell you that hand/arm impairments do affect one's ability to get around and do things in our quick paced world and, I suppose if it comes to that, to defending ourselves. Having paralysis in all four limbs renders one more vulnerable. Period. I'm not going to suggest anyone duct tape their hands or spend a day in a wheelchair because that just doesn't do it in my opinion. But I've lived with it for over a decade and I know what it's like to go out into an uneducated world and deal with people who are judging what I can/can't do and take out their ideas on me.
My friends, it sucks. It doesn't always reach this level of behavior, but it sucks. I wish people would educate themselves about disabilities and ask questions if they don't understand. Most of the injuries I've received over the years have been as a result of peoples' impatience on this very issue. And even though their behavior doesn't reach the level shown in this video, it can still cause injuries.
Watching how the media picked up this video and article and how it spread is a positive sign that we are making strides, that this kind of behavior is abhorrent to most people and that those who choose to engage in it face discipline or criminal charges.
What happened to Brian is an assault to him. And to all of us. Not just people with disabilities, but to each and every one of us. It's about not being treated with human decency.
"She certainly wasn't treating me like a human being," Sterner said. "When I saw that one deputy laugh that's when my blood started to boil. That's ridiculous to have that happen to me, then have somebody having a good time laughing about it."
Monday, January 14, 2008
reading and riding
The Star Market is a poem in the New Yorker creating some interesting discussion. It was written by a poet with a disability.
h/t SDS list serv
Discovered this weekend that all the curb cuts were fixed and brought into compliance on a local street due to everyone working together - ahhh so nice when that happens! Far better to light a candle than curse the darkness. And light one also for Brent Martin that he may rest in peace.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Racial incident at school for the deaf
"A black student was held against his will and then released with "KKK" and swastikas drawn on him in marker at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf on Sunday..." after what began as horseplay in the dorm between white and black students resulted in the student being held against his will and being marked.
Seven students have been sent home because of the incident and authorities are considering charging those involved with an enhanced hate crime. "The school is a residential high school on the campus of Gallaudet University, a higher education facility for deaf and hard of hearing people. The high school is administered as a division of the university's Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center."
-via CNN
Seven students have been sent home because of the incident and authorities are considering charging those involved with an enhanced hate crime. "The school is a residential high school on the campus of Gallaudet University, a higher education facility for deaf and hard of hearing people. The high school is administered as a division of the university's Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center."
-via CNN
Friday, September 28, 2007
Hate crimes bill passed by Senate
A hate crime bill that expands protection hate crimes based on disability, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity passed in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated:
"“The Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act would strengthen the ability of federal, state, and local governments to investigate and prosecute hate crimes. This amendment would remove the current limitation on federal jurisdiction that allows federal involvement only in cases in which the assailant intended to prevent a victim from engaged in a ‘federally protected activity,’ such as voting. This amendment would expand the groups protected under current law to include all hate crimes – including those based on disability, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity. And this amendment would provide the Department of Justice the authority to assist state and local jurisdictions in prosecuting violent hate crimes, or to take the lead in such prosecutions where local authorities are unwilling or unable to act. "
The bill is the first major expansion of a hate crimes law since 1968 after a decade long struggle. It would cut down on hate crimes behind attacks that are sometimes fatal upon vulnerable populations. In the case of the disabled population, for example:
"On Tuesday, May 29, at around 8:45 p.m., James McKinney, 41, of Los Angeles, was walking to a store from a board and care facility for the mentally disabled, where he lived. As he neared the corner of Wilton Place and Olympic Boulevard, a male attacker approached him from behind and struck the back of his head with an aluminum baseball bat, the video showed."
-via clickondetroit.com
"A 21-year-old maintenance worker developmentally disabled was followed into the men's bathroom at the Shirley Lanes bowling alley and sodomized.
Investigators say the Sunday night attack was the work of 19-year-old Steven Rodriguez and 17-year-old Michael Lunsford.
Police say one man held down the victim in the bathroom, while the other sexually assaulted him with a plumber's tool, a snake used to clear drains.
The victim was found on the floor, bleeding with severe internal injuries."
-via abc.local.com [Long Island]
"Deputy Prosecutor Derrick Julkes said the 29-year-old victim, who is mentally disabled, has continued to suffer, as has his family. Prior to the beating, the victim was able to perform odd jobs, but he can't now, Julkes said.
Ward and co-defendant Pierre Lamar Springer, 19, of Gary, followed the victim from a home where they all had attended a party. In the street, the two men punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground, and kicked, stomped and hit him in the face, chest and legs. They also removed the man's clothes, beat him with his own belt and left him naked, court records state.
The man was airlifted to Chicago with extensive brain damage. As a result of the attack, the man cannot used one arm, court records state."
via www.post-trib.com
Statistics show that:
-women with disabilities, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or class, are assaulted, raped, and abused at a rate two times greater than women without a disability (Sobsey 1994; Cusitar 1994).
-The risk of being physically or sexually assaulted for adults with developmental disabilities is four to ten times higher than it is for other adults (Ibid.).
Hate crimes against the disabled are notoriously under-reported for various reasons. Often police categorize them as cases of assault and don't address the hate crime. Or these crimes may be referred to as abuse.
A case from Anaheim California, where day care workers slapped two developmentally disabled men in the restroom for no reason was, for example, seen as a reason to develop a policy requiring protection of employees by requiring that two workers accompany residents. Sadly, the legal concerns involved are often addressed - from the point of view of the caretakers rather than the disabled.
This approach has failed to deter growing concerns of abuse from caretakers since underlying crimes often carry minimal penalties and screening people for such jobs may fall by the wayside by employers who need workers. Sadly sometimes this abuse is violent. Prosecuting violent crimes as hate crimes would be a further deterrent to offenses against the most vulnerable among the disabled population - institutionalized people.
"“The Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act would strengthen the ability of federal, state, and local governments to investigate and prosecute hate crimes. This amendment would remove the current limitation on federal jurisdiction that allows federal involvement only in cases in which the assailant intended to prevent a victim from engaged in a ‘federally protected activity,’ such as voting. This amendment would expand the groups protected under current law to include all hate crimes – including those based on disability, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity. And this amendment would provide the Department of Justice the authority to assist state and local jurisdictions in prosecuting violent hate crimes, or to take the lead in such prosecutions where local authorities are unwilling or unable to act. "
The bill is the first major expansion of a hate crimes law since 1968 after a decade long struggle. It would cut down on hate crimes behind attacks that are sometimes fatal upon vulnerable populations. In the case of the disabled population, for example:
"On Tuesday, May 29, at around 8:45 p.m., James McKinney, 41, of Los Angeles, was walking to a store from a board and care facility for the mentally disabled, where he lived. As he neared the corner of Wilton Place and Olympic Boulevard, a male attacker approached him from behind and struck the back of his head with an aluminum baseball bat, the video showed."
-via clickondetroit.com
"A 21-year-old maintenance worker developmentally disabled was followed into the men's bathroom at the Shirley Lanes bowling alley and sodomized.
Investigators say the Sunday night attack was the work of 19-year-old Steven Rodriguez and 17-year-old Michael Lunsford.
Police say one man held down the victim in the bathroom, while the other sexually assaulted him with a plumber's tool, a snake used to clear drains.
The victim was found on the floor, bleeding with severe internal injuries."
-via abc.local.com [Long Island]
"Deputy Prosecutor Derrick Julkes said the 29-year-old victim, who is mentally disabled, has continued to suffer, as has his family. Prior to the beating, the victim was able to perform odd jobs, but he can't now, Julkes said.
Ward and co-defendant Pierre Lamar Springer, 19, of Gary, followed the victim from a home where they all had attended a party. In the street, the two men punched the man in the face, knocking him to the ground, and kicked, stomped and hit him in the face, chest and legs. They also removed the man's clothes, beat him with his own belt and left him naked, court records state.
The man was airlifted to Chicago with extensive brain damage. As a result of the attack, the man cannot used one arm, court records state."
via www.post-trib.com
Statistics show that:
-women with disabilities, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or class, are assaulted, raped, and abused at a rate two times greater than women without a disability (Sobsey 1994; Cusitar 1994).
-The risk of being physically or sexually assaulted for adults with developmental disabilities is four to ten times higher than it is for other adults (Ibid.).
Hate crimes against the disabled are notoriously under-reported for various reasons. Often police categorize them as cases of assault and don't address the hate crime. Or these crimes may be referred to as abuse.
A case from Anaheim California, where day care workers slapped two developmentally disabled men in the restroom for no reason was, for example, seen as a reason to develop a policy requiring protection of employees by requiring that two workers accompany residents. Sadly, the legal concerns involved are often addressed - from the point of view of the caretakers rather than the disabled.
This approach has failed to deter growing concerns of abuse from caretakers since underlying crimes often carry minimal penalties and screening people for such jobs may fall by the wayside by employers who need workers. Sadly sometimes this abuse is violent. Prosecuting violent crimes as hate crimes would be a further deterrent to offenses against the most vulnerable among the disabled population - institutionalized people.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Maryland Hate Crime Bill adds homeless as a protected group, but not disabled
After an attempt to add the categories of homeless and people with disabilities for protection under their Hate Crime Bill failed last year, Maryland reintroduced and passed the category of homeless. People with disabilities are still not protected.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Don't Ask, Tell or Respond: Silent Acceptance of Disability Hate Crimes
...transcript of a speech by Mark Sherry on the underreporting of hate crimes against those with disabilities. The figures reported do not include, for example, crimes reported where data is not taken as to whether a person is disabled or not; do not include crimes which are called abuse /neglect because they are committed against the person with a disability; do not take into account the ability of the person to report the crime, whatever circumstances might limit that including institutionalization; do not take into account under reporting due to fear, dependence or other factors.
Interesting to note the low numbers in light of the number of news stories that hit the papers regarding incidents of folks in wheelchairs being seriously assaulted and sometimes, sadly, killed on our streets. Also interesting considering the testimony of folks in institutions who report assaults and other crimes - however these are clearly designated into the category of abuse/neglect instead.
civilrights.org takes the position that new legislation is needed and reports:
"Enactment of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) has remained unfinished federal legislative business. The HCPA would expand the federal criminal hate crimes statute by removing unnecessary obstacles to federal prosecution of hate crimes based on race, religion, and national origin and providing authority, for the first time, for federal prosecution of certain hate crimes based on sexual origin, disability, and gender. Current federal law (18 U.S.C. Sec. 245) leaves federal prosecutors powerless to intervene in bias-motivated crimes unless they can establish the victim's involvement in a Federally-protected activity -- such as voting or going to school. Moreover, federal authorities cannot investigate or prosecute crimes involving death or serious bodily injury based on sexual orientation, gender, or disability-based bias when local law enforcement is unavailable or unwilling to proceed. "
Currently, only 29 states and the District of Columbia include coverage for disability-based crimes.
"Morality cannot be legislated but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless. "
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Interesting to note the low numbers in light of the number of news stories that hit the papers regarding incidents of folks in wheelchairs being seriously assaulted and sometimes, sadly, killed on our streets. Also interesting considering the testimony of folks in institutions who report assaults and other crimes - however these are clearly designated into the category of abuse/neglect instead.
civilrights.org takes the position that new legislation is needed and reports:
"Enactment of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) has remained unfinished federal legislative business. The HCPA would expand the federal criminal hate crimes statute by removing unnecessary obstacles to federal prosecution of hate crimes based on race, religion, and national origin and providing authority, for the first time, for federal prosecution of certain hate crimes based on sexual origin, disability, and gender. Current federal law (18 U.S.C. Sec. 245) leaves federal prosecutors powerless to intervene in bias-motivated crimes unless they can establish the victim's involvement in a Federally-protected activity -- such as voting or going to school. Moreover, federal authorities cannot investigate or prosecute crimes involving death or serious bodily injury based on sexual orientation, gender, or disability-based bias when local law enforcement is unavailable or unwilling to proceed. "
Currently, only 29 states and the District of Columbia include coverage for disability-based crimes.
"Morality cannot be legislated but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless. "
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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