A public hearing is set for April 29 at 10:00 a.m. at the Federal Court building in Brooklyn.

The disability proposal was jointly developed and submitted on behalf of an international coalition of 17 disability organizations, as well as individual disabled Holocaust survivors in the Holocaust reparations cases. It called for establishment of a "modest disability foundation, to be directed by disability leaders," to be paid out of the 1.25 billion dollar settlement fund for Holocaust victims.

The settlement designated five categories of participants in the fund, including those persecuted because they were Jewish, disabled, Romani, homosexual or Jehovah's Witnesses. "Almost no disabled or gay or lesbian victims participated in the first stage of the fund's distribution, which required individual claims. In part, this was because the survivors' heirs were allowed to make claims and victim groups of disabled and homosexual were largely without heirs," says Wolinsky.

"One of Hitler's first moves was to initiate a forcible sterilization program, which resulted in the compulsory and systemic sterilization of over 400,000 people with disabilities."

Disabled people never received notice of the settlement, he adds. "Although millions of dollars were spent targeting Jewish, Romani, and Jehovah's Witnesses organizations, publishing notices in Jewish and Romani newsletters and meeting with Jewish and Romani survivors on an individual basis, not a single dollar was specifically allocated for notice to people with disabilities, not a single notice was placed in a disability-oriented publication, not a single disability organization was contacted, and not a single alternate format was used (such as Braille, large print format, TTYs or audio format).

"When DRA called this to the attention of the court, nothing was done to correct these deficiencies."

The proposal that Judge Korman rejected "asked that one percent of the total settlement funds be allocated to disability causes. The proposal was supported not only by the 17 organizations, but by the EDF, the disability arm of the European Union, as well as Simon Wiesenthal and Congressman Tom Lantos, among other prominent Jewish Holocaust survivors.

"Nazi records show that over 275,000 men, women and children with disabilities were systematically exterminated in Germany alone under Hitler's disability 'euthanasia' program of lethal injections and gassing for disabled citizens. Untold hundreds of thousands more died in concentration camps or were worked to death in slave-enforced labor camps to enrich German industry and the Swiss banks. These forgotten crimes have never been compensated or recognized. To now deny any meaningful recognition of their suffering severely undermines the goals of this historic litigation and would perpetuate a historical injustice."

The demonstrators were also drawing attention to the fact that services are now being reduced for more people because new guidelines are making it more difficult to qualify for supports.

Many are afraid that budget cuts will mean that they no longer would have state support to purchase life-saving medications.

The state has cut 90,000 Oregonians from the Oregon Health Plan to cut costs. Since then, there have been a number of news reports of people that have died because they could not afford the medications they needed.

Organizers of Tuesday's rally presented Don Bruland, director of Senior and Disability Services for the Rogue Valley Council of Governments, with a list of 10 "basic demands". The petition seeks restoration of services to levels that existed before the cuts of 2003, along with restoration of Oregon Health Plan benefits for thousands of people who lost those services during the past two years, the Mail Tribune reported.

Bruland said he would let send the protesters' request for a meeting to Department of Human Services officials in Salem.

Related: "Marchers protest service cuts to disabled" (Mail Tribune)

It's a charge DHR officials flatly deny.

A recent Associated Press story quotes Michael Jones, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Alabama, saying that he has seen six cases over the last four years in which he believed parents were accused of child abuse or neglect simply because they were blind.

"What the hell did they do? The only thing they did was what they were, which was blind," Jones said.

The most recent case was that of a blind Talladega couple who lost custody of their newborn daughter April 8 -- just two days after she was born.

"It's unfair," said Pyanne Jordan, the girl's 20-year-old mother. "It shouldn't have happened. And I feel that it happened because we're visually impaired."

Because the couple's home was considered unsafe, they will have to find a new home before their daughter can live with them. The Jordans said this request was reasonable, in part because of a hole in the floor.

What is less reasonable, they said, is the requirement that they have a sighted adult supervise the family 24-hours a day.

DHR officials said that the agency's social workers do not focus on disability when deciding whether to take a child from its parents. Rather, it is the parents' behavior that makes the difference.

Jones, however, has seen enough to convince him otherwise. He is working with the state Legislature on a bill that would prohibit the courts from ruling that a disability alone was reason enough to constitute abuse or neglect. He is also urging DHR officials to train social workers to understand that parents with disabilities use different methods to supervise their children.

Related: "Blind Parents Accuse Alabama of Discrimination" (Associated Press via Fox News)

In a suit filed Thursday in federal court at Syracuse, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division accused the state of not complying with the 1993 National Voter Registration Act.

The federal law requires all state-funded offices that primarily serve people with disabilities to provide applicants with voter registration forms, declination forms, along with assistance in completing the forms and forwarding completed applications to the appropriate state officials.

The suit names Governor George Pataki, City University of New York, State University of New York, the Board of Elections and other state agencies. It joins a similar suit, filed in 2000 against the state on behalf of New York members of the National Coalition for Students with Disabilities.

A SUNY spokesperson told the Associated Press Friday that the campus is in full compliance with the federal law.

Related:
National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (U.S. Department of Justice)
National Coalition for Students with Disabilities

The ruling could have broad implications for stadium, theater, movie and sports fans who use wheelchairs.

In its decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling which said that American Multi-Cinema Inc. violated the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act by refusing to remove people without disabilities from seats set aside for companions of patrons who use wheelchairs.

Robin Fortyune, who is described in the case as "a C-5 quadriplegic", arrived with his wife 20 minutes early at their local Torrance, California AMC movie theater to see the movie "Chicken Run" on June 25, 2000.

When the Fortyunes got to the wheelchair accessible section, they found a man and his son in two seats which had been designated for companions of wheelchair users. A sign on the back of the seats read: "NOTICE -- This seat is designated as COMPANION SEATING for our disabled guests, per ADA guidelines. It may be necessary to ask non-disabled patrons to move."

After the man refused to move to other vacant seats, the Fortyunes went to the theater manager to get his help. The manager then asked the man and his son to move. When the request was refused again, the manager told the Fortyunes AMC policy said companions of wheelchair users "will be exposed to the same risk of less desirable seating" during sold-out shows.

Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, who wrote the decision for the appeals court, said the ADA "requires that AMC take steps to remove from a companion seat any person who is not the companion of a wheelchair-bound patron and who refuses to vacate that seat despite being asked to do so."

"As a public accommodation, AMC is responsible -- on a daily basis -- for ensuring that its patrons act reasonably and responsibly with regard to an array of company, state, and federal law or policies," Wardlaw wrote.

A District Court judge in 2002 found that Fortyune was entitled to sue AMC, and ordered the theater chain to change its policy to make sure that a companion of a wheelchair user be "given priority in the use of companion seats".

AMC appealed that decision, arguing that Fortyune did not have any legal standing to sue because his experience was an isolated incident. Lawyers for AMC added that requiring theaters to remove customers without disabilities was "draconian", and constituted "preferential treatment".

The appellate court disagreed, pointing out that Fortyune was a frequent movie-goer, and that the written policy made it likely he would be in the same situation again. It also noted that movie theaters have no problem ejecting customers who use cell phones or are disruptive.

"It really affirms a legal principal that says you can't just build your facility in compliance with access codes and then wash your hands of the ADA," Fortyune's lawyer, Russell C. Handy of the Center for Disability Access, told the Associated Press. "The court said that is not enough, you have to look at how the facility is being used."

Attorneys for AMC could not be reached for comment.

Related:
Fortyune v. American Multi-Cinema (U.S. Court of Appeals For the 9th Circuit) [PDF format, requires Adobe Acrobat Reader]

The women accused workers at the East Buffet of telling them they could not come into the restaurant because of their dogs.

Restaurants are required to allow service dogs under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

"We were forced to leave," explained Rockey Hackler, whose daughter, Renee, uses a service dog to help her walk. "I was so shocked. I didn't know what to do at first."

After the women called police, they were allowed to enter the restaurant. When they tried to go to the buffet line, however, restaurant staff told them they were not allowed because of safety concerns, the women claim.

"Unlike some of them, Renee cannot walk up to that counter without her dog, so the dog has to go with her," she said. "She cannot be deprived of that little piece of her independence."

An East Buffet representative said the allegations are not true, that the workers are innocent of the allegations.

See also Another Civil Right Now Limited

And "Commonly asked questions about service animals in places of business" (U.S. Department of Justice)

"Pleasurelands", an historic exhibit of fairground history, is scheduled to run from April 24 through September 5 at the Croydon Clocktower. Organizers said that the section displaying photographs on freak shows is just one small part of the exhibit.

The show will feature photographs of such acts as conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, Lionel the 'Lion-faced Boy', and Joseph Merrick, who had Proteus syndrome and whose story was made famous by the 1980 film 'The Elephant Man'.

Freak shows were a common part of circus side shows in Britain until the 1960s when they lost favor with the public. Such exhibits still exist in some countries.

"It never was and never will be right to exploit a person's deformities," said Marc Peters, a former chairman of the Croydon Disability Forum. "This exhibition must be very careful that it does not glamorize the exploitations of the past."

Ralph Conde, vice-chairman of Disability Croydon, said: "Disabled people should not be held up to ridicule in any way."

"It won't occur to many visitors that they are taking the mickey out of real people's suffering," added Conde, who has cerebral palsy. "We too have feelings, the same as the rest of society."

The Croydon Council defended the exhibit.

"We are ensuring that the freak show element is put in balance and we are quite sure it won't cause offence," a spokesman said. "We feel people will find the experience a positive one."

The police union, however, argued that disciplinary action of any kind would be inappropriate for Turney, even though an internal police review found Turney did not follow proper procedure when he fired four shots into Childs. The 15-year-old Childs had mental retardation and epilepsy.

Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman announced his recommendation Thursday. The final decision over Turney's discipline rests with Al LaCabe, the city's Manager of Safety. LaCabe has until April 16 to decide on a disciplinary response, which could range from firing Turney to a written reprimand or to no action at all.

On Friday, the Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance called on Mayor John Hickenlooper to push for a minimum one-year suspension. An editorial in Friday's Denver Post urged LaCabe to fire Turney, calling the officer "an embarrassment to his profession and a liability to the city."

A group of about 40 protesters gathered in front of a police station to also demand that Turney be fired for shooting Childs.

"A slap in the wallet for Turney, a slap in the face for the city," said one of the protesters.

On July 5, the Childs family called police in the hopes that they could help calm Paul after a series of outbursts in his home. Turney drew his firearm even though two other officers, who were on the scene before him, had non-lethal Tasers. Turney shot Childs when the teen failed to follow police instructions to drop a kitchen knife he was clutching to his chest.

A neurologist later suggested that Childs' behavior prior to the shooting may have been caused by the after-effects of a massive seizure he had experienced a few days earlier.

The incident has prompted legislators to consider "Paul's Law", a measure that would require all law enforcement officers and dispatchers in Colorado to undergo crisis-intervention training, along with specific training on dealing with suspects who have mental illness or developmental disabilities. It also has prompted the family to prepare a federal civil rights suit against the police department, led by famous attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.

The Denver Post editorial based its suggestion that Turney be fired on his part in the 2002 shooting death of Gregory Smith, a partially deaf 18-year-old, along with the fact that he threatened to kill his former mother-in-law one day before Childs' shooting.

No criminal charges were filed against Turney for either shooting. A misdemeanor charge for the threat against his mother-in-law was later dropped.

The Rev. Michael Thompson, who was Paul Childs' uncle, said the family will not accept anything less than Turney's dismissal.

"This man doesn't need to be on the street with a gun," the Reverend Michael Thompson told the Rocky Mountain News. "Our goal is to get Turney off the force, that's the goal."

"Don't give him a gun and put him back on the streets," Thompson said.

Related:
"Cop's proposed suspension too lenient, protesters say" (Denver Post)
"The Death of Paul Childs III" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)

Terry and Betty Shawchuck claim that two cardboard tri-folds were pulled together to surround their 16-year-old son, Adam, who has Down syndrome and is deaf, in his St. Helena Junior High classroom. The "box" made it impossible for him to see out or to use sign language to let others know he needed to use the restroom, the parents said.

A teacher's aide told them that Adam was being disciplined for "uncooperative behavior".

The parents demanded an apology for the incident they said occurred on March 1.

They did receive an apology from the principal, and from the regular teacher, who was not present that day.

What they really want is for the substitute teacher and teacher's aide to apologize directly to their son.

"We believe that some day, somehow . . . these people are going to walk into a room and say sorry to our son," explained Mr. Shawchuck.

According to the Shawchucks, the school has arranged for the apology they requested, but with just one catch: Adam's parents would not be allowed to be there at the time.

The couple have since pulled Adam from the school.

After an initial review of the situation, the Catholic School Board responded by saying said the cardboard partitions are called "focus centres", and are often used in special education classes to calm students or to keep them from becoming distracted.

"Time out might have a couple of different looks to it," said Judy MacKay, superintendent of instruction, who would not comment on the specifics of the Shawchuck case.

Related articles:
'It could have been settled in one day' (Calgary Herald)
"School board responds to complaint about boy in box" (CBC News)

After months of work by disability rights groups, staff from Senator Charles Grassley's office announced that the Senate Finance Committee will hold hearings next Wednesday, April 7, on S. 1394, the Money Follows the Person Act, and S. 971, otherwise known as MiCASSA, the Medicaid Community-Based Attendant Services and Supports Act.

LISTEN TO HEARING ARCHIVE

The Money Follows the Person Act, which was introduced into the Senate last summer, would provide money to states to help transition people from institutions to community-based services. MiCASSA would give Medicaid recipients the choice of in-home supports over institutions.

Nearly 75 percent of all Medicaid long-term care funding is currently used by nursing homes and other institutions. Funding for such programs is mandated in some states, while in-home supports are not.

Grassley, who chairs the committee, said the hearing will bring together experts to describe how the proposal would work, and to look at the details from the perspectives of all involved.

Leaders with NCIL (National Council on Independent Living), ADAPT (Americans Disabled For Attendant Programs Today), and other groups are encouraging advocates to attend the hearing, which will be held at 10:00 am, in Room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Those who cannot attend are encouraged to contact committee members or provide statements for the official record.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1999 ruled that unnecessarily institutionalizing people with disabilities violates their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Presidents Clinton and Bush have ordered state Medicaid programs to develop plans to implement the so-called Olmstead decision.

Related:
Instructions on giving comments for official record (United States Senate Committee on Finance)
"Prepare for Money Follows Person Hearing" (Justice For All Action Alert)

The 36-year-old Herring -- who has Rett syndrome and is not able to move her limbs, call for help, or even scream -- had been discovered in her bed covered from head to toe with the stinging, poisonous insects at about 5:30 a.m. Officials said she was okay when she was checked just a few hours earlier.

Department of Health investigators later found seven documented incidents of fire ant infestations in the three months prior to the attack on Herring. Staff members had reported finding fire ants on floors, walls, drinking fountains, and in residents' beds.

University of Mississippi researchers are now warning that non-native fire ants are becoming an increasing danger for residents of nursing homes and other institutions. During the past decade, scientists have documented at least six attacks by South American fire ants in nursing homes in Florida, Texas and Mississippi, along with Herring's attack in the neighboring Alabama institution.

At least 4 nursing home residents have died within a week of a fire ant attack, according to a story in Sunday's Associated Press.

"In a sense, this is a wake-up call for the future," said Robin Rockhold, a professor of toxicology and pharmacology at the University of Mississippi Medical School. "We need recognition of the potential for this problem."

Rockhold noted that the patients who were attacked by fire ants had physical or mental disabilities that kept them from moving away or shouting for help.

"Is seven attacks in 10 years a problem? Of course," said Jeff Smokler, spokesman for the American Health Care Association. "One attack is a problem. One is too many."

Experts say that the fast-moving insects -- which have been in the South since the 1930s -- are spreading to the north, east and west.

Related:
"Fire Ant Attacks Up in Nursing Homes" (Associated Press via South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
"Trouble in Alabama's Institutions: Albert P. Brewer Developmental Center" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)

In a decision that was made public Monday, U.S. District Judge Wayne Alley ordered the county to equip 20 percent of its voting precincts with touch-screen machines in time for the August 2004 primary election.

Touch-screen machines allow voters with limited mobility to mark selections by touching large buttons. They are also equipped with voice instructions to help voters that are blind or cannot read. Optical scan systems, however, require voters to fill in small ovals on paper ballots.

Judge Alley pointed out that Jacksonville voters with disabilities have had an equal opportunity to vote, but not an independent one. By having to rely on others to make their selections, voters who are blind or cannot read have not been able to exercise their right to cast a secret ballot.

"To me, it's what I think our country's all about," Dan O'Connor, who has been legally blind for more than a decade, told WJXT-TV. "The major obstacle of the current system for me is that I have to rely on someone else."

County elections officials have until this Friday to decide whether they will appeal Alley's decision.

In various news reports, officials said that purchasing the estimated 60 touch-screen machines would cost between $180,000 and $250,000, which could present a hardship to the county. Another problem is that the state has not yet certified touch-screen machines that are compatible with the Diebold optical scan system the county currently uses. The new machines will not likely be certified until May at the earliest.

Chris died five days later. He was 26 years old.

Chris had muscular dystrophy and was eligible for in-home supports through Medicaid until he turned 21. After that, he had the choice of staying in a nursing home or living with his parents -- but without 24-hour support.

Nick Dupree was Chris' life-long friend.

Three years ago, Dupree launched "Nick's Crusade", a public awareness campaign to get Alabama's Medicaid program to fund in-home services for people over the age of 21. On February 10, 2003, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced that the federal government would approve a limited program in Alabama that would continue Medicaid funded in-home services for Dupree and 29 other young people who were nearing their 21st birthday.

This meant little for Alabamans who had already turned 21, including Chris Wiggins.

"Chris was a person," Dupree wrote last week. "His death was totally preventable, and only the fault of the awful situation of near-total lack of services in Alabama." Dupree noted that Chris' death was the fifth one of its kind that he knows of in Mobile alone.

"We know that when care is not provided to people who need care to survive, they don't survive."

"I think it's fair to ask, what is being done to protect people from dying due to very preventable lack of care again and again in the future? What does it take to get some Olmstead litigation to force state Medicaids to move some of their institutional funding into community services? When will Congress even acknowledge this issue and hold hearings on MiCASSA? Does America care?"

"How many times will this have to happen?"

Dupree, who is now 22, said last year that he would dedicate the rest of his life to "make sure everyone can be safe and live in their community and not locked away in a faraway nursing home".

"I'll keep advocating for major changes, keep writing, keep speaking around the country, keep studying, and keep trying to fix my own care, so it's enabling me to live a full life instead of trapping and preventing life as it is now," he wrote last week. "I will continue to work on these issues."

"And I need all the help I can get."

Related:
"Medicaid policy causes another 21 cut-off death, close to home" open letter by Nick Dupree
Nick's Crusade

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