#FreeBritney: Lessons for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Their Families

/in , , , , , , , /by Pam Katz

Britney Spears’ public battle over her conservatorship is shining a light on some of the broader challenges that people with disabilities face under guardianship, which is a term some states use for that kind of court involvement. This webinar describes some of the issues being highlighted in the media from Ms. Spears’ case, how they might apply to people with IDD, and alternative approaches that individuals with IDD and their families might consider.

Webinar slides

Webinar transcript

Houston Area Urban League v. Abbott

/in , , /by Pam Katz

State: Texas

Filed: 2021

Court: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

Plaintiffs: The Arc Texas, Houston Justice, Houston Area Urban League, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Jeffrey Lamar Clemons

Defendant: Governor Gregory Abbott and various state officials

Counsel: The Arc, NAACP LDF, Reed Smith LLP

Overview: For the past 150 years, the State of Texas has had a long track record of excluding and discouraging Black and Latino residents of the State from exercising their fundamental right to vote. Voters with disabilities, including Black and Latino voters with disabilities, have also persistently experienced barriers in accessing their right to vote in Texas. The State’s policies of exclusion and restrictive voting laws have resulted in chronically low voter turnout. In passing S.B. 1, instead of making the election process safer or more secure, the law eliminates methods and opportunities of voting disproportionately used by Black and Latino voters, burdening or effectively disenfranchising these voters by raising the time, cost, and risk associated with exercising their constitutional right to vote. The law also erects barriers to voting that will disproportionately and unlawfully deny equal access to individuals with disabilities.

Case Documents

Second Amended Complaint

Opposition to Motion to Dismiss

Order on Motion to Dismiss 

Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on ADA and 504 Claims

Exhibits Supporting Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on ADA and 504 Claims

Plaintiffs’ Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law for Claims Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act

Press Releases

Lawsuit Filed Challenging New Texas Law Targeting Voting Rights

Federal Court Strikes Down Texas’ Election Law Provisions Restricting Assistance for Limited English-Speaking and Disabled Voters

Fighting for an Inclusive Democracy

Texas Law Punishes Voters

Landmark Trial Challenging Regressive Voting Rights Provisions in Texas Senate Bill 1 Concludes

Related Media

AP News: Texas flagged 27,000 mail ballots for rejection in primary

CNN: How new voting restrictions threaten ballot access for disabled voters

Courthouse News Service: Voters with disabilities face new barriers over Texas voting law

Democracy Docket: Texas Omnibus Voter Suppression Law S.B. 1 Will Be Put to the Test at Federal Trial

KAH Consulting Group: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Rallies Against Texas Senate Bill 1 in San Antonio

KWTX: Texans with disabilities fear new restrictions on voting help could mean criminal charges at the polls

Law360 Pulse: Texas DA Ordered To Face Voter Discrimination Suits

Law360: How Lawyers Are Mobilizing To Protect The Vote

NewsOne: NAACP Legal Defense Fund Leads Challenge Against New Texas Voter Suppression Law

New York Times: New Voting Laws Add Difficulties for People With Disabilities

New York Times: ‘My Vote Was Rejected’: Trial Underway in Texas Over New Voting Law

Pew: Voters with Disabilities Face New Ballot Restrictions Ahead of Midterms

Politico: Why Election Laws in Georgia and Texas Remain a Threat

The Texas Tribune: Gov. Greg Abbott signs Texas voting bill into law, overcoming Democratic quorum breaks

The Texas Tribune: What’s at Stake in the Long-Awaited Trial Over Texas’s Sweeping 2021 Elections Law

USA Today: New election laws could create barriers for voters with disabilities

Vox: Democrats’ fears about restricting mail-in voting were confirmed in Texas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller

/in , /by Pam Katz

State: Texas

Filed: August 30, 2021

Court: U.S. Supreme Court

Overview: The Fifth Circuit eliminated an entire class of damages that those who have been subjected to unlawful discrimination can obtain under the ADA and Section 504—remedies for their mental distress and emotional injury. Amici argue that without the availability of these damages, some individuals who have been denied a legal right in violation of federal law will have no remedy.

Excerpt: “Often, violations of the relevant statutes do not cost individuals with disabilities money, nor do they impose physical harm. Instead, they are humiliated, singled out, mocked, or made to go without regular access to the service to which they are entitled. Those are all serious harms that cannot be disregarded as mere annoyance or passing embarrassment that might not justify recovery. Such core harms to human dignity are the very injuries that the Rehabilitation Act, Title VI, Title IX, and the Affordable Care Act are meant to prohibit. Taking away an important remedy for these harms would rob our civil rights statutes of their force.”

Case Documents

Amicus Brief

Related Media

Press Release: The Arc Reacts to Supreme Court Ruling Weakening Remedies Available to People with Disabilities Experiencing Discrimination

Crime Victims With Disabilities: Know Your Rights

/in , , , , /by The Arc

As a crime victim with a disability, it may be hard to know what to do. With this fact sheet, you can know your rights and where to find help.

Advocacy Made Easy: State & Local Chapters Working Together

/in /by Pam Katz

The Arc of Indiana’s legislative agenda at the state level has made a positive difference for people with IDD. Recently, The Arc took a leadership role in getting a 14% Medicaid waiver increase in Indiana’s biennial budget. This will raise DSP wages to an average of $15.00 per hour statewide. Stone Belt Arc has worked with The Arc of Indiana to successfully engage and educate legislators at the local levels. The Arc’s agenda is strengthened by partnerships with the local affiliates. Join us to learn practical tips and tools to take your advocacy efforts to the next level. Local executives will get ideas on events, outreach, and communication to use in their community. State executives will learn how The Arc of Indiana uses the power of the local advocates to affect change in the state legislature.

Download the presentation slides here.

Download the advocacy toolkit resource here.

For more information, please contact nce@thearc.org.

Better Care Better Jobs Act: What Grassroots Need to Know

/in , , , , /by Pam Katz

Learn the basics about the Better Care Better Jobs Act and how it would transform Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS).

The proposed $400 billion in funding would increase access to services and provide a long-overdue investment in the direct care workforce that delivers these services to people with disabilities and aging adults all over the country. You will hear from lawmakers about what we can expect in Congress and from consumers about the importance of Medicaid-funded HCBS and policy priorities that enable people with disabilities and older adults to live in their homes and communities.

Organized By:
The Arc of the United States, ACLU, AAPD, ANCOR, ASAN, Justice in Aging, Caring Across Generations and National Domestic Workers Alliance

Co-Sponsored By:
Care Can’t Wait, Disability and Aging Collaborative , and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities

Planned Giving: What You Need to Know to Benefit

/in /by Pam Katz

Planned giving is different than traditional fundraising methods, and therefore require different tactics. Learn from an expert on how to attract planned giving donors. Our speaker, Dan Naylor is the Trust Development Officer for the American Bank of Texas, with a proven history of working with non-profits to support their development goals.

Download the presentation here.

Collaborate, Train & Engage: Diverting People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

/in , , , , /by Pam Katz

Hosted by The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)

While local providers across the country are increasing their awareness of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) in their criminal justice systems, they may encounter challenges when seeking appropriate diversion programming for this population. This webinar will discuss best practices that localities can implement to improve cross-system collaboration, family engagement, identification, and accessibility of services that meet the needs of people with IDD. Speakers will also describe how consistent evaluation of diversion outcomes assists with sustaining successful efforts and the creation of action plans to address gaps. Participants will hear from an author and person diagnosed with autism about his experience with the criminal justice system and how diversion could have been beneficial in his case.

Speakers:

Leigh Ann Davis, Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives, The Arc
Nick Dubin, Author/person with lived experience
Maria Fryer, Justice Systems and Mental Health Policy Advisor, Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice
Reginald “Reggie” Thomas, Criminal Justice & Disability Fellow, The Arc
Felicia Lopez Wright, Policy Analyst, Behavioral Health Division, the CSG Justice Center

Neli Latson Pardon

/in , , , /by Pam Katz

Overview: In 2010, Mr. Latson was an 18-year-old with autism and intellectual disability, waiting outside his neighborhood library in Stafford County, Virginia for it to open. Someone called the police reporting a “suspicious” Black male, possibly with a gun. Mr. Latson had committed no crime and was not armed. The resulting confrontation with a deputy resulted in injury to an officer when Mr. Latson understandably resisted being manhandled and physically restrained. This was the beginning of years of horrific abuse in the criminal justice system. Prosecutors refused to consider Mr. Latson’s disabilities, calling it a diagnosis of convenience and using “the R-word,” and rejected an offer of disability services as an alternative to incarceration. Instead, Mr. Latson was convicted, sentenced to ten years in prison, and punished with long periods of solitary confinement, Taser shocks, and the use of a full-body restraint chair for hours on end for behaviors related to his disabilities.

Virginia and national disability advocates, including The Arc urged then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to pardon Mr. Latson. In 2015, with bipartisan support from state legislators, Governor McAuliffe granted a conditional pardon. Although this released Mr. Latson from prison, it required him to live in a restrictive residential setting and remain subject to criminal justice system supervision for ten years. The terms of the 2015 conditional pardon meant Mr. Latson could be sent back to jail at any time, causing constant anxiety.

The Arc and other advocates continued to push for a full pardon which was finally granted by Governor Ralph Northam in 2021. The full pardon from Governor Northam recognizes Mr. Latson’s success since 2015 and relieves him from that ongoing threat. Mr. Latson now has the chance to live a satisfying and self-directed life in the community, free from burdensome, unfair restrictions and the constant threat of reincarceration, but unfortunately never free from the painful truth that Black people with disabilities live at a dangerous intersection of racial injustice and disability discrimination. Mr. Latson’s case galvanized disability rights activists, bringing national attention to overly aggressive and sometimes deadly policing, prosecution and sentencing practices and the horrifying mistreatment of people with disabilities in jails and prisons.

Case Documents

Pardon of Reginald Latson

Request for Complete Pardon and Other Relief for Reginald Latson

Press Releases

The Arc Calls on Governor McAuliffe to Grant Conditional Pardon for Neli Latson Immediately

The Arc Demands Full Pardon for Neli Latson, a Young Black Man With Autism, to Rectify Injustice

Coalition Demands Governor Northam Grant a Full Pardon of Neli Latson, a Young Black Man With Disabilities Subjected to a Decade of Injustice

Advocates Applaud Full Pardon of Neli Latson, a Young Black Man with Disabilities, After Decade of Injustice

Related Media

Washington Post: Stafford County woman confronts issues of race, autism after son’s arrest

Washington Post: Neli Latson is — finally — free. It only took 11 years, two governors and a national conversation about race and disability

The Hill: Amid Black Lives Matter protests, advocates seek pardon for autistic Black man convicted in 2010

Washington Post: Remember Neli Latson, the black teen with autism who seemed ‘suspicious’ sitting outside a library? Ten years after his arrest, he still isn’t fully free.

The Hill: Criminal injustice towards autistic individuals and the regrettable necessity of labeling autism a disability

Dallas Morning News: The U.S. justice system has an autism problem

Washington Post: In Va. assault case, anxious parents recognize ‘dark side of autism’

The Hill: Racial justice, disability rights, neurodiversity and cross-movement solidarity

OZY: Are Police Finally Learning to Deal With Autism? 

The Hill: Law enforcement’s efforts at greater autism awareness

Washington Post: Ruth Marcus: In Virginia, a cruel and unusual punishment for autism

Washington Post: A Black disabled teen went unheard in prison. People are now listening.

Prepared4ALL: Whole Community Inclusive Emergency Planning

/in , , , /by Pam Katz

This free course, created by AUCD, is designed to increase your knowledge about whole community emergency planning, including COVID-19 planning, as well as provide you the basic information needed to connect with your own local emergency planners, public health professionals, and community.