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BALTIMORE, Sept. 28 --In a decision that appears to be in direct opposition
to the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court's Olmstead ruling, a federal judge has ruled
that the state did not discriminate against a group of people with
developmental disabilities and brain injuries by confining them in
institutions.
In her decision announced Thursday, U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake
said that neither the Constitution nor the Americans with Disabilities Act
required the state to treat individuals in the community -- even when
medical professionals considered that setting more appropriate than
institutions.
According to a story in Friday's Washington Post, Blake weighed the due
process rights of the plaintiffs on the basis of the food, shelter, medical
care and safety they were provided in the institutions. She found none of
that lacking constitutionally, it read.
The suit known as Williams et al v. Wasserman was filed on behalf of twelve
people in 1994. As a class action suit, it represented around 60 people
confined to institutions in the state. The case was considered one of the
longest running in the state's federal court.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1999 ruled that "unnecessarily" institutionalizing
people with developmental disabilities violated the Americans with
Disabilities Act. Earlier this year, President Bush expanded the scope of
what is known as the Olmstead decision to include people with other
disabilities as well.
Read the story in the Washington Post:
Sacramento, Sept. 28, 2001 -- The California Supreme Court has issued its final decision in the Robert Wendland case: It has refused to reconsider its Aug. 9 ruling in which it forbade removal of feeding and hydration tubes from an incompetent yet conscious person -- unless the person's wishes were well known.
"The highest court in the largest state, an
influential state, has affirmed that people with Alzheimer's, other
dementias, psychiatric diagnoses, brain injury, and labels of mental
retardation, autism, and other cognitive disabilities, still have certain
constitutional rights," NDY head Diane Coleman said.
"We must
never forget that Robert Wendland was
wrongfully denied antibiotics, and died, before the high court ruling that
might have saved his life. "
More on the Robert Wendland case
CHOCTAW, OKLAHOMA, Sept. 27, 2001 --The mother of a man killed by a fellow resident
at the Choctaw Living Center has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the
administrators and insurers, saying she wants to
send a warning to other Oklahomans who are contemplating placing a family
member in such a facility. More.
TOPEKA, KANSAS, Sept. 25, 2001 --Organizations that provide community services for people
with disabilities say they cannot continue operating if the state does not
come through with money that was promised by the Legislature.
During the last session, lawmakers approved a plan to get an estimated $37.5
million in new money from the federal government for home and
community-based services without spending any additional state funds. But
that money has not come through, and agencies say the delay is making them
deplete their cash reserves.
State officials say they are working on the problem, according to this story
from Monday's Wichita Eagle:
WEST PALM BEACH, Sept. 24, 2001 --A state appeals court last Wednesday overturned a
$79.6 million judgment against Humana Health Insurance Company for
withdrawing treatment for a girl who has cerebral palsy.
A jury on January 4, 2000 decided the insurer had violated its own policies
in 1995 when it removed Caitlyn Chipps, now 10, along with about 100 other
patients, from a special intensive program for chronically ill patients. The
court at that time then ordered Humana to pay $78.5 million in punitive
damages and $1.1 million in compensatory damages to Caitlyn's family.
But last week, the 4th District Court of Appeal said the trial judge made a
number of "glaring errors" during the trial. In particular, the judge had
failed to tell the jury that they could choose not to award any punitive
damages.
According to various wire reports, Caitlyn's parents, Mark and Barbara
Chipps, can ask for another trial.
Justice Alex Bryner wrote the unanimous decision: "The terminally ill are a class of
persons who need protection from family, social, and economic
pressures, and who are often particularly vulnerable to such
pressures because of chronic pain, depression, and the effects
of medication."
Assistant attorney general Eric Johnson, who had argued the case against permitting assisted suicide, told reporters that assisted suicide would not just "be used for the person you are confident
has a nice, completely supportive family. It could be used by a
family member who wants a person out of the way because they
want their money. ... We don't want disadvantaged people to
have coercion or pressure of any kind."
Read the story from the Anchorage Daily News.
Read the Alaska Supreme Court decision
CONCORD, NH, Sept. 22, 2001 --The Governor's Commission on Disability will hold a
fall conference in Concord in two weeks, and will have controversial
bioethicist Peter Singer as keynote speaker. The state, however, will not
pay Singer's $2,000 speaking fee. More.
CARY, ILLINOIS, Sept. 19, 2001 --Neighbors in this small town north of Chicago are protesting
a plan to convert a house into a small treatment center and group home for
six children with autism ages 6 to 12.
Shawna C. Egan, executive director of the non-profit Children's Center for
Autism, wanted a safe neighborhood to establish the home so the children
could most easily assimilate into the community.
But last Thursday, about two dozen neighbors showed up before the Cary Board
of Zoning, Planning and Appeals, many to protest the plan.
According to a brief story from the Chicago Tribune, the neighbors said they
were worried that the home would cause traffic to increase and property
values to decrease.
"The reality is, nobody seeks out a home next to a group home," said Dennis
Oltz, who lives near the home.
The Board voted 4-2 to endorse the plan, which goes to the Village Board for
final approval next month.
SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 19, 2001 --Ronald Decker has sued the Utah Department of
Transportation, claiming that its policy not to create curb ramps when it
resurfaces a road discriminates against people with disabilities and
violates the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973.
The state Attorney General's Office argues that Decker and other Utahns with
disabilities cannot sue the state under the anti-discrimination laws, and is
asking a U.S. District Court Judge to dismiss the suit. The state is
pointing to U.S. Supreme Court decisions earlier this year which have
ruled in favor of state's rights.
MOORPARK, CA, Sept. 17, 2001 --A husband and wife are suing a Pasadena-based adoption
agency, claiming that the agency would not allow the couple to adopt simply
because the wife has a disability. More.
TRENTON, NJ, Sept. 14, 2001 --One of the victims of Tuesday's tragedies was Colleen
Fraser, who served as chair of the New Jersey Developmental Disabilities
Council for five years beginning in 1990.
Fraser was a passenger on United Airlines flight 93 which took off from
Newark for San Francisco Tuesday morning. The plane was hijacked by
terrorists over Ohio and crashed in rural Pennsylvania.
According to a statement from the council, Fraser was elected vice chair in
July of this year.
She was on her way to a grant writing seminar to boost her skills for her
new job as executive director of Progressive Center for Independent Living
(PCIL), the independent living center for Mercer and Hunterdon counties in
New Jersey.
More details are available from the New Jersey Developmental Disabilities
Council website.
OKLAHOMA CITY, Sept. 13, 2001 --"You can fight this, but you are going to lose,"
Ralph Rouse of the U.S. Dept. of Justice's Office of Civil Rights warned lawmakers
Monday during a hearing at the state's Capitol.
Rouse was talking about the June 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision in
Olmstead v. L.C., which found that "unnecessarily" segregating people in
institutions because of mental retardation violates the "least restrictive
setting" provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Clinton administration last year directed each state to develop a plan
for complying with the ruling. This summer, President Bush issued an
executive order that strengthens the ruling and expands its scope to include
people with all disabilities.
"When the Supreme Court rules, it's the law of the land," explained Rouse,
who uses a wheelchair.
"You don't want high-priced lawyers suing Oklahoma ... to give them an
opportunity to make a little money."
More details are available from an article published Tuesday by the Daily
Oklahoman.
The National Conference of State Legislatures published an on-line directory
of how individual states were responding to the Olmstead ruling in March of
this year, available online at
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/forum/olmsreport.htm
Sept.10, 2001 --
Northwest Airlines and Ryanair are in the hot seat here and in Europe
for their treatment of people with disabilities. More.
WOODLAND, PA, Sept. 7, 2001 --On January 12, Richard Fort, 47 was
beaten by his roommate at New Lisbon Developmental Center. He died from his
injuries two weeks later.
On March 23, Raymond C. Bergen, 63, was hit and killed by a van when he
wandered across a highway about a mile from the institution.
On June 27, a New Lisbon resident tried to take a soda from another
resident. When an employee ran after him and restrained him, he fell and hit
his head. The man died from those injuries.
Months after these unusual deaths prompted federal investigations, the
remaining 565 people with developmental disabilities housed there are still
not safe.
During an inspection in May, federal officials reported that conditions at
New Lisbon constituted an "immediate jeopardy to client health and safety."
Surveys since then have found that the facility continues to violate federal
health and safety standards.
According to a letter sent Tuesday to state officials by the federal Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly HCFA), the facility has 60 days
to meet those standards or risk losing nearly half of its $80 million
budget.
New Lisbon is one of seven state-run institutions in New Jersey which
house a total of 3,500 people with developmental disabilities.
GOODLAND, KS, Sept. 5, 2001--After an 8-week trial and more than two days of
deliberations, a jury on Tuesday ordered a rehabilitation center to pay $4
million to the family of a woman with mental retardation who died while
undergoing treatment at the facility. The verdict included $2.5 million in
punitive damages against Golden West Skill Center of Goodland and its parent
company, Res-Care Kansas Inc. It is considered one of the largest
malpractice awards in the state's history.
Christine Zellner died just 13 days after she arrived at the facility in
January 1996. An autopsy never determined exactly how the 23-year-old woman
died, but experts for Zellner's family claimed that she died from reactions
to the medications she was given to keep her quiet. They added that Zellner
had been tied up by staff members and had been neglected for several days.
The company argued that Zellner helped bring about her own death by refusing
food and beverages, according to a short item from the Wichita Eagle.
PHILADELPHIA,Sept. 5, 2001--SEPTA, Philadelphia's para-transit service for
20,000 people with disabilities, was ordered by a federal judge earlier this
year to shape up -- to make their services more accessible, more reliable
and more available.
SEPTA officials say they have been working on improving their service.
Last week, the same federal judge said the promises were not being kept.
So, beginning November, the transit service will have to start paying
penalties for those promises not kept, according to this brief opinion piece
from the Philadelphia Inquirer:
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/09/05/opinion/THREEWED05.htm
In July, Inclusion Daily Express included this link to a story on two SEPTA
passengers who held a para-transit van captive in the sweltering heat:
http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/07/19/local_news/PPARA19.htm
WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 5, 2001 -- Today the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services is hosting an all-day "listening session" to get public input on
barriers to community living for people with disabilities.
The event will take place from 9:30 to 4:30 in the Ronald Reagan Building
and International Trade Center Atrium Ballroom on Wed., Sept. 5
People with disabilities, their family members, service providers and others
have been invited to attend and to speak directly with federal officials
about their experiences regarding the barriers to community-based services
and to offer suggestions for dealing with those barriers.
The listening session is the third and final chance for public input into
President's Executive Order on Community-Based Alternatives for Individuals
with Disabilities which was signed on June 18. Written comments were to be
submitted by August 27.
More details on the listening session are available at this web address:
http://www.hsrnet.com/meeting/newfreedom
The New Freedom Initiative Public Input Teleconference was held on August
15. The teleconference is available as an on-line "webcast" with captions
through September 14 at this address:
http://app2.streampipe.com/vtc/switch.tc?c=10032&cn=hcfa&s=20120&e=998#
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