Note: This appendix is from the "Brief Of Morton Horwitz, Martha Field, Martha Minow And Over 100 Other Historians And Scholars, Amici Curiae In Support Of Respondents" -- however, this Appendix, although referred to in the Brief, is not online at that site. Here we have reproduced its content. For questions about this reproduction, contact us at editor@raggededgemagazine.com
APPENDIX:
COMPENDIUM OF STATE-SPONSORED DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
"In this Appendix, amici curiae have gathered a collection of state statutes, session laws, and constitutional provisions that illustrate pervasive state-sponsored discrimination against persons with disabilities, dating from the late nineteenth century through the time of the ADA's enactment and (in some cases) to the present. The collection is representative, rather than exhaustive. The provisions contained herein represent an historical perspective. Some of them remain in effect, and some do not. All emphasis has been added by amici." [note: emphasis is not shown in this internet document.]
Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | District of Columbia | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming |
ALABAMA Access To The Courts
ALA. CODE ß 12-16-60 (1987): Qualifications of jurors. (a) A prospective juror is qualified to serve on a jury if the juror is generally reputed to be honest and intelligent and is esteemed in the community for integrity, good character and sound judgment and also: . . . (3) Is capable by reason of physical and mental ability to render satisfactory jury service, and is not afflicted with any permanent disease or physical weakness whereby the juror is unfit to discharge the duties of a juror; . . .
ALA. CODE ß 12-21-165 (1987): Incompetent witnesses. (a) Persons who have not the use of reason, such as idiots, lunatics during lunacy and children who do not understand the nature of an oath, are incompetent witnesses. (b) The court must, by examination, decide upon the capacity of one alleged to be incompetent from idiocy, lunacy, insanity, drunkenness or infancy.
Institutionalization
ALA. CODE tit. 45, ch. 5, ß 189 (1959): The Bryce hospital and the Searcy hospital named and set apart to the insane. The Bryce hospital located in Tuscaloosa county and the Searcy hospital, located in Mobile county, named and established by law, for the care and treatment of insane persons in the state, are hereby continued under the management and control of the board of trustees of the Alabama state hospitals.
ALA. CODE tit. 45, ch. 5, ß 204 (1959): Institutions used solely for insane patients. The state hospitals shall be maintained and used solely for the care, treatment, and custody of such patients as have been committed to them as insane by a proper court. No other classes of patients shall be admitted.
ALA. CODE tit. 45, ch. 5, ß 205 (1959): Insanity defined which renders person eligible as patient. A person shall be adjudged insane who has been found by a proper court sufficiently deficient or defective mentally to require that, for his own or others' welfare, he be moved to the insane hospital for restraint, care and treatment. Whether the person's mental abnormality is sufficiently grave to warrant such procedure is always the question to be decided by the court.
ALA. CODE tit. 45, ch. 5, ß 231 (1959): The Partlow state school for mental deficients. There shall be upon or near the grounds of the Bryce hospital, near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a school and home for mental deficients or inferiors as hereinafter defined, to be known as the Partlow state school for mental deficients, and referred to in this chapter as "the home."
ALA. CODE tit. 45, ch. 6, ß 236 (1959): Mental inferiors and feeble-minded defined. The following are declared to be mental inferiors or deficients or feeble-minded: All persons of whatever age, who are deficient or inferior to the extent of being classed in either of the following groups of the feeble-minded. That is to say, idiots, imbeciles, feeble-minded or morons, and any of whom may be, or may not be epileptics, but not violent or insane. The terms "feeble-minded" and "mental inferior or deficient" within the meaning of this chapter shall include every person with such a degree of mental defectiveness from birth, or from an early age that he is unable to care for himself and to manage his affairs with ordinary prudence, or that he is a menace to the happiness or safety of himself or of others in the community, and requires care, supervision, and control either for his own protection or for the protection of others. It is specifically recognized that the greatest danger which the feeble-minded constitute to the community lies in the frequency of the passing on of mental defect from one generation to another. Any person within the above named class, over the age of five years, and a resident of the state of Alabama for more than a year, may be committed to the home.
ALA. CODE tit. 45, ch. 6, ß 239 (1959): Mental deficient, how committed to home. The relative, guardian, or other person interested in an individual of the class herein defined as mental inferiors or deficients, or feeble-minded, desiring to commit such persons to the home may, if the person be under the age of twenty-one years, apply to the judge of the juvenile court, or where no juvenile court exists, to the probate judge of the county of such person' s residence, and if over the age of twenty-one years to the probate judge of the county of such person's residence, for the commitment of such person to the Alabama home; and upon such application such judge to whom the application is made shall at once apply to the superintendent, with description on a form prescribed by the board of managers of the home, and upon being advised by the superintendent that such applicant can be received, if a proper person, such judge shall examine three persons, one of whom must be a practicing physician, who are acquainted with the person sought to be committed, and with the condition of such person, and such judge if he is satisfied that the person is within the class herein defined as mental inferiors or deficients, or feeble-minded, and is otherwise eligible to admission into the home, shall make an order on a form prescribed by the board, committing such person to the home and arrange to have such person taken to the home, at the expense of the county if necessary. The judge of the juvenile court and the judge of probate to whom an application for commitment is made shall have full jurisdiction of the application and the person on whose behalf the application is made, and shall have the power and authority to commit such person to the home notwithstanding the family or relatives may object thereto; and when he has made an order of commitment and no member of the family or friend or guardian will convey the person so committed to the home his order of commitment shall be delivered to the sheriff of the county who shall at once convey such person to the home and deliver him to the authorities of the home, and shall in all things obey said order of commitment.
ALA. CODE tit. 45, ch. 6, ß 246 (1959): Location of buildings of home. The building of the home at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, shall be located by the superintendent of the Alabama insane hospitals by and with the consent and approval of the board of managers, on the most eligible site on the land around the Bryce hospital and as far away from the hospital building as may be practicable. And the board of managers is hereby authorized and empowered to purchase in the name of the state of Alabama any additional land lying near the land of the Bryce hospital as may be found necessary for the proper location and conduct of the home.
ALA. CODE tit. 45, ch. 6, ß 248 (1959): Arrangement and equipment of buildings. The buildings for the home shall be located, built, and equipped so as to facilitate the proper classification of residents according to age, sex, color and grade of deficiency or inferiority; their employment and training in farming and gardening, mechanics or other useful industries or occupations and to make provisions for schools, church worship, amusement, and diversion that may be conducive to the health, happiness and moral and mental improvement of the inmates.
Managing Own Affairs
ALA. CODE ß 26-7A-l (1975): Probate court; grounds. Any probate court may appoint a curator to take charge of, manage and conserve the property of any person permanently or temporarily residing in this state, who shall become physically incapacitated, or feeble-minded or epileptic or so mentally or physically defective by reason of age, sickness, use of drugs, the excessive use of alcohol or for other causes that he or she is unable to take care of his or her property, and in consequence thereof, is liable to dissipate or lose the same, or to become the victim of designing persons.
Parenting
ALA. CODE ß 26-10-3 (1987): Requirements as to consent of parents, etc. No adoption of a minor child shall be permitted without the consent of parents, but the consent of a parent who has abandoned the child, who cannot be found, who is insane or otherwise incapacitated from giving such consent or who has lost guardianship of the child through divorce proceedings or by the order of a court having jurisdiction may be dispensed with, and consent may be given by the guardian, if there is one, or if there is no guardian, by the state department of human resources or by the licensed child-placing agency which has permanent custody of the said minor child by order of a juvenile court or a court of like jurisdiction. . . .
Segregated Education
ALA. CODE ß 21-1-8 (1987): Residential education and training programs for deaf, blind, etc., persons; cooperation by local school boards, state board of education, etc. (a) The board of trustees of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind is hereby authorized to provide for the education and training of the deaf, the hearing impaired, the blind and the visually handicapped in residential programs at any location within the state, with no limitations on the age of participants and no time limit on any participant. . . .
ALA. CODE ß 21-1-10 (1987): Attendance of blind, deaf or mute children between seven and 16 years of age -- Required. It shall be the duty of any parent, guardian or other person having control of any deaf or blind child between the ages of seven and 16 years and so handicapped by deafness, blindness or inability to speak as to be unable to make satisfactory progress in the public schools of the community in which such child resides to enroll such child in the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind located at Talladega, Alabama not later than five days after the opening of this school and to keep such child in school during each scholastic year for a term of 36 weeks, or for the length of the school term.
ALA. CODE ß 21-1-12 (1987): Lists of deaf and blind children within counties; enforcement of attendance of children eligible for benefits of school. It shall be the duty of the county superintendent of education in each county of Alabama to furnish annually to the attendance officer of his county and the president of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind a list of the deaf and blind children of his county with the name, sex, age and address of each, together with the name and address of the parent or guardian of each child, such information to be secured from the school census enumeration books of the county or from any other reliable source, and the attendance officer shall visit the home of each child not later than five days after the opening date of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, as published by the president of this institution by giving written notice to each county superintendent of education and each city superintendent of education in Alabama. If it is found that any child eligible for the benefits of this school is not enrolled or is not exempt under the provisions of section 21-1-11, he shall serve legal notice on the parent, guardian or other person in control of such child, giving him five days in which to enroll said child in the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. In the event of the failure or refusal of such parent, guardian or other person in charge to enroll said child, he shall proceed against such parent, guardian or other person as though said child were a hearing or seeing child and shall follow the law as set forth in section 16-13-193.
ALA. CODE ß 21-3-4 (1987): Compilation of lists of children having malformations. The county health officer shall make a list of all children in the county who have any congenital or acquired malformations. In order to make this list, he shall avail himself of any information on birth certificates concerning congenital or acquired malformation, any information relative to crippled children in the biennial school census, any information he can procure from practicing physicians, the department of pensions and security, the department of education or any other source.
Sterilization
ALA. CODE tit. 45, ch. 6, ß 243 (1959): Treatment of inmates prescribed by assistant. The assistant with the advice and consent of the superintendent shall prescribe for the treatment of the inmates of the [Partlow State School for Mental Deficients], and if after consultation with the superintendent, they deem it advisable they are hereby authorized and empowered to sterilize any inmate.
Travel
ALA. CODE ß 32-6-7 (1987): Persons to whom license not to be issued. A driver's license shall not be issued to the following persons: . . . (5) Any person adjudged insane or an idiot, imbecile, epileptic or feebleminded, until restored to competency by judicial judgment, or released from a hospital for the insane or feeble-minded, upon certification by the superintendent or medical director that such person is competent, nor then, unless the director of public safety or examining officer is satisfied such person is competent to drive a motor vehicle with safety to persons and property; (6) Any person afflicted with or suffering from a physical or mental disability which, in the opinion of the director of public safety or examining officer will prevent such person from exercising reasonable and ordinary control over a motor vehicle.
1907 Ala. Acts 313: SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the legislature of Alabama, That the immigration board for the State of Alabama is hereby created, to consist of the governor, who shall be chairman of said board, the commissioner of agriculture and industries, and one immigration commissioner. . . . SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That the immigration board shall use all lawful means to prevent the induction into this State of immigrants of an undesirable class, and to this end shall investigate the conditions of the applicants for admission through the department, so as to discourage the coming in of persons of an anarchistic tendency, of paupers, of persons suffering with contagious or communicative diseases, of cripples without means and unable to perform mental or physical service, of idiots, lunatics, persons of bad character, or of any persons who are likely to become a charge upon the charity of the State, and all such as will not make good and law-abiding citizens. . . .
Voting
ALA. CONSTITUTION art. VIII, ß 182 (Michie 1977): Certain persons disqualified from registering and voting. The following persons shall be disqualified both from registering, and from voting, namely: All idiots and insane persons . . .
ALASKA Institutionalization
ALASKA STAT. ß 831 (Michie 1905): Commissioners appointed by the judges of the district court in the District of Alaska, pursuant to existing laws, shall, as ex officio probate judges and in the exercise of their probate jurisdiction have the power, and it shall be their duty, in their respective districts, to commit, by warrant under their hands and seals, all persons, adjudged insane in their districts to the asylum or sanitarium provided for the care and keeping of the insane of the District of Alaska. No person shall be adjudged insane or committed as such, except upon and pursuant to the following proceedings, to wit: Whenever complaint in writing is made by any adult person to a commissioner that there is an insane person at large in the commissioner's district, the lie commissioner shall at once cause such insane person to be taken into custody and to be brought before him, and he shall then immediately summon and impanel a jury of six male adults, residents of the district to inquire, try, and determine whether the person so complained of is really insane. The members of said jury shall, before entering upon the discharge of their duty, each take an oath to diligently inquire, justly try, and a true verdict render, touching the mental condition of the person charged with being insane. Before entering upon such trial the commissioner shall appoint some suitable person to appear for and represent in the proceeding the person complained of as insane. And in case there is a physician or surgeon in the vicinity who can be procured, the commissioner shall cause such surgeon or physician to examine the person alleged to be insane, and after such examination to testify under oath before the jury in respect to the mental condition of said person. The commissioner shall preside at said hearing and trial. All witnesses that may be offered shall be heard and shall be permitted to testify under oath in said matter, amid after having heard all the evidence the said jury shall retire to agree upon a verdict, and if the jury unanimously by their verdict in writing find that the said person so charged with being insane as aforesaid is really and truly insane and that he ought to be committed to the asylum or sanitarium aforesaid and the commissioner approves such finding, he shall enter a judgment adjudging the said person to be insane and adjudging that he be at once conveyed to and thereafter properly and safely kept in the said asylum or sanitarium until duly discharged therefrom by law. The commissioner shall thereupon under his hand and seal, issue his warrant, with a copy of said judgment attached, for the commitment of said insane person to the asylum or sanitarium aforesaid, which warrant shall be delivered to the marshal of the division in which said proceedings are had, and shall direct said marshal to safely keep and deliver said insane person to said asylum or sanitarium and the said marshal, for the service of process in connection with and the guarding and transportation of the insane, shall be compensated from the same source and in the same manner as in the case of prisoners convicted of crime. . . .
ALASKA STAT. ß 832 (Michie 1905): There is hereby established at Fairbanks, in the Territory of Alaska, and at Nome, in the Territory of Alaska, respectively, a detention hospital for temporary care and detention of the insane, wherein all insane and other patients in charge of the United States marshal shall be detained until transported to the asylum provided by law for their permanent care and cure, or otherwise disposed of as provided by the laws of the United States; . . .
Segregated Education
ALASKA STAT. ß 14.30.340 (Michie 1987): When not required to enroll. A handicapped child may not be required to enroll in a special education program if the parent or guardian of the child certifies to the satisfaction of the school board of the public school system where the child resides that the child is receiving adequate educational advantages. A child shall be excused from the compulsory education requirements if a physician certifies in writing that the child's bodily, mental or emotional condition does not permit attendance at school.
Travel
ALASKA STAT. ß 47.30.410 (Michie 1987): Persons subject to extradition. A person alleged to be of unsound mind found in this state, who has fled from another state, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the state from which the person fled, be delivered up to be removed to the state where, at the time of the flight the person: (1) was under detention by law in a hospital, asylum or other institution for the insane as a person of unsound mind; (2) had been determined by legal proceedings to be of unsound mind, the finding being unreversed and in full force and effect, and the control of the person having been acquired by a court of competent jurisdiction of the state from which the person fled; or (3) was subject to detention in that state, which was then the person's legal domicile (personal service of process having been made) based on legal proceedings there pending to have the person declared of unsound mind.
Voting
ALASKA CONSTITUTION art. V, ß 2 (1998): Disqualification. No person may vote who has been convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude unless his civil rights have been restored. No person may vote who has been judicially determined to be of unsound mind unless the disability has been removed.
ARIZONA Access To The Courts
ARIZ. REV. STAT. ANN. ß 21-312 (West 1988): Drawing of names. The jury commissioner shall conduct the drawing by shaking the master jury box or rotating the master jury wheel so as to mix thoroughly the slips of paper upon which names were written, and he shall publicly draw from the master jury box or master jury wheel the number of names designated in the order. If, after drawing the entire number required, the name of any person has been drawn who is dead or insane or who has permanently removed from the county in the knowledge of the jury commissioner or any other person attending the drawing, an entry of the fact shall be made in the minutes of the drawing and the corresponding slip destroyed. . . . Employment
ARIZ. REV. STAT. ANN. ß 38-292 (West 1988): Notice of vacancy in office. When an officer is removed, declared insane or convicted of a felony or an offense involving a violation of his official duties, or when his appointment is declared void, the body, judge or officer before whom the proceedings were had shall give notice thereof to the officer empowered to fill the vacancy.
Housing Discrimination
ARIZ. REV. STAT. ß 36-582 (1999): Residential facilities; zoning; notice; appeal. A. Unrelated persons living together notwithstanding, a residential facility which serves six or fewer persons shall be considered a residential use of property for the purposes of all local zoning ordinances if such facility provides care on a twenty-four hour per day basis. The residents and operators of such a facility shall be considered a family for the purposes of any law or zoning ordinance which relates to the residential use of property. The limitation of six or fewer persons does not include the operator of a residential facility, members of the operator's family or persons employed as staff, except that the total number of all persons living at the residential facility shall not exceed eight. . . . H. No residential facility shall be established within a twelve hundred foot radius of an existing residential facility in a residential area. I. Prior to the establishment of a residential facility in a residential area, the department shall give at least sixty days written notice to the local government unit affected. The government unit shall have the right to contest the establishment of a residential facility in a residential area by written objection filed with the department within thirty days after receiving notice and may request an administrative hearing pursuant to title 41, chapter 14, article 3. J. Other residential facilities which serve seven or more persons shall be a permitted use in any zone in which residential buildings of similar size, containing rooms or apartments which are provided on a continuing basis for compensation, are a permitted use. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any city or country from requiring a conditional use permit in order to maintain a residential facility serving seven or more persons, provided that no conditions shall be imposed on such a facility which are more restrictive than those imposed on other similar dwellings in the same zones. . . .
Institutionalization
1929 Ariz. Sess. Laws ch. 96: Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona: Section 1. There is hereby created an institution for the care and education of mentally defective children in the State of Arizona, which shall be known as the Arizona Children's Colony hereinafter called the colony. . . . Section 10. The following persons, if not insane, shall be held and be determined to be mentally deficient, and be entitled to enter said colony, providing such children shall have been residents of Arizona for one year immediately prior to proceedings looking to admission, and providing such children are not hospitalization cases. (a) Children, residents of Arizona not over the age of 21 years, who are so mentally deficient that they are incapable of managing themselves and their affairs independently with ordinary prudence, or of being taught to do so, and who require supervision, control, care and education, for their own welfare, or for the welfare of others, or for the welfare of the community. (b) Those not over 21 years of age, whose intelligence in the judgment of one or more psychiatrists or physicians, when they have been examined by such psychiatrists or physicians, making use of standard psychological tests and whatever supplementary tests may be available, will not develop without such care, the mental capacity of the average child. . . . Section 12. Any parent or guardian of a mentally defective child, or if such child have no parent or guardian, any reputable citizen residing in the county, may file a petition with the juvenile department of the superior court, setting forth: (a) The relation of such child to petitioner. (b) The name, age, sex, and residence of such child. (c) A concise statement of the child's mental and physical condition. (d) If known, whether the child has any estate, property or means for support. (e) In whose custody the child now is, and where, and the length of time it has resided in Arizona. Such petition shall be verified by the petitioner. Section 13. Upon the filing of such petition, the court shall make an order setting such petition for hearing in chambers, shall fix the time of such hearing at least five days in advance of such hearing and given notice of such time and place of hearing to the parents or person having custody or control of such child, which notice shall be served upon such persons having custody or control of such child by the probation officer of the county. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall also be gives to the examiners appointed by the court. Section 14. Upon the day of hearing the court shall have said child examined, if it has not already been examined, by the said examiners; shall hear any testimony offered and shall determine whether said child is a fit subject to be placed in said Arizona Children's Colony. If the court does so find, it shall then make and sign an order of commitment committing said child to the said Arizona Children's Colony; otherwise said child shall be discharged. . . . Section 20. If at any time the superintendent of any state institution reports to the Board that there is a child in such institution which is mentally defective as defined by this act and which should be a member or inmate of the colony, then such superintendent may request an examination by the examiners in the county where any such institution is located, and if the examiners report that such child is mentally defective and should be in said colony, a petition showing such facts shall be filed with the court committing any such child to such institution, and the court may thereupon order such child transferred from such institution to the colony. . . .
ARIZ. REV. STAT. ANN ß 1-215 (West 1988): Definitions. In the statutes and laws of the state, unless the context otherwise requires: . . . Section 16. "Mentally ill person" includes an idiot, an insane person, a lunatic or a person non compos.
Segregated Education
ARIZ. CONSTITUTION art. XI, ß 1 (1988): Public school system; establishment and maintenance; elements; education of the deaf, dumb, and blind. The Legislature shall enact such laws as shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a general and uniform public school system, which system shall include kindergarten schools, common schools, high schools, normal schools, industrial schools, and a university (which shall include an agricultural college, a school of mines, and such other technical schools as may be essential, until such time as it may be deemed advisable to establish separate State institutions of such character.) The Legislature shall also enact such laws as shall provide for the education and care of the deaf, dumb, and blind.
Sterilization
1929 Ariz. Sess. Laws ch. 44: Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona. Section 1. Whenever the superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane shall be of the opinion that it is for the best interests of the patients and of society that any inmate of the institution under his care should be sexually sterilized, such superintendent is hereby authorized to perform, or cause to be performed by some capable physician or surgeon, the operation of sterilization on any such patient confined in such institution, afflicted with hereditary forms of insanity that are recurrent, idiocy, imbecility, feeble-mindedness, or epilepsy; provided, that such superintendent shall have first complied with the requirements of this act. . . .
Voting
ARIZ. CONSTITUTION art. VII, ß 2 (1988): Qualifications of voters; disqualification. . . . No person under guardianship, non compos mentis, or insane, shall be qualified to vote at any election, nor shall any person convicted of treason or felony, be qualified to vote at any election unless restored to civil rights.
ARKANSAS Access To The Courts
ARK. CODE ANN. ß 16-31-102 (1987): Disqualifications. (a) The following are disqualified to act as grand or petit jurors: . . . (2) Mentally retarded or insane persons; . . . (6) Persons whose senses of hearing or seeing are substantially impaired; . . .
1994 Ark. Acts No. 4, ß 6: It is hereby found and determined by the General Assembly that Arkansas Code 16-31-102 disqualifies from acting as a juror any person who is mentally retarded or insane, and any person whose sense of hearing or seeing is substantially impaired; this act eliminates those disqualifications and in their place disqualifies from jury service persons who by reason of a physical or mental disability are unable to render jury services with the exception that no person may be disqualified solely on the basis of loss of hearing or sight; this modification to Arkansas Code 16-31-102 will bring Arkansas law into compliance with federal law; and this act should go into effect immediately in order to allow those persons to begin serving as grand or petit jurors as soon as possible. Therefore, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this act being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health, and safety shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval.
Housing Discrimination
ARK. CODE ANN. ß 20-48-606 (Michie 1999): Regulations - Density control. (a) The division shall promulgate regulations pursuant to the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, ß 25-15-201 et seq., which shall encompass the following matters: (1) (A) Limits on the number of new Family Homes I and II to be permitted on blocks, block faces, and other appropriate geographic areas taking into account the existing residential population density and the number, occupancy, and location of similar community residential facilities serving persons in drug, alcohol, juvenile, child, parole, and other treatment programs as well as any other dissimilar facilities such as public housing, soup kitchens at churches, and boarding homes. (B) Density limits as follows: City Population Total Number of Homes I and II 1,000 or fewer 1 1,001 -- 9,999 1 for every 2,000 10,000 -- 49,000 1 for every 3,000 50,000 -- 249,000 1 for every 10,000 250,000 -- 1 for every 20,000 (C) There shall be three hundred feet (300') between family homes unless otherwise permitted by local ordinance. There shall be three thousand feet (3,000') between family homes in cities over thirty thousand (30,000) population unless otherwise permitted by local ordinance. . . . (4) (A) Procedures by which any resident of a residential zoning district or the governing body of a political subdivision in which a Family Home I or II is or is to be located may petition the division to deny an application for a license to operate a Family Home I or II on the grounds that the operation of the home would be in violation of the limits established pursuant to subdivision (1)(A) or under subdivision (1)(B) of this section or that the proposed location is an area of high risk to the health and safety of the residents of the family home. (B) Petitions claiming the high risk area basis for denial must set forth and document one (1) or more of the following high risk rationales: (i) High crime area; (ii) Close proximity to stored hazardous materials; (iii) Dangerous traffic pattern; (iv) Frequent flooding; (v) Insufficient fire protection. . . .
Institutionalization
ARK. CODE ch. 89 (1904): Institutions of the State, Charitable, and Educational. Subchapter V. Insane Asylum. Sec. 4179. There shall be established at the city of Little Rock an institution for the care and management of the insane in this state, to be organized and governed as provided in this chapter. The care and management thereof shall he under a board of trustees, appointed, organized and empowered as provided in sections 4129-4134. Sec. 4192. Immediately after the appointment by the court of any guardian for a lunatic or insane person, such, guardian shall take steps to have the person thus placed in his charge admitted into said asylum. Sec. 4193. Any citizen of the state of Arkansas, or resident of said state, who may be, or hereafter become, insane, may be admitted to the state insane asylum as a patient, proper proof having been made and proceedings had according to the provisions of this chapter. Sec. 4194. Whenever it shall appear that any person entitled to admission to the state insane asylum is insane, any reputable citizen of the state may file a written statement with the county and probate judge of the county in which such supposed insane person may reside, which statement shall be substantially as follows: I, ______________ _____, hereby certify that ___________ _______, a citizen or resident of _______ county, state of Arkansas, is, to the best of my belief, insane, and that he (or she) ought to be committed to the state insane asylum for care and treatment, as his (or her) being at large is dangerous to the community, or prejudicial to his (or her) chances of recovery from his (or her) condition of mental disorder. [Signed.] ______ Sworn to and subscribed before me this -- day of ______, 190-. [Signed.] County and Probate Judge. . . . Sec. 4209. All persons found to be insane, for whom application for admission to the state insane asylum shall be made in compliance with the provisions of this chapter, shall be classified as "acute,'' "chronic," "probably incurable" or "incurable," such classifications to be determined by the duration of the disease and such complications as are known to render recovery doubtful or impossible. All cases of less than one year's duration from first recognized symptoms of insanity, shall be classified as "acute;" all cases over one year's duration shall be classified as "chronic;" all cases complicated with epilepsy, original imbecility or feeble mindedness, deformities of skull from injuries, old age or general paralysis, shall be classified as "probably incurable;" and all other cases shall be classified as "incurable;" provided, that no person of either classification, whether curable or not, and whether the imbecility or insanity be idiotic or congenital or not, shall be refused admission as long as there is unoccupied room for patients in the asylum.
1917 Ark. Acts 172: AN ACT to provide an institution for the care and training of the feeble-minded, and for other purposes: Be it Enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas: Section 1. That an institution to be known as the Arkansas School for the Feeble-Minded, is hereby created, to be under the direction and control of the Board of Control for the State Charities of Arkansas. Section 2. That the officers, commissions and boards controlling the several institutions of the State may transfer to the School for the Feeble-Minded such feeble-minded inmates of their own institutions as may be more appropriately taken care of in the new institution. . . . Section 10. That until other and more specific legislation shall be enacted for the control and the commitment of the feeble-minded, the existing laws of this State now governing the issue shall apply, in so far as they are applicable and are not in conflict with this Act. But no person shall be committed to the School for the Feeble-Minded without the consent of the superintendent of that institution. Voluntary commitments to the institution may be made, with the consent of the superintendent, providing all expenses of the inmate shall be paid. Section 11. That for administrative purposes, the term feeble-minded shall be taken to include all degrees of mental defect due to arrested or imperfect mental development. Those feeble-minded persons possessing approximate mental development not to exceed that of a normal child of three, shall be classed as idiots; those approximately of the mentality of children from four to ten inclusive, shall be known as imbeciles; and those approximately with the mental development of normal children from eight to twelve, inclusive, shall be known as morons. . . . Section 13. That all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed; that this Act is necessary for the public health, peace and safety, and that it shall take effect as an emergency measure, and be in force from and after its passage.
ARK. CODE ANN. ß 20-47-103 (Michie 1987): Sanity inquest. (a) If any person shall give information in writing to the probate court that any person in his county is an idiot, lunatic, or of unsound mind and pray that an inquiry thereof be had, the probate court, if satisfied that there is good cause for the exercise of its jurisdiction, shall cause the person so charged to be brought before the court and inquire into the facts by a jury, if the facts are doubtful. (b) The court, if just cause appear and at any time during the term at which an inquisition is had, may set aside the verdict and cause a new jury to be summoned to inquire into the facts. However, when two (2) juries concur in any case, the verdict shall not be set aside.
ARK. CODE ANN. ß 16-55-102 (Michie 1987): Definitions. (a) As used in this code unless the context otherwise requires: (12) "Person of unsound mind" includes every person who is a lunatic, idiot, or who is deranged. . . .
Segregated Education
ARK. CONSTITUTION art. XIX, ß 19 (1987): Deaf and dumb and blind and insane persons. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to provide by law for the support of institutions for the education of the deaf and dumb and the blind, and also for the treatment of the insane.
Travel
ARK. CODE ANN. ß 12-11-110 (1987): Drunken, insane, and disorderly persons. (a) It shall be the duty of all peace officers to arrest any insane or drunken person, whom they may find at large and not in the care of some discreet person, and take him before some magistrate of the county, city, or town in which the arrest is made. . . .
Voting
ARK. CONSTITUTION art. III, ß 5 (1987): Idiots and insane persons. No idiot or insane person shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector.
CALIFORNIA Access To Courts
CAL. CIV. PROC. CODE ß 198 (1872): A person is competent to act as a juror if he be: . . . 2. In possession of his natural faculties and not decrepit; . . .
Institutionalization/Sterilization
CAL. CODE ß 2192 (1916): Petition to commit imbecile, etc., to home. Financial condition of parent. Whenever any parent, guardian, or other person charged with the support of an imbecile or feeble-minded person, or any idiot, or epileptic who is not insane, desires him to be admitted into the home for feeble-minded, he may petition the superior court of the county in which he resides, for an order admitting such person to such hospital; provided, that any peace officer may petition said court for an order admitting such a person to such hospital. The judge must inquire into the condition or status of such person, and if he finds him to be an imbecile, feeble-minded person, idiot or epileptic, and that he has been a resident of the state for one year next preceding the presentation of the petition, such judge must make an order that he be received, maintained, and educated in such hospital, and on the presentation of such order the superintendent must receive him therein, if the hospital is not already full, or the fund available for its support exhausted; but the imbecile, feeble-minded person, idiot, or epileptic, need not be received if, in the judgment of the management of the hospital or the commission, he is not a suitable subject for admission thereto. . . . Section 1. Before any person who has been lawfully committed to any state hospital for the insane, or who has been an inmate of the Sonoma State Home, and who is afflicted with hereditary insanity or incurable chronic mania or shall be released or discharged therefrom, the state commission in lunacy may in its discretion, after a careful investigation of all the circumstances of the case, cause such person to be asexualized, and such asexualization whether with or without the consent of the patient shall be lawful and shall not render the said commission, its members or any person participating in the operation liable either civilly or criminally. . . . Section 3. Any idiot if a minor, may be asexualized by or under the direction of the medical superintendent of state hospital, with the written consent of his or her parent guardian, and if an adult, then with the written consent his or her lawfully appointed guardian, and upon the written request of the parent or guardian of any such idiot or fool, the superintendent of any state hospital shall perform such operation or cause the same to be performed without charge therefor.
CAL. CODE ß 2187 (1917): Transfer Of Patients [From One Hospital to Another]. . . . The commission, when it deems it necessary, may transfer any inmate of the home for feeble-minded for care and treatment to a state hospital for the insane for care and treatment therein and the counties, guardian, relatives or friends of such inmate shall be liable for his care, support and maintenance in said hospital for the insane in the same manner and to the same extent as if the said patient were still an inmate of said home. . . .
CAL. GOV'T CODE ß 203 (West 1987): Custody and restraint of certain persons. The State may establish custody and restraint of: (a) Mentally ill persons, insane persons, chronic inebriates, and other persons of unsound mind. . . .
Managing Own Affairs
CAL. CIV. CODE ß 40 (West 1987): Persons of unsound mind adjudged incapable; powers; establishment of conservatorship; effect. Subject to Section 1871 of the Probate Code, and subject to Part I (commencing with Section 5000) of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, after his incapacity has been judicially determined a person of unsound mind can make no conveyance or other contract, nor delegate any power or waive any right, until his restoration to capacity. . . .
Marriage
CAL. CIV. CODE ß 69 (1951): Marriage license: Necessity: Contents: When not to be granted: Consent of parent or guardian: Examination of applicants: Forms for application and license. All persons about to be joined in marriage must first obtain a license therefor, from a county clerk, which license must show: . . . No license must be granted when either of the parties, applicants thereof, is an imbecile, or insane, or is at the time of making the application, for said license, under the influence of any intoxicating liquor, or narcotic drug; and no license may be issued authorizing the marriage of a white person with a Negro, mulatto, Mongolian, or member of the Malay race. . . .
CAL. CIV. CODE ß 4201 (1987): License; necessity; contents; denial; under age applicants; forms; affidavit. All persons about to be joined in marriage must first obtain a license therefor, from a county clerk, which license must show all of the following: . . . No license shall be granted when either of the parties, applicants therefor, is an imbecile, is insane, or is, at the time of making the application for the license, under the influence of any intoxicating liquor, or narcotic drug. . . .
Parenting
CAL. CIV. CODE ß 224 (1917): A legitimate child can not be adopted without the consent of its parents if living, nor an illegitimate child without the consent of its mother if living, except that consent is not necessary in the following cases, to wit: . . . 4. From a father or mother who has been declared either feeble minded or insane by the state commission in lunacy or by three competent persons appointed by said commission; provided, that if so declared insane, said father or mother shall have subsequently been determined to be incurably insane by the superior court of the county where he or she resides. . . .
CAL. CIV. CODE ß 232 (1987): Persons entitled to be declared free from parental custody and control. (a) Description of person. An action may be brought for the purpose of having any child under the age of 18 years declared free from the custody and control of either or both of his or her parents when the child comes within any of the following descriptions: . . . (5) Person whose parents are declared to be developmentally disabled or mentally ill. Whose parent or parents have been declared by a court of competent jurisdiction, wherever situated, to be developmentally disabled or mentally ill, if, in the state or country in which the parent or parents reside or are hospitalized, the Director of Mental Health or the Director of Developmental Services, or their equivalent, if any, and the superintendent of the hospital of which, if any, the parent or parents are inmates or patients, certify that the parent or parents so declared to be developmentally disabled or mentally ill will not be capable of supporting or controlling the child in a proper manner. (6) Person whose parent or parents are mentally disabled. Whose parent or parents are mentally disabled and are likely to remain so in the foreseeable future. As used in this subdivision, "mentally disabled" means that a parent or parents suffer any mental incapacity or disorder which renders the parent or parents unable to adequately care for and control the child.
Travel
1852 Cal. Stat. 78: . . . SECTION 1. Within twenty-four hours after the landing of any passenger from any vessel arriving at any of the ports of this State, from any of the United States other than this State, or from any country out of the United States, the master or commander of the vessel from which such passenger or passengers shall have been landed shall make a report in writing, on oath or affirmation, to the mayor or chief municipal officer at such port (or in case of his absence or inability to serve, to the person discharging the duties of his office), which report shall state the name, place of birth, last legal residence, age and occupation of every person or passenger who shall have landed from such vessel in her last voyage to such port not being a citizen of the United States and who shall have within the last preceding twelve months arrived from any country out of the United States at any place within the United States, and who shall not have been bonded or who have paid the commutation money according to the provisions of this act or any former act. The said report shall contain a like statement of all such persons or passengers as shall have landed or been suffered to land from any such vessel at any place during her said last voyage, or who shall have gone on board of any vessel with the intention of coming into this State. The said report shall further specify if either or any of said passengers or persons so reported are lunatic, idiot, deaf, dumb, blind, crippled, or infirm and, if so, whether they are accompanied by any relatives likely to be able to support them. . . .
Voting
CAL. CONSTITUTION art. II, ß 5 (1849): No idiot or insane person, or person convicted of any infamous crime, shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector.
CAL. CONSTITUTION art. II, ß 1 (1879): Every native male citizen of the United States, every male person who shall have acquired the rights of citizenship under or by virtue of the treaty of Queretaro, and every male naturalized citizen thereof, who shall have become such ninety days prior to any election, of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of the State one year next preceding the election, and of the county in which he claims his vote ninety days, and in the election precinct thirty days, shall be entitled to vote at all elections which are now or may hereafter be authorized by law; provided, no native of China, no idiot, insane person, or person convicted of any infamous crime, and no person hereafter convicted of the embezzlement or misappropriation of public money, shall ever exercise the privilege of an elector in this State.
COLORADO Housing Discrimination
COLO. REV. STAT. ß 31-23-303 (1999): Legislative declaration. . . . (II) The general assembly declares that the establishment of owner-occupied or nonprofit group homes for the exclusive use of not more than eight persons sixty years of age or older per home is a matter of statewide concern. The general assembly further finds and declares that it is the policy of this state to enable and assist persons sixty years of age or older who do not need nursing facilities, and who so elect, to live in normal residential surroundings, including single-family residential units. Group homes for the aged shall be distinguished from nursing facilities, as defined in section 26-4-103 (11), C.R.S., and institutions providing life care, as defined in section 12-13-101 (5), C.R.S. Every municipality having adopted or which shall adopt a zoning ordinance shall provide for the location of group homes for the aged. A group home for the aged established under this paragraph (b) shall not be located within seven hundred fifty feet of another such group home, unless otherwise provided for by the municipality. Nothing in this paragraph (b) shall be construed to exempt such group homes from compliance with any state, county, or municipal health, safety, and fire codes. On April 29, 1976, every person sixty years of age or older who resides in a skilled or intermediate health care facility and who may be transferred or discharged therefrom to a group home for the aged shall not be so discharged or transferred unless he has received ninety days' advance written notice thereof or has agreed in writing to the proposed transfer or discharge. (b.5) The general assembly declares that the establishment of state-licensed group homes for the exclusive use of mentally ill persons as that term is defined in section 27-10-102, C.R.S., is a matter of statewide concern and that a state-licensed group home for eight persons with mental illness is a residential use of property for zoning purposes, as defined in section 31-23-301 (4). A group home for persons with mental illness established under this paragraph (b. 5) shall not be located within seven hundred fifty feet of another such group home, unless otherwise provided for by the municipality. No person shall be placed in a group home without being screened by either a professional person, as defined in section 27-10-102 (11), C.R.S., or any other such mental health professional designated by the director of a facility, which facility is approved by the executive director of the department of human services pursuant to section 27-1-103, C.R.S. Persons determined to be not guilty by reason of insanity to a violent offense shall not be placed in such group homes, nor shall any person who has been convicted of a felony involving a violent offense be eligible for placement in such group homes. The provisions of this paragraph (b. 5) shall be implemented, where appropriate, by the rules of the department of public health and environment concerning residential care facilities for the mentally ill. Nothing in this paragraph (b.5) shall be construed to exempt such group homes from compliance with any state, county, or municipal health, safety, and fire codes. . . .
Institutionalization
COLO. REV. STAT. ß 4125 (1911): Definition of term "Lunatic." The term lunatic, as used in this chapter, shall be construed to include idiots, insane and distracted persons, and every person who by reason of intemperance, or any disorder or unsoundness of mind, shall be incapable of managing and caring for his own estate.
COLO. REV. STAT. ß 4127 (1911): Proceedings to commit insane person at large. Whenever any reputable person shall file with the county court a complaint duly verified (or whenever complaint duly verified shall be filed with the county court by an authorized medical examiner, as hereinafter provided) alleging that any person in said county is so insane or distracted in his mind, as to endanger his own person and property or the person and property of another, or others if allowed to go at large, the county court, or the judge thereof, shall forthwith issue an order in the name of the people, directing any person who shall be appointed by said county or judge, or any officer of said court, to execute the same by immediately taking such patient into custody; Provided, That when any sheriff or constable shall find within his county any such insane person at large, it shall be his duty to apprehend such insane person without an order of court; and when any alleged Insane person shall be so arrested by or without an order of court, he or she shall be taken forthwith before the county court or the judge thereof and if the alleged insane person so elect, an inquest as provided for in section 1 shall be held without delay and until the determination of such inquest, such alleged insane person shall be confined in a hospital or if there is no suitable hospital in said county, in some convenient and suitable place to be designated, by the said court or judge. If upon such inquest it shall be found in the verdict of the jury that such alleged insane person is so insane or distracted in mind, as to endanger his or her own person or property, or the person or property of another or others, if allowed to go at large, it shall be the duty of the county court to order that the patient be immediately transferred to the state insane asylum.
Managing Own Affairs
COLO. REV. STAT. ch. 8, ß 4126 (1911): Contracts of lunatics void--Party dealing with guilty of swindling. All contracts, agreements, and credits with or to any such lunatic, shall be absolutely void as against such person, his or her heirs, or personal representatives; but persons making such contracts or agreements with any such lunatic shall be bound thereby at the election of his or her conservators. . . .
COLO. REV. STAT. ß 27-10-125 (1975): Imposition of legal disability--deprivation of legal right-restoration. (1) When any interested person wishes to obtain a determination as to the imposition of a legal disability or the deprivation of a legal right for any person who is mentally ill, gravely disabled, mentally retarded, as defined in section 27-10.5-102(8), developmentally disabled, as defined in section 27- 10.5-102(4), or insane, as defined in section 16-8-101, C.R.S.1973, and who is not then subject to proceedings under this article, part 3 or part 4 of article 14 of title 15, or article 3 of title 26, C.R.S.1973, he may petition the district court, or in the city and county of Denver the probate court, for a specific finding as to such disability or right. . . .
Segregated Education
COLO. REV. STAT. ß 22-80-101 (1990): School located at Colorado Springs. There shall be permanently maintained in the city of Colorado Springs, in the county of El Paso, an institution for the support and education of the deaf and the blind residing within the state of Colorado.
COLO. REV. STAT. ß 22-80-102 (1990): Educational institution. The Colorado school for the deaf and the blind, located in the city of Colorado Springs, in the county of El Paso, is declared to be one of the educational institutions of the state of Colorado and has for its object the education of the children of the state who, by reason of the impairment of their sense of hearing or of sight, cannot be advantageously educated in the other schools or educational institutions of the state. Said school shall not be regarded or classed as a reformatory or charitable institution.
COLO. REV. STAT. ß 22-80-109 (1990): Who may be admitted. Every blind deaf or mute citizen of the state of Colorado under twenty-one years of age is entitled to receive an education in said school unless such person has a physical or mental condition which would render his instruction impractical. All applicants above the age of twenty-one years may be admitted at the option of the commissioner of education. Each school district shall report on June 1 of each year to the superintendent of the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind the name, age, and post-office address of every blind or deaf person of suitable age who is eligible for admission to said school and residing in its district, including all such persons as may be too deaf or blind to acquire an education in the public school.
CONNECTICUT Access To Courts
CONN. GEN. STAT. ANN. ß 51-217 (West 1988): Qualification of Jurors. (a) All jurors shall be electors, or citizens of the United States who are residents of this state having a permanent place of abode in this state and appear on the list compiled by the Jury Administrator under subsection (b) of section 51 -222a, who have reached the age of eighteen. A person shall be disqualified to serve as a juror if such person . . . (8) is incapable, by reason of a physical or mental disability, of rendering satisfactory juror service. Any person claiming a disqualification under subdivision (8) of this subsection must submit to the Jury Administrator a letter from a licensed physician stating the physician's opinion that such disability prevents the person from rendering satisfactory juror service. In reaching such opinion, the physician shall apply the following guideline: A person shall be capable of rendering satisfactory juror service if such person is able to perform a sedentary job requiring close attention for six hours per day, with short work breaks in the morning and afternoon sessions, for at least three consecutive business days. . . .
Housing Discrimination
CONN. GEN. STAT. ß 8-3f (1999): Establishment of community residences for mentally retarded persons. Zoning approval required. No community residence established pursuant to section 8-3e shall be established within one thousand feet of any other such community residence without the approval of the body exercising zoning powers within the municipality in which such residence is proposed to be established.
Institutionalization
1905 Conn. Pub. Acts. Ch. 196: An Act concerning Insane Paupers and Indigent Persons. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Reps in General Assembly convened: SECTION 1. When any pauper in any town shall be insane, a selectman of such town may apply to the court of probate for the district wherein such pauper resides for his commitment to a state hospital for the insane, and said court shall appoint two reputable physicians, who shall fully investigate the facts of the case and report to said court; and if such physicians shall report that said pauper is insane, the court may order a selectman or some proper officer forthwith to take such pauper to one of the state hospitals for the insane, where he shall be kept and supported as long as may be requisite; and two dollars per week of the expense of his support shall be paid by the town whose selectman applies for said commitment, and the balance by the state. SECTION 2. When an indigent person not a pauper is insane, application may be made by any person in his behalf to the court of probate for the district where he resides, and said court shall appoint two reputable physicians, and a selectman of the town where said indigent person resides, who shall fully investigate the facts and report to said court; and such selectman shall include in his report a full statement of the facts relating to the residence of such indigent insane person, and his estimate of the value of such indigent insane person's estate so far as he can ascertain the same. If said court of probate, upon consideration of the report of said physicians and said selectman, is satisfied that such person is indigent and insane, and is a resident of any town within its jurisdiction, it shall order him to be taken by the person making the application, or such other person as it may direct, to one of the state hospitals for the insane, where he shall be kept and supported as long as may be requisite; and two dollars per week of the expense of his support shall be paid by the person making the application, and the balance by the state. . . .
1909 Conn. Acts. Ch. 207: An Act providing for the Establishment of a Colony for Epileptics. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: SECTION 1. There shall he established within this state a colony for epileptics, the object of which shall be the scientific treatment, education, employment, and custody of epileptics and which shall be known as the Connecticut Colony for Epileptics. . . . SECTION 12. No patient shall be discharged from said institution until, in the judgment of the superintendent, the mental and physical condition of such patient justifies his discharge. . . .
1911 Conn. Pub. Acts. Ch. 211: An Act amending an Act concerning Commitment and Support of Imbeciles. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Reps in General Assembly convened: Section 2787 of the general statues is hereby amended to read as follows: Whenever there shall be found in any town in the state any pauper or indigent imbecile person who would be benefited by being sent to the school for imbeciles at Lakeville, the selectmen of such town shall make application to the court of probate for the district in which such town is situated for the admission of such person to said school, and if, upon inquiry, said court shall find that such person is a proper subject to be received into said school, it shall order said selectmen to take such person to said school, to be kept and supported for such length of time as said court may deem proper. Said selectmen shall not take or commit any such person to said school until the order of said court has been approved by the governors, and no person shall be received at said school to be supported in any manner by the state without the approval of the governor. There shall be taxed by the comptroller two dollars and fifty cents per week for each week such person shall remain at said school, and the principal of said school shall make his bill therefore quarterly, and present it to the governor, upon whose approval it shall be paid by the state treasurer, and the balance shall be paid by the relative or relatives liable for the support of such person, or, if the person is a pauper, by the town in which such person belongs.
1913 Conn. Pub. Acts. Ch. 160: An act concerning the Establishment of an Institution for Imbeciles at Lakeville. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Reps in General Assembly convened: SECTION 1. There shall be established at Lakeville an institution for imbeciles, the object of which shall be the care, custody, maintenance, and education of imbeciles resident of this state, and which shall be known as The Connecticut School for Imbeciles. . . .
Marriage
CONN. GEN. STAT. ß 1354-56 (1902): Marriage of epileptics and imbeciles. SECTION 1354. Every man and woman, either of whom is epileptic, imbecile, or feeble-minded, who shall intermarry, or live together as husband and wife, when the woman is under forty-five years of age, shall be imprisoned not more than three years. But nothing herein contained shall be construed as affecting the mutual relations of any man and woman lawfully married on or before the thirty-first of July, 1895. SECTION 1355. Procuring or aiding such marriage. Every person who shall advise, aid, abet, cause, or assist in procuring the marriage of the persons described in ß 1354, knowing them or either of them to be epileptic, imbecile, or feeble-minded, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. SECTION 1356. Penalty for carnal knowledge in certain cases. Every man who shall carnally know any female under the age of forty-five years who is epileptic, imbecile, feeble-minded, or a pauper, shall be imprisoned not more than three years. Every man who is epileptic who shall carnally know any female under the age of forty-five years, and every female under the age of forty-five years who shall consent to be carnally known by any man who is epileptic, imbecile, or feeble-minded, shall be imprisoned not more than three years.
Segregated Education
CONN. GEN. STAT. ANN. ß 10-92 (West 1988): Education at Newington Children' s Hospital. Newington Children's Hospital shall maintain a program of education for the physically handicapped children under its control and care which shall be approved by the state board of education.
CONN. GEN. STAT. ANN. ß 17-307 (West 1988): Care of handicapped and other children at Newington Children's Hospital. Children with drug-related conditions not to be admitted. Newington Children's Hospital may admit any child who is handicapped or afflicted with any pediatric illness upon application of the selectmen of any town, or the guardian or any relative of such child, or any public health agency or physician, provided, no person shall be admitted primarily for the treatment of any drug-related condition. Said hospital shall admit such child to said hospital if such child is pronounced by the physicians on the staff of said hospital, after examination, to be suitable for admission, and said hospital shall keep and support such child for such length of time as it deems proper. Said hospital shall not be required to admit any such child unless it can conveniently receive and care for such child at the time application is made and said hospital may return to the town in which such child resides any child so taken who is pronounced by the physicians on the staff of said hospital, after examination, to be unsuitable for retention or who, by reason of improvement in his condition or completion of his treatment or training, ought not to be further retained. The hospital may refuse to admit any child pronounced by the physicians on the staff of said hospital, after examination, to be unsuitable for admission and may refuse to admit any such child when the facilities at the hospital will not, in the judgment of said physicians, permit the hospital to care for such child adequately and properly.
Sterilization
CONN. GEN. STAT. ß 2691 (1918): Operations to prevent procreation. The directors of the State Prison and the superintendents of the state hospitals for the insane at Middletown and Norwich are authorized and directed to appoint for each of said institutions respectively two skilled surgeons, who in conjunction with the physician or surgeon in charge at each of said institutions, shall constitute a board the duty of which shall be to examine such inmates of said institutions as are reported to them by the warden, superintendent or the physician or surgeon in charge, to be persons by whom procreation would be inadvisable. Such board shall examine the physical and mental condition of such persons and their record and family history so far as the same can be ascertained, and if, in the judgment of a majority of said board, procreation by any such person would produce children with an inherited tendency to crime, insanity, feeble-mindedness, idiocy or imbecility and there is no probability that the condition of any such person so examined will improve to such an extent as to render procreation by any such person advisable, or if the physical or mental condition of any such person will be substantially improved thereby, then said board shall appoint one of its members to perform the operation of vasectomy or oophorectomy, as the case may be, upon such person. Such operation shall be performed in a safe and humane manner, and the board making such examination and the surgeon performing such operation shall receive from the state such compensation for services rendered as the warden of the State Prison or the superintendent of either of such hospitals shall deem reasonable.
CONN. GEN. STAT. ß 17-19 (1958): Operations to prevent procreation permitted in certain state institutions. The directors of the State Prison and the superintendents of the state hospitals for mental illness, the superintendent of the Mansfield State Training School and Hospital and the superintendent of The Southbury Training School are authorized and directed to appoint for each of said institutions two skilled surgeons, who, in conjunction with the physician or surgeon in charge at each of said institutions, shall constitute a board the duty of which shall be to examine such inmates of said institutions as are reported to them, by the warden or superintendent or the physician or surgeon in charge, to be persons by whom procreation would be inadvisable. Such board shall examine the physical and mental conditions of such persons and their record and family history so far as the same can be ascertained, and if, in the judgment of a majority of such board, procreation by any such person would produce children with an inherited tendency to crime, mental illness or mental deficiency and there is no probability that the condition of any such person so examined will improve to such an extent as to render procreation by any such person advisable, or if the physical or mental condition of any such person will be substantially improved thereby, then such board shall appoint one of its members to perform the operation of vasectomy or oophorectomy, as the case may be, upon such person. Such operation shall be performed in a safe and humane manner, and the board making such examination and the surgeon performing such operation shall receive from the state such compensation for services rendered as the warden of the State Prison or the superintendent of either of said hospitals or schools deems reasonable.
Voting
CONN. GEN. STAT. ß 9-12 (1967): Who may be admitted. (a) Each citizen of the United States who has attained the age of twenty-one years, who has resided in the town in which he applies for admission to the privileges of an elector at least six months next preceding the time he so applies, and who, at the time of so applying, is able to read in the English language any article of the constitution or any section of the statutes of the state and sustains a good moral character, shall, on taking the oath prescribed by law, be an elector. No idiot or mentally ill person shall be admitted as an elector.
CONN. GEN. STAT. ANN. ß 9-12 (West 1988): Who may be admitted. (a) Each citizen of the United States who has attained the age of eighteen years, and who is a bona fide resident of the town to which he applies for admission as an elector shall, on taking the oath prescribed by law, be an elector, except as provided in sections 9-19e, 9-30 and subsection (b) of this section. For purposes of this section a person shall be deemed to have attained the age of eighteen years on the day of his eighteenth birthday. No mentally incompetent person shall be admitted as an elector.
DELAWARE Employment
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 19, ß 905 (1987): Wage rate for handicapped workers. For any occupation, the Department may provide by regulations, after public hearing, upon reasonable notice, at which any person may be heard, for the employment of individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by age or physical or mental deficiency or injury at such wages lower than the minimum wage rate under this chapter as the Department may deem necessary or appropriate to avoid hardship or prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment. No employee shall be employed at wages fixed pursuant to this section except under special license issued under the applicable regulations of the Department. Such regulations shall, except as may be otherwise provided by the Department, take effect upon publication.
Housing Discrimination
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 22, ß 309 (1999): Residential facilities for developmentally disabled persons. (a) For purposes of all local zoning ordinances a residential facility licensed or approved by a state agency serving 10 or fewer developmentally disabled persons on a 24 hour-per-day basis shall be construed to be a permitted single family residential use of such property. (b) For purposes of this section a developmentally disabled person is a person with a disability resulting in substantial functional limitations in a person's major life activities attributable to mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy or autism, attributable to any other condition found to be closely related to mental retardation because such condition results in similar impairment of general intellectual functioning or adaptive behavior to that of mentally retarded persons or requires treatment and services similar to those required for such persons, or attributable to a physical impairment. (c) No residential facility serving 10 or fewer developmentally disabled persons shall be established within a 5,000 foot radius of an existing, similar community residential facility in a residential area.
Institutionalization
Del. Laws Ch. 172 (1918): Delaware Commission For The Feeble Minded. AN ACT to establish a Home for the care and training of the feeble minded of Delaware, and providing for the legal commitment of feeble minded persons and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met: Section 1. That there shall be established in this State a home for the care and training of feeble-minded persons. . . . Section 8. Whenever any person, arrested in this State, shall be supposed to be feeble-minded, any relative of such person, or any reputable citizen of the State, at any time before the final disposition of the case, may present to the Court of General Sessions of the County, wherein said person was arrested, or to the resident Judge thereof in vacation, or to the Juvenile Court of the City of Wilmington, a petition setting forth that such person is feeble-minded, and praying for the issuance of a rule to show cause why such person should not be committed to the custody of DELAWARE COMMISSION FOR THE FEEBLE MINDED. The petition shall be verified, by affidavit, which shall be sufficient if it states that it is based upon information and belief. Upon the filing of the petition, a rule shall be issued against the person, so arrested, and against the parent or parents, guardian or other custodian of such person, returnable at such time, not exceeding fifteen days thereafter, as shall be fixed by the Court, or Judge. Upon the return of the rule, the Court or Judge shall hear the witnesses in support of the rule, one of whom shall be a psychologist, or an expert on the subject of feeble-mindedness, and shall, also, hear any witnesses in opposition to said rule, and if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Court or Judge that the person so arrested is feeble-minded, and that it would be for the best interests of such feeble-minded person, or of the community at large, the Court or Judge may direct that such feeble-minded person be committed to the custody of DELAWARE COMMISSION FOR THE FEEBLE MINDED until the further order of the Court, or Judge. Section 9. Whenever any person shall be supposed to be feeble-minded, and, when by reason of such mental condition, or of existing social conditions, it would be detrimental to any community of this State to allow such person to remain at large, any relative of such person, or any reputable citizen of the State may present to the resident Judge of the County, wherein such person resides, a petition, setting forth that such person is feeble-minded, and setting forth the reasons why it would be detrimental to the community for such person to remain at large, and praying for the issuance of a rule to show cause why such person should not be committed to the custody of DELAWARE COMMISSION FOR THE FEEBLE MINDED. The petition shall be verified, by affidavit, which shall be sufficient if it states that it is based upon information and belief. Upon the filing of the petition, a rule shall be issued against the person, so arrested, and against the parent or parents, guardian or other custodian of such person, returnable at such time, not exceeding fifteen days thereafter, as shall be fixed by the Judge. Upon the return of the rule, the Judge shall hear the witnesses in support of the rule, one of whom shall be a psychologist, or an expert on the subject of feeble-mindedness, and shall, also, hear any witnesses in opposition to said rule, and if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Judge that such person is feeble-minded, and that it would be detrimental to the community for such person to remain at large, the judge may direct that such feeble-minded person be committed to the custody of DELAWARE COMMISSION FOR THE FEEBLE MINDED until the further order of the said Judge.
DEL. CODE ANN. ß 5503 (1953): Home for feeble minded; control and management. There shall be maintained in this State a home for the care and training of feeble-minded persons. The Commission shall have sole and complete control and management of the home.
DEL. CODE ANN. ß 5521 (1953): Commitment of arrested person; procedure. (a) Whenever any person, arrested in this State, shall be supposed to be feeble-minded, any relative of such person, or any reputable citizen of the State, at any time before the final disposition of the case, may present to the Superior Court of the county wherein the person was arrested, or to the Family Court for New Castle County, or to the Juvenile Court of Kent and Sussex Counties, a petition setting forth that such person is feeble-minded, and praying for the issuance of a rule to show cause why such person should not be committed to the custody of the Delaware Commission for the Feeble-Minded. The petition shall be verified by affidavit, which shall be sufficient if it states that it is based upon information and belief. . . .
DEL. CODE ANN. ß 5522 (1953): Commitment of person not under arrest; procedure. (a) Whenever any person shall be supposed to be feeble minded, and, when by reason of such mental condition, or of existing social conditions, it would be detrimental to any community of this State to allow such person to remain at large, any relative of such person, or any reputable citizen of the State may present to the Superior Court of the county wherein such person resides, or to the Family Court for New Castle County, or to the Juvenile Court of Kent and Sussex Counties, a petition, setting forth that such person is feeble-minded, and setting forth the reasons why it would be detrimental to the community for such person to remain at large, and praying for the issuance of a rule to show cause why such person should not be committed to the custody of the Delaware Commission for the Feeble-Minded. The petition shall be verified by affidavit, which shall be sufficient if it states that it is based upon information and belief. . . .
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 16, ß 5321 (1987): Admission to Center. No person shall be admitted to any department of the Center except as provided in ß 5323 of this title or except as follows: (1) Children between the ages of 3 and 18 years who are either seriously maladjusted or mentally ill and who are amenable to modern care and treatment shall be admitted to the Center upon the application of the parents or the surviving parent or legal guardian of any such child or any institution or agency having the care and custody of any such child or by the commitment of any court of this State having jurisdiction over such children; (2) Handicapped or crippled children, including spastics, cardiacs and those afflicted with infantile paralysis, shall be admitted to the Center upon the application of the parents or the surviving parent or legal guardian of such children and in the event that both parents of such children are deceased and no legal guardian has been appointed, upon the application of any physician, institution or agency treating or having the care or custody of such children; (3) No child shall be admitted to the detention department of the Center unless a court having jurisdiction over dependent, neglected, delinquent or maladjusted children commits any such child for the sole purpose of social, psychological and psychiatric study and examination; (4) A child awaiting assignment to a foster home shall only be admitted upon the application of any public or private agency having the authority or function to place such children in such homes; (5) No man or woman suffering from alcoholism or being a drug addict without psychosis, either acute or chronic, shall be admitted to the Center except upon the person's own application or the application of the person's parents, or the surviving parent or legal guardian or in the event of none such, upon the application of any physician or institution treating or having the care or custody of any such person or by the commitment of any court of this State having jurisdiction over any such person; (6) No person who is an epileptic without psychosis shall be admitted to the Center except upon his own application or upon the application of his parents or the surviving parent or legal guardian or in the event of none such, upon the application of any physician or institution treating or having the care or custody of any such person; (7) No aged person who is bedridden and without frank psychosis and needing nursing care only shall be admitted to the Center except upon his own application or the application of the person or persons responsible for his support and maintenance or upon the application of any institution whether public or private having the care and custody of any such person; (8) Handicapped or crippled adults, including spastics and those afflicted with infantile paralysis, shall be admitted to the Center upon their own application or upon the application of any practicing physician in good standing, for the purpose of observation, study and treatment; (9) In all other cases, no person shall be admitted to the Center except in accordance and in compliance with the rules and regulations which are adopted by the Department of Health and Social Services or Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families governing the admissions to their respective sections within the Center.
Managing Own Affairs
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 1, ß 302 (1987): Definitions. In the construction of this Code and of all other statutes of this State, unless the context requires a different meaning: . . . (11) "Mentally ill person" includes every idiot, lunatic person, or person non compos mentis.
Marriage
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 13, ß 113 (1987): Supplies of marriage licenses, books and other forms; form. (a) Marriage licenses, other forms and books used in connection with the issuance of marriage licenses shall be furnished by the State Board of Health on request of the clerks of the peace. (b) Judges shall supply certificates in whatever form they see fit to such divorced persons as they believe should receive them under this chapter. (c) Superintendents of asylums for the insane shall supply certificates in whatever form they see fit to such persons as they believe should receive them under this chapter. (d) In the case of an adult person who is on probation or parole from any court or institution, the chief officer of such court or institution, or such person as such officer may appoint to give consent to marry, shall supply such consent in whatever form he deems advisable to such applicants for marriage license as he believes may properly marry. (e) Marriage licenses, books and forms shall be as prescribed by the State Board of Health or in this chapter. Each page of the Marriage Record Books for the use of clerks of the peace shall be numbered serially before delivery to the clerks of the peace.
Parenting
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 13, ß 908 (1987): Right to consent. The right to give consent shall be as follows: (1) If the parental rights of the parent or parents with respect to the child have been terminated through legal termination of parental rights or through legal guardianship, the consent shall be granted by the organization or individual in whom the parental rights exist at the time of the filing of the petition: a. If the child to be adopted has been abandoned, legal termination of parental rights must precede the filing of the petition for adoption. The consent to the adoption shall then be granted by the organization or individual in whom the parental rights exist; b. If a parent or person in whom the parental rights exist is legally incompetent by virtue of insanity or feeblemindedness, legal termination of parental rights must precede the filing of the petition for adoption. The consent to the adoption shall then be granted by the organization or individual in whom the parental rights exist. . . .
Segregated Education
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 14 ß 203 (1987): Special schools. The State Board of Education and the school board of any local reorganized school district, either separately or jointly, may establish special schools for children who are in need of education not provided for in regular classes or schools. Such schools may include, but are not limited to, schools for persons who are orthopedically handicapped, socially or emotionally maladjusted, autistic, or mentally handicapped, educable or trainable, or for persons who suffer hearing or speech impairment, or for persons who are truant or insubordinate.
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 14, ß 2705 (1987): Exemption of mentally or physically handicapped children from compulsory attendance requirements. (a) Other provisions of this title notwithstanding, a child may be exempted from ß 2702 of this title upon request of the parent, guardian or other person legally having control of that child when the request is supported by written documentation of a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist or neurologist as the case may require. The request and documentation shall be addressed to the superintendent of schools of the school district in which the person resides indicating that the person is mentally or physically handicapped to such an extent that attendance in a school program is impracticable or unsafe. . . .
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 14, ß 3122 (1987): Identification and reporting of handicapped person. Each school district shall be required to identify, locate and evaluate, or reevaluate, any person residing within the confines of that school district who is handicapped, regardless of the severity of the handicap, and who is in need of special education and related services. The State Board of Education shall provide through rules and regulations that a practical method for carrying out this section be developed. The identification system so developed shall provide information concerning the time and method of the evaluation or reevaluation of the handicapped person and shall indicate the training, education or related services he or she is receiving and the location of that training, education or related services. The system shall further indicate any instance in which the person is not receiving training, education or related services and the reason for that situation. Nothing in this chapter or the rules and regulations issued thereunder shall authorize or require medical treatment of any person who objects, or, in the case of a minor, whose parent or guardian objects thereto on religious grounds.
DEL. CONSTITUTION art. X, ß 1 (1999): Establishment and maintenance of free public schools; attendance. Section 1. The General Assembly shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a general and efficient system of free public schools, and may require by law that every child, not physically or mentally disabled, shall attend the public school, unless educated by other means.
Sterilization
33 Del. Laws, ch. 62 (1923): AN ACT to provide for the sterilization of certain mental defectives. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met: Section 1. Upon the written application of the Board or Commission having control of any State or County Institution which has charge of insane, feeble minded or epileptic persons, to the State Board of Charities, the said Board is hereby authorized to appoint one physician and one alienist of recognized ability whose duty it shall be in conjunction with the Superintendent of the Institution where such persons are cared for to examine into the mental and physical condition of the persons mentioned in said written request who are legally confined in such institutions and should such physician, alienist and superintendent unanimously determine that procreation is unadvisable it shall then be lawful, with the written consent of the State Board of Charities for the Board or Commission having the custody of such person so examined, to have such an operation performed on such person for the prevention of procreation as shall be decided by said physician and alienist as safest and most effective provided however, that before such operation shall be performed it shall be the duty of the Board or Commission having the custody of such person to give at least 30 days notice to the husband or wife, parent or guardian if the same shall be known and can be located and if unknown to the person with whom such inmate last resided if such person can be located. . . .
DEL. CODE ANN. ch. 57 (1953): Sterilization Of Mental Defectives. SECTION 5701. Application of State or county institution; procedure: (a) Upon the written application of the board or commission having control of any State or county institution which has charge of insane, feeble-minded or epileptic persons, to the State Department of Public Welfare, the Department may appoint one physician and one alienist of recognized ability who shall, in conjunction with the superintendent of the institution where such persons are cared for, examine into the mental and physical condition of the persons mentioned in the written request who are legally confined in such institutions. (b) Should the physician, alienist and superintendent unanimously determine that procreation is inadvisable then, with the written consent of the Department of Public Welfare, the board or commission having the custody of the person examined, may have such an operation performed on such person for the prevention of pro-creation as is decided by the physician and alienist as safest and most effective. (c) Before the operation is performed, the board or commission having the custody of the person, shall give at least 30 days' notice in writing to the husband or wife, parent or guardian, if the same are known and can be located, and if unknown, to the person with whom such inmate last resided if such person can be located. SECTION 5702. Report of Mental Hygiene Clinic or Superintendent of State Hospital; procedure: (a) Upon the report and recommendation of the Mental Hygiene Clinic of the Delaware State Hospital at Farnhurst or the Superintendent of the Delaware State Hospital that any person who is confined in any institution within the State, which is supported in whole or in part by the State, or by any county thereof, or who is at large, is feeble minded, epileptic or is a chronic or recurrent insane person, the board of trustees or other governing body of the institution in which such person is confined, or the State Board of Trustees of The Delaware State Hospital, if such person is at large, may make written application to the Department of Public Welfare for the sterilization of such person. (b) Upon receipt of the application, accompanied by a copy of the report and recommendation of the Mental Hygiene Clinic or the Superintendent of the Delaware State Hospital, the Department of Public Welfare may proceed with the sterilization of such person, in accordance with the provisions of section 5701 of this title. Where any mental defective, coming within the provisions of this section, is at large the examining commission to be appointed by the Department of Public Welfare, as provided in section 5701 of this title, shall consist of two physicians and one alienist of recognized ability.
Travel
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 21, ß 2707 (1987): License qualifications. (a) A Class A license shall not be issued to any person under the age of 16 years. A Class B or Class C license shall not be issued to any person under the age of 18 years nor to any person 18 years of age or older who has not had at least 1 year's previous experience as an operator of a motor vehicle. (b) The Department shall not issue an operator's or chauffeur's license to any: . . . (4) Applicant who has previously been adjudged mentally ill or an idiot, imbecile or feebleminded and who has not at the time of such application been restored to competency by judicial decree or released from a hospital for the mentally ill or feebleminded upon a certificate of the superintendent that such person is competent or then unless the Department is satisfied that such person is competent to operate a motor vehicle with safety to persons and property; (5) Person when in the opinion of the Department such person is afflicted with or suffering from such physical or mental disability or disease as will serve to prevent such person from exercising reasonable and ordinary control over a motor vehicle while operating the same upon the highways; (6) Person who is unable to understand highway warning or direction signs in the English language; (7) Person who is subject to losses of consciousness due to disease of the central nervous system, unless such person furnishes the Department with the certificate of 2 physicians duly licensed to practice medicine and surgery that such person's infirmity is under sufficient control to permit him or her to operate a motor vehicle with safety to person and property. Each person licensed to operate a motor vehicle on the basis of such certificate shall furnish the Department with a new certificate each year not later than the anniversary date of the issuance of the license and not earlier than 45 days before said date which certificate shall show that on the basis of an examination within said period a physician duly licensed to practice medicine and surgery has determined that the infirmity remains under sufficient control to permit the person to operate a motor vehicle with safety to person and property. Except as provided below, if such certificate is not received by the Department within 7 days after the anniversary date of the license, the Department shall revoke said license and shall notify its holder. The above provision of this paragraph notwithstanding, if 2 physicians duly licensed in this State furnish the Department with a certificate that the disease no longer requires treatment and that the person can reasonably be expected to suffer no further losses of consciousness on its account, the Department may find that the person need no longer submit annual certificates of his or her competence to operate a motor vehicle and shall notify the person accordingly. The Department may at its discretion retain medical consultants to advise it. No physician who examines a person and provides a certificate in good faith in accordance with this paragraph shall be subject to any civil or criminal liability on account of having provided the certificate. . . .
Voting
DEL. CONSTITUTION art. V, ß 2 (1987): Qualifications for voting; members of the Armed Services of the United States stationed within State; persons disqualified; forfeiture of right. Section 2. . . . [N]o idiot or insane person, pauper, or person convicted of a crime deemed by law felony, or incapacitated under the provisions of this Constitution from voting, shall enjoy the right of an elector; . . .
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 15, ß 1701 (1987): Qualifications for registration as qualified voter. Every applicant for registration shall be a qualified voter if he is a citizen of this State of the age of 18 years and upwards, or who will be 18 years old on or before the day of the general election next succeeding his registration, and is a bona fide resident of this State. No person in the military, naval or marine service of the United States shall become a resident of this State by being stationed in any garrison, barrack or military or naval place or station within this State; and no idiot or insane person, person convicted of a crime deemed by law a felony, or person who shall have been rendered incapable of voting by reason of violating ß 7 of Article V of the Constitution of this State for 10 years next following his conviction and sentence thereunder, shall be a qualified voter.
DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 15, ß 1703 (1987): Duty of officers to notify departments of facts suggesting voter disqualification. . . . (b) All state, county and municipal agencies shall have the duty, when it comes to their attention that a person is an idiot or insane or a pauper, to notify immediately the department of the county in which the person is a resident and the State Election Commissioner.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Employment
D.C. CODE ANN. ß 1-607.2 (1981): Special provisions for the physically handicapped and the developmentally disabled. The Mayor may develop rules and regulations which authorize the inquiry into bona fide job-related qualifications which may affect persons with physical handicapped or developmental disabilities, prior to appointing such individuals under the authority of ß 1-610.4 (2). Physically handicapped or developmentally disabled person who apply for positions under the authority of subchapters VIII and IX of this chapter may be examined to assure that their level of skills is sufficient to meet minimal job qualifications.
D.C. CODE ANN. ß 36-203 (1981): Minimum wage and overtime compensation; workweek; wage orders. (a) (1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, every employer shall pay to each of his employees: . . . (4) All handicapped workers shall be paid at a rate not less than the minimum wage, except in those instances where a certificate has been issued by the United States Department of Labor authorizing the payment of less than the minimum wage to handicapped workers under 29 U.S.C. ß 214 (c). . . .
Managing Own Affairs
D.C. CODE ANN. ß 45-720 (1981): Conveyance and assurance by and for mentally handicapped following court order. It shall and may be lawful to and for any person or persons, being idiot, lunatic, or non compos mentis, or for the committee or committees of such person or persons, in his, her, or their name or names, by the direction of the chancellor, signified by an order made, upon hearing all parties concerned, on the petition of the person or persons, for whom such person or persons, being idiot, lunatic, or non compos mentis, shall be seized or possessed in trust, or the mortgagor or mortgagors, or of the person or persons entitled to the monies secured by or upon any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, whereof any such person or persons being idiot, lunatic, or non comps mentis, is or are, or shall be seized or possessed by way of mortgage, or of the person or persons entitled to the redemption thereof, to convey and assure any such lands, tenements, or hereditaments, in such manner as the chancellor shall, by such order so to be obtained, direct, to any other person or persons; and such conveyance or assurance, so to be had and made as aforesaid, shall be as good and effectual in law, to all intents and purposes whatsoever, as if the said person or persons being idiot, lunatic, or non compos mentis, was or were, at the time of the making such conveyance or assurance, of sane mind, memory, and understanding, and not idiot, lunatic, or non compos mentis, or had by him, her, or themselves executed the same. All and every person and persons being idiot, lunatic, or non compos mentis, and only trustee or trustees, mortgagee or mortgagees, as aforesaid, or the committee and committees of all and every such person and persons, being idiot, lunatic, or non compos mentis, and only such trustee or mortgagee as aforesaid, shall and may be empowered and compelled, by such order so as aforesaid to be obtained, to make such conveyance or conveyances, assurance or assurances, as aforesaid, in like manner as trustees or mortgagees of sane memory are compellable to convey, surrender, or assign their trust estates or mortgages.
D.C. CODE ANN. ß 6-1601 (1981): Establishment of register; purpose. That the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall establish and maintain a register of blind persons residing in the District of Columbia. Such register shall, under regulations prescribed by the Council of the District of Columbia, provide information of such nature as will or may be of assistance in the planing of improved facilities and services for blind persons and in the restoration and conservation of sight.
D.C. CODE ANN. ß 6-1602 (1981): Persons required to file reports; confidentially of register and reports; statistical abstracts. Each: (1) Health, educational, and social service agency or institution operating in the District of Columbia and having in its care or custody (either full or part time), or rendering service to, any blind person; (2) physician and osteopath licensed or registered by the District of Columbia who has in his professional care for diagnosis or treatment such a person; and (3) optometrist licensed by the District of Columbia who, in the course of his practice of optometry, ascertains that a person is blind shall report in writing to the Mayor the name, age, and residence of such person and such additional information as the Council may, by regulation, require for incorporation in the register referred to in ß 6-1601. Such register and reports shall not be open to public inspection. The Mayor may make available in the form of statistical abstracts or digests information contained in such register and reports if the identity of persons referred to in such register or reports is not disclosed in such abstracts or digests.
Marriage
D.C. CODE ANN. ß 30-103 (1981): Marriages void from date of decree; age of consent. The following marriages in said District shall be illegal, and shall be void from the time when their nullity shall be declared by decree, namely: (1) The marriage of an idiot or of a person adjudged to be a lunatic; . . .
FLORIDA Housing Discrimination
FLA. STAT. ANN. ß 419.001 (West 1999): Site selection of community residential homes. (1) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: (a) "Community residential home" means a dwelling unit licensed to serve clients of the Department of Children and Family Services, which provides a living environment for 7 to 14 unrelated residents who operate as the functional equivalent of a family, including such supervision and care by supportive staff as may be necessary to meet the physical, emotional, and social needs of the residents. . . . (2) Homes of six or fewer residents which otherwise meet the definition of a community residential home shall be deemed a single-family unit and a noncommercial, residential use for the purpose of local laws and ordinances. Homes of six or fewer residents which otherwise meet the definition of a community residential home shall be allowed in single-family or multifamily zoning without approval by the local government, provided that such homes shall not be located within a radius of 1,000 feet of another existing such home with six or fewer residents. Such homes with six or fewer residents shall not be required to comply with the notification provisions of this section; provided, however, that the sponsoring agency or the department notifies the local government at the time of home occupancy that the home is licensed by the department. (3) (a) When a site for a community residential home has been selected by a sponsoring agency in an area zoned for multifamily, the agency shall notify the chief executive officer of the local government in writing and include in such notice the specific address of the site, the residential licensing category, the number of residents, and the community support requirements of the program. Such notice shall also contain a statement from the district administrator of the department indicating the need for and the licensing status of the proposed community residential home and specifying how the home meets applicable licensing criteria for the safe care and supervision of the clients in the home. The district administrator shall also provide to the local government the most recently published data compiled that identifies all community residential homes in the district in which the proposed site is to be located. The local government shall review the notification of the sponsoring agency in accordance with the zoning ordinance of the jurisdiction. (b) Pursuant to such review, the local government may: . . . 3. Deny the siting of the home. (c) The local government shall not deny the siting of a community residential home unless the local government establishes that the siting of the home at the site selected: 1. Does not otherwise conform to existing zoning regulations applicable to other multifamily uses in the area. 2. Does not meet applicable licensing criteria established and determined by the department, including requirements that the home be located to assure the safe care and supervision of all clients in the home. 3. Would result in such a concentration of community residential homes in the area in proximity to the site selected, or would result in a combination of such homes with other residences in the community, such that the nature and character of the area would be substantially altered. A home that is located within a radius of 1,200 feet of another existing community residential home in a multifamily zone shall be an overconcentration of such homes that substantially alters the nature and character of the area. A home that is located within a radius of 500 feet of an area of single-family zoning substantially alters the nature and character of the area. . . .
Institutionalization
FLA. STAT. ch. 13, ß 1200 (1914): Petition. When it is supposed that a person, resident of this State, is insane, either non compos mentis or sufficiently devoid of reason to be incapable of self control, a petition signed by five reputable citizens, not more than one of whom shall be a relative of the person, setting forth that he or she is to each of the petitioners personally known and that their knowledge of the mental condition of the subject is sufficient to justify the belief that he or she is insane, and asking that examination be instituted and made as provided by law, may be presented to the county judge or judge of the circuit court having jurisdiction.
FLA. STAT. ch. 12 ß 1195 (1914): Destitute lunatics to be delivered to the Sheriff, and notify superintendent of asylum, who shall send nurse for such lunatic; provisos. If it shall appear that said lunatic or insane person is destitute, then the judge shall deliver such lunatic or insane person to the sheriff for safe keeping, and shall notify the superintendent of the Hospital for the Insane of the State of Florida, and said superintendent shall send a nurse or some suitable person for such lunatic or insane person who shall transport him or her to the Hospital for the Insane of the State of Florida, and deliver him or her to the officer having charge of the same for the purpose of his or her care, custody and treatment. . . .
1919 Fla. Laws ch. 787: Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. That there is hereby established in this State of Florida Farm Colony for Epileptic and Feeble-Minded, to be located at some place to be designated by the Board of Commissioners of Sate Institutions, where sufficient arable lands may be had or secured upon which such Colony may be developed on the Cottage plan. . . . Section 8. The purpose of the Florida Farm Colony for Epileptic and Feeble-Minded shall be recognized as three-fold: 1st. As an asylum for the care and protection of epileptic and feeble-minded. 2nd. As a school for the education and training of the epileptic and feeble-minded. 3rd. As a colony for the segregation and employment of the epileptic and feeble-minded. . . .
Managing Own Affairs
FLA. STAT. ß 744.3215 (1999): Rights of persons determined incapacitated. . . . (2) Rights that may be removed from a person by an order determining incapacity include the right: (a) To marry. (b) To vote. (c) To personally apply for government benefits. (d) To have a driver's license. (e) To travel. (f) To seek or retain employment. . . .
Voting
FLA. CONSTITUTION art. VI, ß 4 (1995): Disqualifications. (a) No person convicted of a felony, or adjudicated in this or any other state to be mentally incompetent; shall be qualified to vote or hold office until restoration of civil rights or removal of disability.
GEORGIA Access To Courts
GA. CODE ANN. ß 24-9-5 (1988): Persons without use of reason incompetent. Persons who do not have the use of reason, such as idiots, lunatics during lunacy, and children who do not understand the nature of an oath, shall be incompetent witnesses.
Family
GA. CODE ANN. ß 99-209 (1933): Children brought into State for placement; bond; notification; reports. No person shall bring or send into the State any child for the purpose of placing him or procuring his adoption, without first filing notice with the Board of Control. He shall file with the Board a bond to the State for each he intends to send or bring, approved by the Board, in the penal sum of $1,000, conditioned that he will not send or bring into the State any child who is incorrigible or unsound in mind or body; that he will remove any such child who becomes a public charge or who, in the opinion of the Board, becomes a menace to the community prior to his adoption or becoming of legal age; that the person with whom the child is placed shall be responsible for his proper care and training. . . .
GA. CODE ANN. ß 31-1-3.1 (1990): Reporting handicapped new persons; referral to treatment and rehabilitative services. (a) It is the intent of the General Assembly to ensure the registration by the department of handicapped newborn persons in order that all such persons might obtain referral and other services provided by existing state agencies, department, other organizations, and individuals. (b) As used in this Code section, the term "handicapped newborn persons" means a person less than 12 months old who is deaf, blind, or has a serious congenital defect as defined by the department. (c) Except as otherwise provided, every public and private health and social agency and every physician authorized to practice medicine in this state shall report to the department the name of any person such agency or physician has identified as being a handicapped newborn person. The report shall be made within 48 hours after identification of that person and shall contain the name, age, address, type and extent of handicap, social security number, if any and such other information concerning that person as the department may require. (d) The department shall establish procedures whereby a handicapped newborn person for whom a report is made under this Code section shall be referred with informed consent to appropriate pubic or private departments or agencies for treatment and rehabilitative services. . . .
Institutionalization
1919 Ga. Laws 379: . . . Section 3. There shall be admitted to the Georgia Training School for Mental Defectives the following type of persons: Any person with mental defectiveness from birth or from an early age, or those that become mentally defective from injury or disease so pronounced that he or she is unable to care for himself or herself and manage his affairs with ordinary prudence, and that he constitutes a menace to the happiness of himself or of others in the community, and therefore requires care, supervision and control, either for his own protection or for the protection of others, and yet who is not insane or of unsound mind. This type of persons shall be known and designated as "Mental Defectiveness." Should the institution at any time not be able tot accommodate all who shall under the terms of Section 5 of this Act be admitted thereto, it is hereby provided that preference in admission shall be given to children and women of child-bearing age. . . .
Marriage
GA. CODE ß 677 (1910): Performing marriage ceremony illegally. If any minister of the gospel, judge, or justice shall join together in matrimony any man and woman, without a license or publication of banns, as provided by law, or where either of the parties within his own knowledge shall be an idiot or lunatic or subject to any other disability which would render such contract or marriage improper and illegal, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Sterilization
1937 Ga. Laws 414: [Providing for the compulsory sterilization of feeble-minded persons] for the protection of . . . future generations.
Voting
GA. CONSTITUTION art. II, ß 1 (1998): Exceptions to right to register and vote. . . . No person who has been judicially, determined to be mentally incompetent may register, remain registered, or vote unless the disability has been removed.
GA. CONSTITUTION art. II, ß 2 (1976): Registration of Electors; Who Disfranchised. The General Assembly may provide, from time to time, for the registration of all electors, but the following classes of persons shall not be permitted to register, vote or hold any office, or appointment of honor, or trust in this State, to-wit: 1st. Those who shall have been convicted in any court of competent jurisdiction of treason against the State, of embezzlement of public funds, malfeasance in office, bribery or larceny, or of any crime involving moral turpitude, punishable by the laws of this State with imprisonment in the penitentiary, unless such persons shall have been pardoned. 2nd. Idiots and insane persons.
HAWAII Access To Courts
HAW. REV. STAT. ANN. ß 612-4 (Michie 1999): Grounds of qualification and disqualification. . . . (b) A prospective juror is disqualified to serve as a juror if the prospective juror (1) is incapable, by reason of the prospective juror's physical or mental disability, of rendering satisfactory jury service; . . .
Institutionalization
1919 Haw. Sess. Laws Act 102: An Act providing for the establishment and maintenance of a home for feeble-minded persons, and for commitment and admission thereto. . . . Section 4. The following persons, if not insane, are held to be feeble-minded: Those that are so mentally deficient that they are incapable of managing themselves and their affairs independently with ordinary prudence or of being taught to do so, and who require supervision, control, and care, for their own welfare, for the welfare of others, or for the welfare of the community. . . . Section 6. Any person found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be feeble-minded may be committed to said home. . . .
1919 Haw. Sess. Laws Act 131: Section 1. The sum of twenty-one thousand five hundred dollars . . . is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the treasury of the Territory of Hawaii not otherwise appropriated, to be expended by the department of public instruction for the purpose of the construction of a school and other buildings and of providing instruction, maintenance, and transportation, and other necessities arising in connection within the training and instruction of blind, deaf, dumb, and other defective or mentally defective children, as the department of public instruction may deem proper. . . .
1919 Haw. Sess. Laws Act 198: Section 1. The sum of eight thousand dollars ($8,000.00) is hereby appropriated from the general revenues of the Territory for the construction and furnishing of a building or ward for the care and control of insane persons at the leper settlement in the county of Kalawao. . . .
Segregated Education
HAW. REV. STAT. ANN. ß 298-10 (Michie 1988): Attendance of blind or deaf children. Every parent or guardian having control over any partially or totally blind or deaf person, from six to eighteen years of age, who by reason of partial or total blindness or deafness is unable to obtain an education in the public or private schools, shall send them to the state school for deaf and blind for a period corresponding to the regular school year, except where such attendance is excused by the superintendent of education or by a judge of a circuit court were, in the superintendent's or judge's opinion, the facts warrant such action; provided that this shall not apply to cases where skilled private instruction is given to such persons for the same length of the each year.
Voting
HAW. CONSTITUTION art. II, ß 2 (1993): No person who is non compos mentis shall be qualified to vote . . . .
IDAHO Access To Courts
IDAHO CODE ß 19-1003 (1987): Grounds for challenge to individuals jurors. A challenge to an individual grand juror may be interposed for one or more of the following causes: . . . 3. That he is insane. . . .
Institutionalization
1911 Idaho Sess. Laws 86: To provide for the establishment, building and equipping of the Idaho State Sanitarium for the care, protection, treatment and education of feeble-minded and epileptic persons; and the admission, support, transfer and discharge of its inmates. . . . Section 1. That a school for feeble-minded and epileptic persons, to be known as "The Idaho State Sanitarium", is hereby authorized to be located and established, in the manner hereinafter provided, at some point or place within twenty (20) miles of the State Capital. . . . Section 32. All feeble-minded persons who are residents of the State, whose defects prevent them from receiving proper instruction and training in the public schools, and all feeble-minded and epileptic persons who are residents of the State, whose defects prevent them from properly taking care of themselves, may be admitted to said institution under such regulations and conditions as the Board of Directors may provide, and the provisions of this Act. Section 33. Whenever it appears by affidavit to the satisfaction of a magistrate of the county that any person within the county is so feeble-minded as to prevent such person from receiving proper instruction and training in the public schools, or that any person within the county is so feeble-minded or epileptic as to prevent such person from properly taking care of himself, he must issue and deliver to some peace officer for service a warrant directing that such person be arrested and taken before any Judge of a Court of record within the county for examination. . . . Section 40. The Judge, after such examination and certificate made, if he believes the person to be so feeble-minded as to be unable to receive the proper instruction and training in the public schools, or so feeble-minded or epileptic as to be unable to properly care for himself or herself, must make an order that such person be confined in the Idaho State Sanitarium. . . .
1911 Idaho Sess. Laws 97: Authorizing and directing the state board of education to cause to be erected a building near Gooding, Idaho for the use of the deaf and blind and as a part of the Idaho State school for the Deaf and the Blind. . . . Be It Enacted By the Legislature of the State of Idaho: Section 1. That the State Board of Education is hereby authorized and directed to cause to be erected a building near Gooding, Idaho, for the use of the deaf and blind, to be a part of the Idaho State School for the Deaf and the Blind, which building shall be suitable as a dormitory and to contain class rooms and a hospital. . . .
1915 Idaho Sess. Laws 245: An Act to better provide for the care and detention of feeble-minded persons. . . . ß 3. When any person residing in this State shall be supposed to be feeble-minded, and by reason of such mental condition of feeble-mindedness and of social conditions, such as want of proper supervision, control, care and support, or other causes, it is unsafe and dangerous to the welfare of the community, for him to be at large without supervision, control and care, any relative, guardian, or conservator or any reputable citizen of the county in which such supposed feeble-minded person resides or is found, may, by leave of court first had and obtained, file with the clerk of either circuit court, or of the county court of the county in which such supposed feeble-minded person resides or is found, or with the clerk of a city court including the municipal court of Chicago, when the supposed feeble-minded person resides or is found in the city, a petition in writing, setting forth that the person therein named is feeble-minded, the fact and circumstances of the social conditions, such as want of proper supervision, control, care and support, or other causes making it unsafe or dangerous to the welfare of the community for such person to be at large without supervision, control or care, also the name and residence, or that such name or residence is unknown to the petitioner, of some person, if any there be, actually supervising, caring for or supporting such person, and of at least one person if any there be legally chargeable with such supervision, care or support, and also the names and residences or that same are unknown of the parents or guardians. . . .
Parenting
IDAHO CODE ß 7902 (1919): Dependent children: powers of benevolent societies. Any benevolent or charitable society incorporated under chapter 196, all of the officers and agents of said society to be residents of the state of Idaho, and having for its object the receiving, aiding caring for placing out for adoption and consenting to adoption or improving the condition of the orphan, homeless, neglected or abused children of this state shall have authority to receive, control, train, educate, aid, care for, dispose of, place out for adoption and consent to the adoption of children under 18 years of age under the following provisions. . . . 2. When there is in the county any child under the age of 18 years. . . . d. For whom the parents, because of mental incompetency, physical disability, slothfulness, drunkenness or the habitual use of narcotics or other dissipation or their immoral practices or standards are failing and will