April 21.
That's the day the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of Olmstead v. L.C. and E.W.
Olmstead is Tommy Olmstead, the Commissioner of Human Resources for the State of Georgia.
L.C. and E.W. are adult citizens of that state who are stuck with two scary labels: "retarded" and "crazy."
They wish to live in freedom, not in a state hospital.
Olmstead says that people with disabilities are dangerous or at least unable to care for themselves. Better off with their own kind, they are better yet put out of sight.
All of our governors, mayors and state legislatures agree. If the nation's highest court rules in Olmstead's favor, any of us -- and this means you -- could be legally imprisoned at any time in any state for the crime of having a disability.
L.C. and E.W. could well lose their case. If so, you will lose your civil rights. No matter who you are or what label you do or don't carry today, there will be no appeal, nowhere to run. Our ADA and your freedom are at stake. Now's the time to use it or lose it.
When the governors, state legislatures, mayors et. al. signed on to keep us captive, many of us asked, "What are they thinking?"
Here's what I believe. A who's who of vital state and local officials has sent a message not just to the Court but to us. Let's read it for what it is: They can't stand us running around loose. Their bigotry is usually polite, unspoken. Now it's out in the open. Ugly.
These pillars of society probably envision a tidal wave of monsters coming over the walls to freedom. Perhaps they also suspect that campaign funds will dwindle to nothing when nursing home owners lose their cash crop of hostages and unions lose the jobs that state "hospitals" and state "schools" provide. States, cities, and counties claim they must have the power to lock us up for the public's safety, for administrative convenience, and, as always, for our own good. Not one of us is safe from this.
What are we going to do about it? We're going to court.
------ Lucy Gwin, Editor, Mouth magazine
TALKING POINTS FOR ACTIVISTS
OLMSTEAD'S PETITION TO THE COURT
OUR OPPONENTS
ADAPT MEETS GOVS
FROM THE BRIEF
