TRENTON, N.J. - An Essex County restaurant that refused to seat a disabled man and his guide dog in its main dining room may have violated New Jersey's law against discrimination.
The Division on Civil Rights has made a probable cause finding against 88 Cafe in Livingston and its owner, Johnny Wong. That means there is evidence of a civil rights violation, though the case is ongoing.
Clifford Aaron sought to be seated in the main restaurant with his wife, daughter and golden retriever, Alto, a certified guide dog. The Civil Rights Division says Wong instead offered the family a table near the kitchen, fearing other patrons would object to the presence of the dog.
A woman who answered the phone at 88 Cafe says Wong is off and no one else was available to comment.
-The Associated Press
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Alaska police: Taser use on disabled man justified
MOBILE, Ala. — Officers who used pepper spray and a Taser to remove a man from a store bathroom found out only later he was deaf and mentally disabled and didn't understand they wanted him to open the door, police said Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Mobile Police Department said the officers' actions were justified because the man was armed with a potential weapon — an umbrella.
But relatives of Antonio Love, 37, have asked for a formal investigation and said they plan to sue both the police and the store.
"I want justice," Love's mother, Phyllis Love, said Tuesday.
The woman said her son hears only faintly, has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old and didn't realize that it was the police who were trying enter the bathroom.
"He thought the devil was out there trying to get in to get him," she said.
Antonio Love, in a written statement and in a television interview given in sign language about the confrontation, said he had a badly upset stomach last Friday and went into a Dollar General store to use the restroom.
Police spokesman Christopher Levy said Tuesday store workers called officers complaining that a man had been in the bathroom for more than an hour with the door locked. Officers knocked on the door and identified themselves, but the person didn't respond.
Officers used a tire iron to open the door, but the man pushed back to keep it shut. Officers saw the umbrella and sprayed pepper spray through a crack trying to subdue the man, Levy said. They shot the man with a Taser when they finally got inside, he said.
Officers didn't realize Love was deaf or had mental problems until he showed them a card he carries in his wallet, Levy said. He was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct, but officers released him and took him home after a magistrate refused to issue a warrant.
Levy said officers were justified in using force against Love since he had an umbrella.
"The officers really worked within the limits of our level-of-force policy," he said. "We had no information about who this guy was."
Phyllis Love said her son, who has worked in the garden department at a Lowe's store for several years, was scared when he realized someone was trying to get into the bathroom with him. He put water on his face and on the floor after being hit with pepper spray, she said.
"He didn't know it was a policeman until they busted the door in on him," she said. "He had a knot on his head from where it hit him."
Levy said police wish the confrontation had never occurred. The internal investigation will include a review of Love's complaints that officers laughed at him after realizing he was deaf, he said.
"We'll make whatever efforts we can to resolve this situation, hopefully so this man will be able to trust police in the future so we can help him. Obviously, it's going to be a rough road," he said.
The Associated Press.
A spokesman for the Mobile Police Department said the officers' actions were justified because the man was armed with a potential weapon — an umbrella.
But relatives of Antonio Love, 37, have asked for a formal investigation and said they plan to sue both the police and the store.
"I want justice," Love's mother, Phyllis Love, said Tuesday.
The woman said her son hears only faintly, has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old and didn't realize that it was the police who were trying enter the bathroom.
"He thought the devil was out there trying to get in to get him," she said.
Antonio Love, in a written statement and in a television interview given in sign language about the confrontation, said he had a badly upset stomach last Friday and went into a Dollar General store to use the restroom.
Police spokesman Christopher Levy said Tuesday store workers called officers complaining that a man had been in the bathroom for more than an hour with the door locked. Officers knocked on the door and identified themselves, but the person didn't respond.
Officers used a tire iron to open the door, but the man pushed back to keep it shut. Officers saw the umbrella and sprayed pepper spray through a crack trying to subdue the man, Levy said. They shot the man with a Taser when they finally got inside, he said.
Officers didn't realize Love was deaf or had mental problems until he showed them a card he carries in his wallet, Levy said. He was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct, but officers released him and took him home after a magistrate refused to issue a warrant.
Levy said officers were justified in using force against Love since he had an umbrella.
"The officers really worked within the limits of our level-of-force policy," he said. "We had no information about who this guy was."
Phyllis Love said her son, who has worked in the garden department at a Lowe's store for several years, was scared when he realized someone was trying to get into the bathroom with him. He put water on his face and on the floor after being hit with pepper spray, she said.
"He didn't know it was a policeman until they busted the door in on him," she said. "He had a knot on his head from where it hit him."
Levy said police wish the confrontation had never occurred. The internal investigation will include a review of Love's complaints that officers laughed at him after realizing he was deaf, he said.
"We'll make whatever efforts we can to resolve this situation, hopefully so this man will be able to trust police in the future so we can help him. Obviously, it's going to be a rough road," he said.
The Associated Press.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Mentally disabled home's workers fired after death
LUBBOCK, Texas — A Texas state official says six employees at a state-run home for the mentally disabled were fired for their involvement in the June death of a resident.
Laura Albrecht, spokeswoman for the Department of Aging and Disability Services, says the workers were involved in the "physical abuse and neglect of the patient" at the Lubbock State School. Albrecht told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that the employees worked with mentally disabled residents and were involved in direct patient care.
The school, recently renamed the Lubbock State Supported Living Center, houses about 300 mentally disabled patients. Widespread problems within the 13-school system prompted state lawmakers earlier this year to pass legislation that will increase oversight and security at the facilities.
Lubbock police were called to the school to investigate the death of a 46-year-old male resident who fell in his room after a struggle with staff on June 6. Officials said emergency responders were unable to revive him at the school.
Sgt. Jimmy Pachall said a criminal investigation was closed after the Lubbock County medical examiner concluded the victim did not receive a fatal injury during the struggle.
Pachall said the investigation was turned over to the Texas Attorney General's Office, where officials don't say whether they're looking into cases.- AP Texas News
Laura Albrecht, spokeswoman for the Department of Aging and Disability Services, says the workers were involved in the "physical abuse and neglect of the patient" at the Lubbock State School. Albrecht told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that the employees worked with mentally disabled residents and were involved in direct patient care.
The school, recently renamed the Lubbock State Supported Living Center, houses about 300 mentally disabled patients. Widespread problems within the 13-school system prompted state lawmakers earlier this year to pass legislation that will increase oversight and security at the facilities.
Lubbock police were called to the school to investigate the death of a 46-year-old male resident who fell in his room after a struggle with staff on June 6. Officials said emergency responders were unable to revive him at the school.
Sgt. Jimmy Pachall said a criminal investigation was closed after the Lubbock County medical examiner concluded the victim did not receive a fatal injury during the struggle.
Pachall said the investigation was turned over to the Texas Attorney General's Office, where officials don't say whether they're looking into cases.- AP Texas News
Disabled, impoverished: For some, losing the $261 a month will be devastating
More than 800 disabled, impoverished Utahns will lose their monthly state benefits over the next six months, pushing some into homelessness, advocates fear.
They are among the state's most vulnerable: typically unable to work beyond a small number of hours and waiting for Social Security benefits.
Their $261 monthly checks from the General Assistance program, which help them pay rent and afford medication, is often their only income.
"So you're going to have people with severe medical problems in the shelter or on the street," said Bill Tibbitts, an advocate at Crossroads Urban Center.
A coalition of anti-poverty leaders submitted a letter to the outgoing and incoming governors this week protesting changes that will go into effect on Aug. 1. The cuts are a result of a $3 million budget cut made by the Legislature in the past year.
Critics believe changes to the program, which serves about 1,500 disabled people, are too harsh and will have an even larger effect than predicted by Department of Workforce Services officials.
The state concedes that the full consequences of the changes are unclear, particularly how stricter eligibility requirements will affect the number of new participants.
"Until it occurs we don't know," said Helen Thatcher, an assistant director at Department of Workforce Services. "We don't intend to hurt people more than they're already being hurt."
New rules will limit the amount of time someone can receive General Assistance to 12 months instead of two years.
That limit will automatically kick hundreds off the program before they have secured Social Security benefits, advocates worry. But officials say new systems are expected to speed up the Social Security application process.
Tibbitts questions why more than half of the current recipients will lose their benefits -- many on Aug. 1, others in subsequent months -- when the budget was not cut in half. Anti-poverty leaders also are upset that a public comment period and public hearing has not yet taken place.
"Consequently, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to undo the harm caused to hundreds of homeless and near homeless people if the impacts of these rules are as great as we fear they will be," the letter to the governors states.
The state does plan to monitor the effects of General Assistance cuts. "We don't want to be so strict -- we don't want money left over," Thatcher said.
Madeline Wesson, 58, who lived at the downtown Salt Lake City homeless shelter for 17 months and has struggled with mental illness, relies on a General Assistance check to buy the basics that food stamps don't cover.
"What am I going to do if I don't have toilet tissue?" she said.
For residents like her at Grace Mary Manor, an apartment complex for the formerly homeless, losing their monthly General Assistance checks will typically reduce their rent to $25 per month. With no other income or savings, people often turn to panhandling or plasma donation to come up with the cash. - The Salt Lake Tribune
They are among the state's most vulnerable: typically unable to work beyond a small number of hours and waiting for Social Security benefits.
Their $261 monthly checks from the General Assistance program, which help them pay rent and afford medication, is often their only income.
"So you're going to have people with severe medical problems in the shelter or on the street," said Bill Tibbitts, an advocate at Crossroads Urban Center.
A coalition of anti-poverty leaders submitted a letter to the outgoing and incoming governors this week protesting changes that will go into effect on Aug. 1. The cuts are a result of a $3 million budget cut made by the Legislature in the past year.
Critics believe changes to the program, which serves about 1,500 disabled people, are too harsh and will have an even larger effect than predicted by Department of Workforce Services officials.
The state concedes that the full consequences of the changes are unclear, particularly how stricter eligibility requirements will affect the number of new participants.
"Until it occurs we don't know," said Helen Thatcher, an assistant director at Department of Workforce Services. "We don't intend to hurt people more than they're already being hurt."
New rules will limit the amount of time someone can receive General Assistance to 12 months instead of two years.
That limit will automatically kick hundreds off the program before they have secured Social Security benefits, advocates worry. But officials say new systems are expected to speed up the Social Security application process.
Tibbitts questions why more than half of the current recipients will lose their benefits -- many on Aug. 1, others in subsequent months -- when the budget was not cut in half. Anti-poverty leaders also are upset that a public comment period and public hearing has not yet taken place.
"Consequently, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to undo the harm caused to hundreds of homeless and near homeless people if the impacts of these rules are as great as we fear they will be," the letter to the governors states.
The state does plan to monitor the effects of General Assistance cuts. "We don't want to be so strict -- we don't want money left over," Thatcher said.
Madeline Wesson, 58, who lived at the downtown Salt Lake City homeless shelter for 17 months and has struggled with mental illness, relies on a General Assistance check to buy the basics that food stamps don't cover.
"What am I going to do if I don't have toilet tissue?" she said.
For residents like her at Grace Mary Manor, an apartment complex for the formerly homeless, losing their monthly General Assistance checks will typically reduce their rent to $25 per month. With no other income or savings, people often turn to panhandling or plasma donation to come up with the cash. - The Salt Lake Tribune
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Advocates for disabled unhappy with Texas state school settlement
AUSTIN – A settlement Texas officials signed with the U.S. Justice Department to improve conditions at the state schools for the mentally disabled doesn't do enough to move people out of institutions and into the community, advocates for the disabled said Thursday.
The advocates, complaining that they were left out of the negotiations, are asking Gov. Rick Perry to ensure they play a role in the agreement's implementation and monitoring.
"We're not here to impede this settlement," said Dennis Borel, executive director for the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities. "But we are interested in ensuring nobody stays in an institution who is able and wants to get out."
The five-year, $112 million agreement, signed this spring after a four-year federal investigation into civil rights violations at Texas' 13 state schools for the disabled, calls for hiring more than 1,000 new workers, and drastically improving living conditions at the facilities.
It's a response to years of media reports about abuse and neglect inside the facilities, culminating with news this winter that employees orchestrated a "fight club" at the Corpus Christi State School.
But the advocates for the disabled say the measure simply pours millions of dollars into a system that is broken, and will do little to move institutionalized people into more integrated settings.
Officials with the Department of Aging and Disability Services, who oversee the state schools and helped craft the settlement agreement, say advocacy groups had ample time to play a role in the process.
"There were legislative hearings, interim committee hearings, public meetings where input was welcomed and considered," said Laura Albrecht, spokeswoman for the agency.
And they say the agency continues to try to move people who want to live in the community out of the state schools, reporting the facilities' population has dropped by nearly 80 people since February.
But advocates say that pumping more than $100 million into the state schools through the settlement agreement merely delays emptying out the facilities all together.
"We are talking about more than money and bricks and mortar," said Tanya Winters, director of the Texas Advocates Peer To Peer project, which trains people with disabilities to be their own advocates. "We're talking about peoples' lives and happiness." - Dallas Morning News
The advocates, complaining that they were left out of the negotiations, are asking Gov. Rick Perry to ensure they play a role in the agreement's implementation and monitoring.
"We're not here to impede this settlement," said Dennis Borel, executive director for the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities. "But we are interested in ensuring nobody stays in an institution who is able and wants to get out."
The five-year, $112 million agreement, signed this spring after a four-year federal investigation into civil rights violations at Texas' 13 state schools for the disabled, calls for hiring more than 1,000 new workers, and drastically improving living conditions at the facilities.
It's a response to years of media reports about abuse and neglect inside the facilities, culminating with news this winter that employees orchestrated a "fight club" at the Corpus Christi State School.
But the advocates for the disabled say the measure simply pours millions of dollars into a system that is broken, and will do little to move institutionalized people into more integrated settings.
Officials with the Department of Aging and Disability Services, who oversee the state schools and helped craft the settlement agreement, say advocacy groups had ample time to play a role in the process.
"There were legislative hearings, interim committee hearings, public meetings where input was welcomed and considered," said Laura Albrecht, spokeswoman for the agency.
And they say the agency continues to try to move people who want to live in the community out of the state schools, reporting the facilities' population has dropped by nearly 80 people since February.
But advocates say that pumping more than $100 million into the state schools through the settlement agreement merely delays emptying out the facilities all together.
"We are talking about more than money and bricks and mortar," said Tanya Winters, director of the Texas Advocates Peer To Peer project, which trains people with disabilities to be their own advocates. "We're talking about peoples' lives and happiness." - Dallas Morning News
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