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Tuesday, April 6, 2004
Year V, Edition 907
Today's front page features 8 news and information items,
each preceded by a number (#) symbol.
Scroll down or click here for "Below the Fold" a list of 35 more news items.
QUOTES OF THE DAY:
"It makes me sad to hear people still saying
that. It hurts."
--Earl Washington Jr., talking about news reports in
which investigators say he is still a suspect in the rape and murder of a
Virginia woman. Washington spent 17 years in prison for the crime before the
governor pardoned and released him in 2000 (First story)
"I just want to be able to watch the game with my kids. Is that such
an outrageous thing to ask?"
--Chicago Cubs fan Brad Saul, who was told
his sons cannot sit with him in the wheelchair accessible box seat section at
Wrigley Field (Third story)
-----
# CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
DNA
Proves Earl Washington's Innocence, Attorneys Claim
By Dave Reynolds,
Inclusion Daily Express
April 6, 2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA--New
DNA tests prove without a doubt that former Virginia death row inmate Earl
Washington Jr. is innocent of the rape and murder charges that kept him in
prison for 17 years -- nine of those on death row -- his attorneys said
Tuesday.
Washington, 42, who has mental retardation, was convicted of raping and stabbing to death Rebecca Lynn Williams in 1982. He was sentenced to die for the crime, and at one point came within a week of a scheduled execution.
Governor L. Douglas Wilder commuted Washington's sentence to life in prison in 1993 after forensic tests cast some doubt into his guilt. In 2000, DNA tests done on evidence gathered at the crime scene cleared Washington, and pointed to Kenneth Tinsley, a convicted rapist currently serving a life sentence. Governor Jim Gilmore pardoned Washington and had him released from prison in February 2001.
State and local investigators still have Washington listed as a suspect in the case.
"The powers that be in Virginia have refused to say Earl is factually innocent, and Earl continues to live with that cloud over him," said Peter Neufeld, one of Washington's attorneys. Neufeld is co-founder and director (with attorney Barry Scheck) of the Innocence Project which has helped clear dozens of people who were improperly convicted of offenses, especially capital crimes.
"We need to lift up the stone on what's wrong with Virginia's system of capital justice and to show everybody how easy it is to send a factually innocent man to death row," Neufield said.
The new DNA testing, performed by a California scientist, is part of a civil suit Washington has filed against police and prosecutors involved in the initial investigation. Much of Washington's conviction was based on a lengthy confession he gave to investigators. His attorneys have accused those investigators of forcing Washington to confess. They also claim that investigators ignored details which would have cleared Washington, including the fact that he incorrectly described Williams as black, that he stabbed her twice, and that he was alone when he killed Williams.
The white woman was actually stabbed 38 times in front of two of her children.
Washington told the Washington Post that what he really wants is an apology. He said it still upsets him when his wife reads newspaper articles in which authorities continue to say he is a suspect in the case.
"It makes me sad to hear people still saying that," Washington said. "It hurts."
Related:
"Innocence certain, say attorneys" (Richmond
Times-Dispatch)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/04/red/0406a.htm
"Earl
Washington Jr." (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/laws/earlwashington.htm
---
# ADVOCACY
Advocates Call For Boycott Of
"Leland"
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 6,
2004
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA--Families and advocates of people who have
autism are raising concerns about a new movie, "The United State of Leland",
which opens across the U.S. and Canada on Friday, April 9.
Some are calling for a boycott, and have even phoned local theaters to ask them to not show the film.
According to the movie's website, the film looks into the reasons why a teenager (Leland) murders his girlfriend's brother, who is described as "autistic".
Some who have seen the film, which opened in a few large cities last Friday, say the movie suggests that the main character kills the boy as an "act of kindness" because he "is better off dead". The flyer from the Loew's theater chain reportedly refers to the murder as "emotional euthanasia".
A group of parents and advocates have started an online petition to protest the film and the message they claim justifies violence against people with disabilities.
"This disturbs all of us because at a time when we are fighting for the rights of our children it is unnecessary and damaging to our cause/convictions to portray our children as helpless victims of an illness in which death becomes a welcomed 'euthanasia' for the child," the petition reads. "We are afraid that there willing be negative repercussions as a result of the inaccurate portrayal of an autistic person's value in today's society. Violence and discrimination of the disabled needs to stop and this movie does nothing more than promote it."
The movie's website includes a discussion forum where readers can read other opinions and post their own.
Related:
Boycott the movie "United States of Leland" (Online
Petition)
http://www.gopetition.com/sign.php?currentregion=237&petid=1390
"United
States of Leland" (Paramount Classics)
http://www.paramountclassics.com/leland/main.html
(Click
on the "Post your opinion. . . " button for the discussion forum)
---
# ACCESSIBILITY / RECREATION
Cubs Fan
Just Wants To Watch The Game With His Boys
April 6, 2004
CHICAGO,
ILLINOIS--Tuesday's Chicago Sun-Times featured a story about Brad Saul, a
die-hard Chicago Cubs fan and season-ticket holder for 20 years.
Saul would really like to take his 5-year-old boys to a Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field.
There are some areas at the stadium that are accessible to Saul's electric scooter and an attendant. But there are none that will accommodate his sons, too.
Saul tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a deal with Cubs management for him to have his sons sit with him. Then he turned to a reporter for help.
"I just want to be able to watch the game with my kids," Saul said. "Is that such an outrageous thing to ask?"
"The bottom line is, it just shouldn't be so hard," he explained. "There are just so many barriers when you're disabled. It just shouldn't be so hard to take your kids to a baseball game."
Related:
"Wheelchair-bound fan says Cubs' policy doesn't add up"
(Chicago Sun-Times)
http://www.suntimes.com/output/brown/cst-nws-brown06.html
---
# INSTITUTIONS / ABUSE
Was Death By
Restraint Or Overdose?
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily
Express
April 6, 2004
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA--Paul Krystyniak, 41,
died on December 10, 2002 while being restrained at Allegheny Valley School, an
institution housing people with mental retardation in Coraopolis, a few miles
northwest of Pittsburgh.
He had been restrained by staff who were trying to control him, according to the Post-Gazette.
The Allegheny County Coroner determined that Krystyniak, who had Down syndrome and depression, died of positional asphyxia -- that the way he was restrained caused him to suffocate. An autopsy also showed that he had mitral valve prolapse, in which the blood vessels leading to his heart were smaller than they needed to be.
Krystyniak's death was ruled an accident.
Recently, however, the results of toxicology tests have led Chief Deputy Coroner Joseph Dominic to ask more questions about the circumstances surrounding Krystyniak's death.
The tests revealed that Krystyniak overdosed on the antidepressant Fluvoxamine, an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) in the same family of drugs as Zoloft and Prozac.
An open inquest into the death is scheduled for April 13.
Among other things, the coroner's office wants to know how such extremely high levels of the antidepressant got into Krystyniak's system. The coroner also wants to find out whether the institution's staff paid enough attention when they administered his medications.
Krystyniak had been a resident of the facility for about a month before his death, the paper reported.
---
# EDUCATION
"Grandmother's Graduation
Triumph Of Human Spirit"
April 6, 2004
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW
ZEALAND--The following four paragraphs are excerpts from a brief item in the
Scoop:
Lesley Tyzack’s graduation from the University of Canterbury yesterday (Tuesday) was a triumph of the human spirit.
Paralysed from the neck down by multiple sclerosis, the 56-year-old mother and grandmother began studying for her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1996.
At the time she was terrified of going to university on her own, in her chin-controlled wheelchair.
"I was frightened by the thought of what might happen when I left my four safe walls."
Entire article:
"Grandmother's graduation triumph of human spirit"
(Scoop)
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/ED0404/S00023.htm
---
# TODAY'S FEATURED WEBSITE
Dancing
Wheels
If dance is an expression of the human spirit, then it is best expressed by people of all abilities. No organization exemplifies this better than DANCING WHEELS.
Considered one of the premier arts and disabilities organizations in the country, DANCING WHEELS is a professional, modern dance company that unifies both stand-up and sit-down dancers. Founded in 1980, DANCING WHEELS is a vehicle for all people of all abilities.
---
# EXPRESS EXTRA!!! From the Inclusion Daily Express Archives (From two years ago) :
ADVOCACY
Protesters Rally Outside Courtroom In Sydney Miller
Hearing
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
April 5,
2002
WACO, TEXAS--The Texas Supreme Court Wednesday heard arguments in
the case of Sydney Miller, an 11-year-old girl whose parents claim a hospital
was negligent by keeping her alive after she was born.
Dozens of activists -- many with disabilities -- protested outside the courtroom at Baylor University where the justices heard the case. Spectators packed the 140-seat courtroom while some watched the hearing on closed-circuit television in another room.
Sydney was born more than 4 months prematurely in 1990. Before her birth, staff at Women's Hospital in Houston told Sydney's parents that she might be born with a number of disabilities. The Millers said they did not want any "heroic" measures to be taken to save Sydney's life.
The hospital stood by its policy that any newborn of Sydney's size must be revived. Doctors used a throat tube to pump air into Sydney's lungs to keep her alive.
Sydney's parents say using the tube made the girl have a brain hemorrhage that caused her blindness and mental retardation. They sued the hospital and its parent company, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., claiming the hospital was negligent for keeping their newborn daughter alive. The jury awarded the couple $60 million.
But that judgment was reversed by an appeals court which ruled that the parents could only refuse treatment if the baby was not expected to live. The Millers want the original judgment to be followed.
Many disability rights advocates see the case as one that could reinforce the idea that it is better to be dead than to have a disability. More than 20 disability groups have filed a "friends of the court brief" supporting the hospital's decision to keep Sydney alive.
"It's not right to allow disabled children to die," explained John Hoffman, a member of the disability rights group ADAPT.
The court will make its decision later.
Related:
"Sidney Miller's Right To Be Born" (Inclusion Daily
Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/advocacy/sidneymiller.htm
---
Today's list includes 35 items. Some sites may require
registration.
Editor's picks -- those considered particularly interesting,
newsworthy or well-written -- are noted by the number sign (#).
Links are listed alphabetically by country, then by state, province
or territory.
Scroll down or click here to jump to:
Australia
Canada
Israel
United Kingdom
United States
AUSTRALIA
(Crime)
'Cripple'
one day, walking the next
CANADA
Alberta
(Education / Abuse)
Shawchuk
family takes case to Humans Rights Commission
ISRAEL
(Crime)
Synagogue
worker, 78, admits abusing mentally disabled man
# (Service animals)
New leash on life for
Alzheimer's patients
UNITED KINGDOM
(Misc)
Pensioners' lost
millions
England
(Children)
Boy's holiday ban
over insurance
Click here for top of this page
UNITED STATES
(Health care / Technology)
Press
release: Power Wheelchair Industry Seeks Clarity from CMS on Medicare Coverage
Issues
# (Technology)
Sleek New Devices
Help Low-Vision Patients See New York Times registration required -
free
---
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