Local Voices
#StopTheShock is the Only Humane Option
A Moral State Cannot Stand for or With the Judge Rotenberg Center
Article V of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Despite this statement, there are actions which have been labeled torture by the United Nations that take place solely in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. My fellow Westwoodians, I argue that you ought to be outraged by this issue if only because it takes place a mere hop, skip, and jump from our town’s border: the ongoing usage of Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED’s) by Canton’s Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC). GED’s are using as a form of discipline on autistic children and young adults who attend the JRC.
Although the shocking use of GED’s was to end per the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) 2016 decree, it continues. This issue has been in the news recently when ADAPT activists protested and were arrested outside of current Health and Human Services (HHS) head Alex Azar’s home in mid-June (a concurrent protest was held outside the JRC).
More recently, Judge Katherine Field of Bristol County ruled Thursday that the Commonwealth failed to “demonstrate that there is now a consensus that the treatment does not conform to the accepted standard of care for treating individuals with intellectual disabilities.” This statement runs counter to human rights, common sense (as JRC is the only place which uses GED’s), and evidence-based and ethical treatment of people with intellectual disabilities.
If this ruling outrages you, may I urge you to join me in contacting Governor Baker by phone, email, or ResistBot to request he push for an appeal of this ruling? And please, tell your friends and neighbors about the human rights violations that are happening close to home.
Looking for more information after reading this editorial? Three of the most important and educational voices in #StopTheShock and #CloseTheJRC movements are the Autistic Self-advocacy Network (ASAN), Lydia X. Z. Brown, and Shain M. Neumeier.