The Arc of the United States Denounces the rejection of Hate Crimes Legislation that would Protect People with Disabilities

ARC of the United States
Friday, 6 October 2000

Washington, D.C. ¾ The Arc of the United States, a national organization on mental retardation, today denounced the decision to strip the hate crimes provision from the Department of Defense (DoD) authorization. The Arc will continue to work in collaboration with the rest of the civil rights community for passage of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act before Congress adjourns.

In June, the Senate voted 57 to 42 to pass the language of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. On Sept. 13, by a vote of 232-192, the House passed a motion to instruct conferees to keep the hate crimes measure in the DoD bill. Despite bipartisan passage in the House and Senate, important hate crime legislation was removed from the bill while it was in conference.

"The incidence of violence motivated by the actual or perceived disability of the victim, including mental retardation, poses a serious national problem and existing federal law is inadequate to address this problem," stated The Arc President Brenda Doss. "If passed, this legislation would enhance the federal government's ability to prosecute violent crimes motivated by race, color, religion, or national origin and would add authorization to prosecute crimes motivated by disability, sexual orientation, or gender."

People with mental retardation and related disabilities have a long history of being abused and discriminated against based on their disability. Too often, people with mental retardation are victims of savage assaults and abuse based on the simple fact that they have a disability. Following are just a few examples:

- In 1999, nine people beat and tortured a 23 year-old man with mental retardation in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Authorities are quoted as saying "the torture became a horror show watched by an approving group of six or seven onlookers."

- A two-year investigation at Polk Center, Pennsylvania's largest state institution for people with mental retardation, led to six doctors being charged with various crimes. Two were charged in the deaths of three people and charges of assault and neglect were filed against four others accused of using sutures and surgical staples to close wound without giving anesthesia.

- The schoolmates of an 18-year old North Carolina high school student with developmental disabilities soaked his lunch with cleaning fluid and watched him eat it. The result was a life threatening poisoning that sent him to the intensive care unit of the hospital and required the removal of much of his intestine.

It is imperative that a message be sent through our nation that these types of expressions of hatred are not acceptable. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would represent one more step toward trying to ensure equal treatment of people with mental retardation and other disabilities.

The Arc is the nation's largest volunteer organization solely devoted to improving the lives of all children and adults with mental retardation and their families. Today there are over 140,000 members within approximately 1,000 state and local chapters nationwide.

For more information, or to contact ARC of the United States, see their website at: www.thearc.org