Law Center

By Greg George
CEO
Spinal Cord Resources Network

The Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents fired an employee when they found pornography on his laptop. The worker was called into his boss’ office and told that he was being fired and that the case was being forwarded to the district attorney because child pornography was found. No one at the agency would talk to the man and he was not fighting child pornography charges that he knew nothing about. A computer forensic agent who spent a month working with the employees laptop released a 30 page report outlining the failures of the administration people at the state agency. The employee spent most of his time outside the office with no way of getting updates and fixes to the security software that was installed. Hackers and crackers gained access to his computer and they crippled the security software before turning the laptop into a pornography distribution site. When the department gave the employee the laptop, it belonged to another employee that was fired earlier. The laptop was already hacked, with the security software turned off and the update capability misconfigured making it impossible to get updates when the employee came back to the office. A malware script found on the laptop had it surfing over 40 foreign child pornography sites per minute whenever the computer was in range of a WiFi hotspot.

Fortunately the worker was not sent to jail, but it shows that you cannot depend on MIS to do their job. If MIS had done everything properly, they wound have formatted the hard drive before giving it to someone else and verified that the security software was working properly. In addition, they should have verified that every time the worker came back into the office tat his laptop downloaded and installed all of the latest fixes and virus updates. They left him with a laptop in an unknown state that had porn before he had ever seen it. Further, by never checking the status of the laptop and updates, they did not know that a laptop filled with viruses and malware was on the local network, probably installing software on other computers on the local network. Before firing the employee, they should have performed a full investigation to figure out what happened. The forensics analyst found what was happening, why couldn’t MIS? If they did not have the expertise why did they automatically think that the worker was guilty?

Evidently everyone forgot that the laptop belonged to someone else who could have downloaded the pornography, or installed malware to do it. But they were looking for a scape goat,someone that they could blame for the viruses as well as possible break ins that were happening on the network because no one ever verified the security software. So to cover up their own incompetence and failures, they put the blame on an employee that had no idea what was going on or even the chance to explain what had happened. This is important information to every employee in the country. Expect to be stabbed in the back and for people to lie to save their jobs and reputations and to send you up the river if it suits them. Never believe what anyone tells you about hardware given to you and ask that everything be completely reloaded to verify the software is not corrupted. Also, make sure that your anti-virus, anti-malware, and anti-spyware is constantly updated before ever taking it out of the office. If it is not updating, leave it on MIS’s doorstep to repair. Let them know that you expect the machine to be fixed and completely scanned before giving it back to you. If you don’t do this you could be staring at 30 years in the slammer as everyone will forget where the laptop came from and that it was never checked for viruses before they gave it to you.

The Department of Justice has just released a set of booklets and videos on how law enforcement is to work with the disabled. There have been many stories of law enforcement using too much force against the disabled because we usually cannot follow the commands of the officers. As a tetraplegic, I could not get on the ground and put my hands behind my back. My titanium rods make it impossible to move my arms behind me but the police don’t seem to be interested in verifying that. Instead, reports of the disabled being dumped out of wheelchairs and beaten because the deaf could not understand police commands are common problems. These documents and videos should be viewed and followed by all police officers in the country. We do not ask to be treated any differently then anyone else, just to be cogniscent of disabilities so that we are not beaten or thrown out of a wheelchair because the police officer has no training in dealing with this kind of problem.

How do you interview a witness who is deaf?  How do you assist a person who is having a seizure?  How do you transport a suspect who uses a wheelchair?  Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people who have disabilities are entitled to the same services law enforcement provides to anyone else. They may not be excluded or segregated from services, be denied services, or otherwise be treated differently than other people.  The following compliance assistance materials will help state and local law enforcement officers understand how to interact with victims, witnesses, suspects, and others who have disabilities.

PUBLICATIONS

Communicating with People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing:  ADA Guide for Law Enforcement Officers  - This 8-panel pocket guide provides basic information for officers about communicating effectively with people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Questions and Answers (PDF) | Questions and Answers (HTML) 

VIDEO

Police Response to People with Disabilities, Eight-Part Series - Designed for use in roll-call training, this videotape addresses law enforcement situations involving people who have mobility disabilities, mental illnesses, mental retardation, epilepsy or seizure disorders, speech disabilities, deafness or hard of hearing , and blindness or low vision.  The eight segments range from 5 ½ to 10 ½ minutes in length.

Streaming Video: High Speed Internet | Dial-Up Internet

Order Videotape Online or by calling the ADA Information Line

By Greg George
CEO
Spinal Cord Resources Network

NWSource.com reports that the non-profit group Pain Relief Network is suing the state of Washington because of their prescriptive practices. We reported on this problem several months ago where the state of Washington was putting a limit on the amount of pain killers that could be prescribed to anyone in the state. State officials said that it was to protect the patients and doctors, but it was obvious that it was to protect the purse strings of the state. Federal agencies are forcing states to stop spending money on prescription medications regardless of the human cost and this was near the top of the list. Washington looks to save millions of dollars by not having to pay for medications that are never prescribed. To make sure the guidelines are followed, six state agencies got together to create rules doctors must follow or they risk being thrown in jail. In addition, your doctor must be a special pain doctor, of which there are only a few in existence. This forced patients to change doctors and drive hundreds of miles just to get their pain medication.

Washington hoped that by making it a giant pain to get your medication and reducing the number of doctors to practically nothing they would no longer have to pay for these medications. No one has calculated the human toll of pain and suffering but it is good to read that someone is doing something about this. It is important to keep our medications safe, but not impossible to get. The state said that 32 people died in a six year period that forced them to create these guidelines. But they did not bother to tell anyone just how many safe prescriptions were written in that same time frame. Tens of thousands? Millions? Obviously losing any human life is terrible, but the tiny fractions compared to the increased quality of life doesn’t make any sense to many of us. The government has their hands in enough of our lives they don’t need to be explaining to my doctor just how sick I am or how much pain I am in. If I need pain medications what do I do if my needs are over the state standards? Evidently in Washington state we are expected to live in mind blasting pain so that bean counters can feel better about the coffers.

This country was always founded on the fact that life was more important then dollars and we would do practically anything to help the patient. But suffering has been given a dollar amount that we cannot go past regardless of the pain involved. It is doubtful that any of the Washington doctors have chronic pain and have to take pain medication on a continuous basis. If they did, we guarantee that they would never have allowed the creation of stupid and insane laws such as these. The only thing that should govern prescriptions is scientific research and the doctors that prescribe the medication. It is hoped that this group is successful in their suit and that Washington State is forced to take care of it’s citizens.

The state says that that opioid therapy is inherently dangerous and that the state has to protect everyone. These drugs are well known and understood with many years of testing. To pretend that these types of drugs are unmanageable is ridiculous and shows that those in power in Washington State need to be either educated or removed from office. One should not be forced to move to another state because their pain is so bad that it is impossible to get the relief that is needed.

By Greg George
CEO
Spinal Cord Resources Network
T-5 incomplete injury

MyFloridaLegal.com reports that a Okaloosa caregiver was arrested on charges of abusing a disabled person that was in his care. Carl Maycock, a caregiver employed at the Fort Walden Development Center became enraged when the man he was taking care of soiled himself in his wheelchair. Maycock wheeled out the disabled man and dumped him out of his wheelchair in front of the house, in front of neighbors and children. After dumping the disabled man, he proceeded to strip off all of the mans clothing until he was laying naked on the grass. Maycock then grabbed a garden hose from the side of the house and proceeded to hose off the disabled man. The incident was reported to Adult Protective Services which immediately took action and brought in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to pull the care taker out of the home. The case will be prosecuted by the State Attorney General’s Office of The First Judicial Circuit.

Fortunately this man’s neighbors called Adult Protective Services when the care taker decided to take a garden hose to a disabled man unable to fend for himself. It is disgusting that someone that calls themselves a caregiver would do this to the very person they are charged to protect. All the disabled man could do is sit there and let the caregiver dump him out of his chair and tear off his clothing. There was no word if the disabled man was injured during the attack or if he was placed in a hospital for observation. This is a frightening thing to live through and the disabled man probably went through extreme pain as his body was twisted into shapes it was not used to from many years of being tied to a wheelchair. But rather than think of the poor man in front of him, Maycock decides to treat him like a piece of cattle to be cleaned up before being sent to slaughter. If found guilty of abusing a disabled man, Maycock could spend the next five years in jail and be hit with a $5,000 fine.

We hope that Maycock is used as an example to the caregiver field that this type of behavior will not be tolerated and the full force of the law will be brought to play to protect those that cannot protect themselves. Now the disabled man has to hope that the next caregiver will help him with his life and try to get past the images of abuse and humiliation that will forever be burned into his brain.

By Greg George
CEO
Spinal Cord Resources Network

Two years ago two blind men sued the Treasury Department to make money accessible to the blind. The United States is one of a handful of countries left that do nothing to help the blind determine what money they are carrying. The Euro has special embossing on it in braille to show the denomination and the Canadian dollar uses a plastic strip that can be used by the blind. The Treasury Department said that it would cost too much to add anything to our money to help the blind. They also complained that vending machines would need to be retooled which would cost almost $4 billion US. The court found for the blind men and said that the Treasury must fix this problem but didn’t force any particular remedy. It was left up to the Treasury to design the best method to work for US currency. The Treasury appealed their case to superior court and the case was just settled this week - Treasury lost again. The judge did not believe that adding braille or a plastic strip to our money would be an undue strain on the Government because virtually everyone else is already doing it.

Two years later and all we have are two court cases that show that the Treasury department is in direct violation of the Americans for Disability Act. However, instead of working with the blind community to fix the problem the Treasury is still working on a court case so the can violate 4 million Americans civil rights. Treasury has not decided whether to push this to the Supreme Court, but they have 90 days to either comply or create another court case. we’ll have to wait and see if the Treasury Department is going to waste even more of our hard earned money in a an effort to avoid complying with the law. It is sad that the money paid to the lawyers can never be used to fit the initial problem in the first place. Now they are going to spend millions of extra dollars just to make sure that the blind can never know how much money is in their pocket. The judge didn’t believe the arguments that blind people can use credit cards or that they can ask someone around them to tell them how much money they have. It is ridiculous to assume that anyone would want to be forced to ask a stranger around them to ask how much money they have. There is no reason to stoop to that level of disability that they are not allowed to do this themselves. If the Treasury can’t do this maybe we should switch to the Canadian dollar or the Euro? Why can other government entities do this but the largest economy in the free world cannot?

It is good to see that the Treasury Department is being forced to do the right thing. It is doubtful that the Supreme Court is going to hear a case that is so cut and dry. There are many lawsuits that are used to fix ADA issues and the disabled person wins every time. If nothing else this is a warning fired across the bow telling those that refuse to follow ther ADA will be forced to. They will have to pay the court fees as well as the cost of the remedy. The court gave the Treasury wide berth in figuring a way to fix this and rather then taking them up on it, they decide to drag the blind back into court. Maybe the blind should be allowed to vote on the way they would like the remedy to be done and then force the Treasury Department to do it? Evidently even after 15 years on the books, we are forced to drag those that hate the disabled into court to make them fix their wrongs. This isn’t just a good idea, it is the law of the land. When the blind cannot figure out what money they have it is a civil rights violation. This is a good time to contact our congressmen and senators to let them know this needs to be fixed so that the blind never have to go through this again.

By Greg George
CEO
Spinal Cord Resources Network
T-5 incomplete injury

States all over the country are making dramatic changes to Vocational Rehab, making it all but impossible for newly disabled people to get help. If you have already signed up with Voc Rehab in the past, be prepared to get a scary looking letter talking in mumbo -jumbo language about “Order of Selection”. “Order of Selection” is the government method to cut benefits to as many people as possible. The rules governing this is extremely complicated, but it goes something like this:

There are factors that control what category you will fall into at Voc Rehab:

1. Individuals with the most significant disabilities
2. Individuals with significant disabilities
3. Individuals with disabilities

When your counselor completes the elegibiity paperwork and a determination of the significance of your disability, the individual is then placed in the statewide “Order of Selection” wait list. A seperate wait list will be established for each Voc Rehab office to track those individuals who would normally receive services. A Regional Manager is responsible for deciding the priority of each individual and for maintaining the office “Order of Selection” wait-list Factors that will be used to determine the wait-list include the level of injury and the number of people that need a particular type of help. As an example, money may be available to pay for 5 powered wheelchairs, but there may be 100 individuals that need one. All 100 individuals will be put into an “Order of Selection” and then 5 will be selected based on disability and other factors to be determined. The other 95 individuals are placed in a wait-list for 1 year. For those that don’t want to wait for a year, they can ask to be transferred to another Voc Rehab office, but they will have to go through the process all over again. If they are lucky they may get help, otherwise they will be put back on a wait list.

This all boils down to the government cutting money to helping the disabled. One would think that everyone wants the disabled to go back to work. If we are all working then we don’t need to be on Social Security Disability and are back to paying taxes. But by cutting the budget of Voc Rehab to practically nothing, anyone that is newly disabled can expect to wait a longtime (read you will probably die before you get help). If you have a cognative disability then you will be put in line behind physically disabled people even if your need is greater. This really means the end of Voc Rehab and disabled individuals can expect to be stuck at home with no help forever. This is not fair to those people that are trying to get back into society and work. If these people get back to work they will pay back the government through taxes. Since money would flow back to the government to pay for other programs one would think that government employees would be falling all over themselves to fund and help this program. By cutting funding to Voc Rehab you guarantee that newly disabled people will be stuck in their home collecting Social Security Disability forever. This behavior by the government is completely backwards of their duty to help their citizens who cannot help themselves. These people are not lounging in their back yard with a beer in their hand - they want to go back to work!

It is very important that the disabled community call their congressmen and senators to let them know that cutting funding to Voc Rehab is insane. This is one of the few programs that is focused to get individuals back to work. Why throw more money to entitlements when you can get these folks back on the paying side of taxes. Every disabled person I know wants to work so they can contribute and it gives them a feeling of self worth. WHo wants to sit in front of the TV 18 hours a day and have their brain rot? There are individuals that have extreme injuries or are in tremendous pain, making it impossible for them to get back to work. From the folks I have come in contact with, they are the minority. The great majority want to work and only ask for equipment and other resources to make it happen. It’s hard to go to work without a car - we need to have a vehicle modified and be trained to use it. How can we get around without a wheelchair? Some need a power chair because of damage to their arms or shoulders, but they can still work in an office setting. Don’t condemn these people to life imprisonment at home!

To get more information on what the government is trying to do and how they are going to do it go to www.rehabworks.org. Also search for “Order of Selection” to get a more in depth idea of how the disabled are going to be thrown under the bus this year. Get involved in the political environment. If we do not show politicians that we are a voting block and we watch what they are doing we will contiue to get hosed on a yearly basis. If you do not want to be stuck at home forever with a stipend that impossible to live on I ask you to join ranks. If you want to help but don’t know where to start send an email to webmaster@spinalcordresources.com. We can hook you up with the people you need to talk to and where to send letters. If we don’t do this then we deserve to get hosed by our elected officials. Why should they help those that don’t even want to help themselves?

(Author’s note: I apologize for the delay in writings in this column. Nasty cold and food poisoning weren’t much fun!)

Thanks to Doug. G. of Joni and Friends-South Florida for bringing this to our attention. There was a story in the Miami Herald about four local groups coming together to protest the recent suggested budget cuts that would close doors to homes for the severely disabled who use them to live independently. In attendance at this protest were approximately 100 people in wheelchairs along with Joseph Aniello of United Cerebral Palsy and representatives from MACtown Inc., Sunrise Community Inc., and additional representatives from United Cerebral Palsy.

What is important to note is that as Florida makes its budget cuts across the state, in the disability community - its cuts can be life threatening. The cuts mean that the disabled cannot get access to the things that allow them to live life comfortably and as an independent being with healthy self-esteem.
The ability to live in a home that provides the people in the above mentioned article to live independently is a life necessity and should not have to be demanded for. This same life necessity quality is equivalent to SPARC in Tampa who encountered the inability to get funds for a disaster shelter to help their Autism community - that in exchange were given to a new downtown boardwalk; or a quadriplegic friend (who lives by himself) who doesn’t have access to shelter, or another who has waited over a year for a vehicle to drive so he can go to work…but can’t because he’s always waiting for approval monies on parts to fix the vehicle; or for an aide to a new mother because the aide is only allowed to help the disabled mother - not to touch the child; or for funding for legislation to address the lack of equal accessibility to disaster shelters for the disabled because they just don’t have it this year.

According to the Center for Personal Assistance Services, using the Florida Disability Data Table for the 2005 American Community Survey,

“An estimated 2,675,000 people in Florida have a disability, or 16.5% of the population age 5 and over. An estimated 491,000 people, or 3.0% of the population 5 and over, have difficulty performing self-care activities, also known as Activities of Daily Living, such as dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home.”

Florida’s current total population as of 2006 was 18,089,888 (according to the US Census Bureau for 2006). So approximately 2,000,000+ people who have a disability that require assistance from the State of Florida will most likely suffer the ability to have an active (and productive) daily life before anyone else does as a result of the budget cuts.

When will the State of Florida recognize that it has a disability community that are members of the voting population too? When will the disability community at-large be recognized that it is a productive member of today’s society. When will it be okay to stop saying that people with medical needs to live productive and fulfilling lives don’t need them? Most importantly as Joseph Aneillo, President of United Cerebral Palsy said in the Miami Herald article (mentioned above), “when will Florida stop balancing the budget on the backs of people with disabilities?”

For more information on this we invite you to look at the following video on YouTube called “Florida Does it Again.”

By, Laura George. For the next several weeks Spinal Cord Resources will be highlighting and discussing a number of laws that people with disabilities should know and understand how they relate to their daily lives. In order to best understand how some of today’s current laws came about, it is important to briefly discuss the past. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is one of the most well known laws that was the precursor to the Americans With Disabilities Act (to be discussed later.)

The Civil Rights Act, created on July 2, 1964 was to designed to negate the Jim Crow laws that had been created to allow segregation and was also designed to be an improvement upon the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The Act was created into several different sections outlawing discrimination in voting, travel accommodations, educational institutions, governmental institutions, access to governmental assistance programs and employment. An additional item it encompasses is penalties to any government agency that does discriminate.

The most important point to this law was the re-emphasis of the constitutional statement “all men are created equal” and the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection clause. As continued discussions of the laws occur in this section of the website it will become easier to see how the foundation for equal accessibility for the disabled has been brought about and continues to be improved upon. The Civil Rights Act of 2008 is currently going through congress as SB 2554 “to restore, reaffirm, and reconcile legal rights and remedies under civil rights statutes; to the committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.” (“SB2554”)

For more information on the laws discussed here, see the following citations and explore the discussions within their sites as well:

Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Wikipedia. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 4 Mar 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_act_of_1964>.

“SB 2554.” Civil Rights Act of 2008. 2008. Library of Congress:Thomas. 4 Mar 2008 <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r110:1:./temp/~r110nZcgn3::>.

By Greg George
CEO
T-5 Injury
Spinal Cord Resources Network

The federal government ADA site has a video showing the correct way to deal with a person that is disabled. Obviously the Hillsborough police department has never had a chance to look over this short video. Rather then dumping a quadriplegic on the floor because you don’t believe they are disabled, there are standard procedures to follow. These procedures do not include smiling and walking away laughing at a person that cannot do basic life functions without help. Trying to get bowel and urinary programs completed at hospital is almost impossible - one can guess what it is like in prisons like the one in Florida. Every police officer and their superiors should be required by law to watch the video and then take a test to make sure they understand the material. If they do not pass the test they cannot become police officers. It is assumed that police will have some level of compassion when confronted with a person who is disabled. Beating them with night sticks or dumping them out of their chair should not even be in the mind of any individual. Citizens expect that the police are there to protect them from criminals and to use appropriate means to arrest and move prisoners. We are all presumed innocent until proven guilty and we should be treated as such. Certain police officers believe that they are the judge and jury and as such can met out whatever punishment they see fit. It is time to call our congressmen and senators and let them know we are not living in medieval times and will not allow this behavior to continue.

By Greg George
T-5 Injury
CEO
Spinal Cord Resources Network

Strengthening Social SecurityThis document which was given to congress during the state of the union speech outlines the problems and concerns of Social Security. Since it’s inception in 1935, Social Security was easily paid because t here were many more workers then people on the program. With the baby boomers retiring, along with people disabled from accidents and medical problems have put a tremendous strain on the system. The government is presently paying out more then it brings in and this is going to continue unless something is done. Governments do not generate cash, people do so taxation will have to be adjusted if we are to help those that cannot help themselves. While people that have a full working lifetime can be expected to save properly for their retirement but for those with catastrophic medical issues and accidents there is no way to do that. If you are injured at 35, how can you save until you are 65 if you cannot work? this is on top of the medical bills that the elderly as well as the disabled have to pay for. Even with Medicaid it can be overwhelming to keep a family up and running with just Social Security. No one wants to hear about higher taxes but the government will collapse from the interest of all the money they are borrowing to pay the bills they cannot afford. We need to call our congressmen and tell them what they should do and that you are a voter. If we do not take charge of the problem then those that do not know us or our circumstances will make the decisions for us. We guarantee that will be a disaster unless we are part of the solution.