Protesters call for end to skin shocks at JRC

Protesters urge lawmakers to ‘Stop the Shock’ at the JRC. (Photo courtesy of Colbe Mazzarella)

A coalition of 25 disability rights groups gathered on the steps of the State House in Boston last week to protest the use of painful treatments — specifically electric skin shocks — to change the behavior of people with severe disabilities.

Impassioned speakers at the protest, including Attorney Lisa McGonagle, zeroed in on the Judge Rotenberg Center, a Canton-based day and residential school that is believed to be the only institution in the country currently using electric shocks as a behavior modification tool.

McGonagle noted that it is illegal to shock prisoners or even terrorists, and she urged all residents of the commonwealth to contact their legislators to support the passage of H.180, “An Act regarding the use of aversive therapy.”

The latest version of the house bill, filed by Rep. Danielle Gregoire (D-Marlborough) and co-sponsored by Rep. Bill Galvin of Canton and 10 others, would prevent any program, agency or facility that is “funded, operated, licensed or approved” by the commonwealth from administering any procedure that causes physical pain. The bill seeks to further protect people with disabilities by prohibiting any procedure that denies “reasonable sleep, food, shelter, bedding, bathroom facilities, or any other aspect expected of a humane existence in the commonwealth.”

Attorney Colbe Mazzarella, project director of Citizens Commission on Human Rights New England, also spoke in support of H.180 and encouraged the public to do the same in phone calls with their legislators. “Tell us their answer,” Mazzarella said. “We will not forget the voiceless human beings tortured every day, and we won’t let our legislators forget.”

At the JRC, students with a court-approved treatment plan receive skin shocks by way of a Graduated Electronic Decelerator — a remote-controlled device that was invented and patented by the school’s founder and former leader, Matthew Israel.

While the school has defended its use of electric shocks as a lifesaving “treatment of last resort” for students displaying “profound aggressive or self-injurious behavior,” the practice has been widely condemned by disability rights groups as well as the former United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture, who characterized it as a form of torture in a 2010 televised interview.

A decade later, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took the rare step of banning the shock devices used by the JRC, but the ban was subsequently overturned by a federal appeals court, who ruled in a 2-1 decision that the FDA lacked the authority to interfere with the practice of medicine.

In contrast to the JRC’s assertion that skin shocks are both harmless and highly effective for students who otherwise would be at risk of “grievous bodily harm,” protesters cited the case of Andre McCollins, a former JRC student who was restrained and shocked dozens of times after refusing to take off his coat. McCollins and his mother sued the school, claiming that the punishment caused lasting physical damage and deep psychological wounds, and a video of the incident went viral after it was shown during the 2012 trial. (The two sides ultimately reached a settlement and the terms were not disclosed.)

Protesters also vehemently disputed Israel’s claim that the shocks produced “no negative side-effects,” and they set up six white crosses on Boston Common in memory of the six students who have died at the school since it opened in 1971.

Additionally, protesters cited several studies showing that positive-only reinforcement techniques are both safer and more effective than aversive therapies as a treatment tool. (The JRC employs both methods as part of what it calls a “holistic” treatment approach to behavior modification.)

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Jun 2 2023. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.