For years, the disability community has put in the work to close the Judge Rotenberg Center. While much of our focus has been on the national level, there is now critical state-level legislation that would affect the Judge Rotenberg Center. The New York state legislature is introducing a bill that would stop the state from sending any more people to the JRC.
The JRC is the only institution in the country to use electric shock devices for behavior modification on students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a practice which has been classified as torture by the United Nations. The majority of the JRC’s “students” are Black and brown, and the JRC is intent on continuing to torture them. The bill is named after Andre McCollins, who has spoken out along with his family after he was tortured at the Judge Rotenberg Center.
Most of the JRC’s residents come from New York. If Andre’s Law passes, more New York residents cannot be sent to the JRC, which is a huge and important step towards shutting down the JRC for good. Andre’s Law is bill number S.8935 in the New York State Senate, and does not yet have an Assembly bill number.
Join us for a day of action supporting this bill! Here’s how you can get involved:
- If you are a resident of New York, call your State Senator. You can find their contact information here. Ask them to support Andre’s Law (S8935) now that it has been introduced.
- Then, call your representative in the State Assembly. You can find your assembly member here. Ask them to support Andre’s Law.
- Residents can also send their State Senator a message using this tool.
- If you aren’t a resident of New York, share this call to action! There will be other ways you can help #StopTheShock, but right now, we need your help to reach New York residents who can make their voices heard.
Our community can’t wait — we must take this critical step toward ending the torturous practice of shocks as behavioral control, and towards closing the Judge Rotenberg Center. We know this fight has been a long, difficult path – but it’s not too late. Your advocacy will make sure we #StopTheShock for good. We need our New York members to call your state legislators! Please share this call to action with any resident of New York so we can make our voices heard.
See our statement in support of Andre’s Law here.