Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally released their final ban on the electric shock devices used to shock disabled people at the Judge Rotenberg Center. The rule was released on Wednesday and published on Friday. The rule, which will go into effect after 30 days (on April 6), will end the use of contingent shock devices to punish unwanted behavior, which JRC calls “treatment”. As a national cross-disability organization that advocates for the civil and human rights of people with disabilities, the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) applauds this ban.
JRC, in Canton, MA, is the only facility known to use these devices. It is believed that currently nearly 50 individuals are subjected to being tortured by these devices, which includes having electrodes strapped to their bodies, 24 hours a day, in order that painful shocks can be delivered by staff armed with remote control activators. All JRC residents, the majority of whom are reported by visitors to be people of color and most of whom are from outside Massachusetts, are subjected to intense behavioral controls, and contingent shock is the most egregious of the abuses. The devices are also known to malfunction in common conditions such as the steam after a shower, and to sometimes be activated by the wrong button. After the rule goes into effect, JRC will have 6 months to transition people off the devices.
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