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Home / Albums / Tag lawyer 2
- ADAPT (435)
Title: Disabled.. protesters at the Queen E. ‘We Shall Overcome’ by Ron Charles Montreal Daily News Inserted in the top center of the page is an image of yesterday's Daily News front page [ADAPT 386 & 385] with the headline A wheelchair army goes to way! and photos of that protest. Captioned: “Yesterday’s Daily News.” Title: The Siege Day 2 TEN disabled protesters were arrested last night for chaining their wheelchairs to doors at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, while 10 others were being arraigned in municipal court. Singing "Access is a civil right," and "We shall overcome," the protesters demanded to see American Public Transit Association (APTA) vice-president Jack Gilstrap. Gilstrap refused to face them. APTA is holding its annual conference at the Queen Elizabeth. The protesters, members of American Disabled for Access to Public Transit, want APTA to endorse wheelchair lifts on all new buses across North America. Police officials said nine of 10 would be arraigned in municipal court sometime last night or early this morning. Cynthia Keelan and her seven-year-old daughter Jennifer were released soon after the wheelchair bus carrying the arrested demonstrators arrived at police headquarters. Police began processing the 10 protesters last night just as the arraignments of 10 others arrested earlier in the day were being completed. The 10 arraigned at 7:30 last night were arrested for blocking the Camillien-Houde parkway atop Mount Royal —to impede the return of APTA conference-goers from a luncheon at Chalet Mont Royal. All 10 pleaded guilty to charges of mischief and obstruction of justice. Municipal court Judge Louis-Jacques Leger sentenced five of the 10 — all of whom refused to pay $50 in fines — to three days in jail. The judge also slapped probation orders on the protesters, forbidding them from taking part in demonstrations on the Island of Montreal for six months. Léger also forbade them from being within 100 metres of an ADAPT demonstration and from being in areas where the arrests were made until the APTA conference ends to-morrow. [Subheading] Waived conditions The judge waived the last two conditions for Marie Barile, the sole Montrealer arrested atop the mountain. Barile protested conditions which said she should not be within the boundaries of Cote des Neiges Boulevard, Pine Avenue, Mount Royal Avenue and Parc Avenue. "But I work on Cote des Neiges near Victoria," she said, leaning forward in her wheel-chair so Léger could hear her. Rev. Wade Blank, one of the five who refused to pay his fine, told the judge that he would go to jail to protest the incarceration of the wheelchair-bound demonstrators. "I'm protesting the punishment of people, who are already punished enough by society," said Blank, who isn't disabled. MUC police moved in after the group of 50 blocked access to the chalet for an hour. "All the APTA people got up to their fancy luncheon, but they couldn't get down," said Molly Blank, Wade's wife. Meanwhile, 20 ADAPT members are expected to be released from prison this morning after serving half of their three-day sentences for invading and refusing to leave the Sheraton Centre, where some APTA members are staying. While 28 were arrested in the Sheraton protest, eight paid their $50 fines after pleading guilty to mischief and obstructing justice in a 2:30 a.m. municipal court session yesterday. The rest refused to pay fines or could not. The 20 — 16 men who were sent to Bordeaux jail and four women sent to Tanguay — went on hunger strikes to protest the probation orders Léger imposed. "Basically, the judge told them not to go into a demilitarized zone encompassing the major hotels where APTA members are staying," said Stewart Russell, the group's Montreal lawyer. [Subheading] Don't have right Russell called the restrictions on their movements unconstitutional because, he said, they didn't allow those convicted freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. Again at last night's session, he told Léger the orders were unconstitutional. "These people have not the right to demonstrate anywhere in the city of Montreal for six months, and they can't go see the mountain like other tourists visiting the city," Russell told the court at the arraignment of the mountain demonstrators. Léger said the probation order didn't hinder their rights enough to be considered unconstitutional, and he said, "I think they had an opportunity to see the mountain today." Sidebar: Access is a civil right, they say Singing “Access is a civil right,” and “We shall overcome,” disabled protesters at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel demanded to see American Public Transit Association (APTA) vice-president Jack Gilstrap yesterday. The protesters, members of American Disabled for Access to Public Transit, want APTA to endorse wheelchair lifts on all new buses across North America. Photo by Allan Leishman/Daily News: A group of ADAPTers are sitting in their wheelchairs together (left to right: Bobby Simpson, Terri Fowler, Katie Hoffman, Debbie _______ and in front Lillibeth Navarro. Behind them half a dozen police cars and the "Special" paddy wagon/school bus are parked. About a dozen police officers are standing around the cars; one appears to be chatting with Larry Ruiz and another ADAPT person. Caption reads: “Protest: Demonstrators demand to see the American Public Transit Association vice-president.” - ADAPT (266)
THE HANDICAPPED COLORADAN Vol.9, No. 5 Boulder Colorado December 1986 [This article continues in ADAPT 259, but the entire text is included here for easier reading.] PHOTO by Melanie Stengel, courtesy of UPI: A large heavy set man with no legs (Jerry Eubanks) sits in his manual wheelchair in front of a city bus. He has a determined and frustrated look on his face. Behind him and up against the front of the bus you can see another protester in a wheelchair (Greg Buchanan). On either side of Jerry is a uniformed officer, apparently unsure of how to proceed. One stands with his hand on this hip, the other officer is on Jerry's other side and is looking toward the first policeman, as if for guidance. caption reads: ARRESTING DISABLED PROTESTORS poses some unusual problems for police as these perplexed officers found out during the ADAPT Detroit demonstrations. Title: Doing hardtime in Cincy During the demonstrations at the regional convention of the American Public Transit Association (APTA) in Cincinnati this May 17 protestors were arrested. Three of them, George Cooper of Dallas, Mike Auberger of Denver, and Bob Kafka of Austin, were sentenced to 10 days in jail. Wade Blank, founder of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT), said it was the first time in the history of the movement that any disabled persons had done “hard time. ” The following is Kafka's own account of that hard time. The article is reprinted from Incitement, Vol. 2, No. 3, a newspaper published by the Texas ADAPT chapters. By BOB KAFKA Wednesday, May 21, 1986 4:30 p.m.— One by one they haul us off, seventeen in all. We go through the usual procedures: giving name, address, next of kin, all our property, a list of our medications. We sign the papers, are fingerprinted and photographed. We go into the detention center for hours of waiting while the powers that be decide what to do with us. Handicapism raises its ugly head again as judge Albanese releases six ADAPT members on their own recognizance. His reason: medical problems. The real reason: he can't understand those with CP and Frank, the one blind man, freaks him out. We become the Cincinnati Eleven. 8 p.m.—Mike Montgomery, the “head keeper" at the Hamilton County, jail, has a dilemma: eleven people in wheelchairs and not one empty bed in the infirmary. Where to put us? The decision had obviously been made to keep us together and apart from the rest of the prison population. They convert a training classroom into what looks like a hospital ward without windows. Eleven WWII hospital beds are hauled in. Two guards are stationed with us at all times and, for some reason, three from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. The accessible bathroom is down the hall. At first we are guarded each time we go to empty our leg bags; soon they realize we are not going to try the “great escape." The starkness of our surroundings is stifling: ugly green concrete block walls, gray tiled floors, buzzing fluorescent lights, and two clocks on the walls always counting time and exactly how long we have been in jail. Thursday, May 22 6 a.m.- The room is quiet. Without windows the difference between night and day can only be separated by the morning eggs and the changing of the shifts. We are a curiosity to our keepers. Faces peer in the doorway all morning to look at "the handicaps." ll a.m.— The doctor and nurse arrive to evaluate our "conditions," We again list our medications and the daily supplies we need. Two bladder infections, two decubitus ulcers, one strained back, and many who need assistance dressing, showering and toileting. They leave saying everything will be taken care of. (This is not to be.) 3 p.m.- The social work staff arrive. They are here to make sure we are treated OK, we have access to the library, gym and telephone, and to take care of any crises. (Again, this is not to be.) 4:30 p.m.- Joni Wilkens, our attorney, comes to discuss how we will handle our cases. We decide to stay together and not plea bargain. 6 pm.- It is obvious by now that we are not going to get our proper medication. Substitutes for drugs they don't have don't work. Those needing Valium are told it can't be dispensed in a jail setting. George again asked, to no avail, for his raised toilet seat and "booties" to protect his feet from sores. Mike asked about his bowel program. The nurse and guards give us only blank looks. 10 p.m.—Lights out. The guards assist those who need it. By the time we leave many of them will make pretty good attendants. Friday, May 23 6 a.m.-Lonnie went to the hospital late last night. His decubitus started to bleed and they rushed him over around l a.m. He came back around 3 a.m. and remained in bed all day. 12 p.m.- Boredom is starting to set in. George is rolling back and forth in the halls. Bill is constantly talking, which helps to keep us awake during the day. We fill out commissary forms, but as Joe predicts, we never see the items ordered. Lunch arrives, Mike has the guard melt his spoon so he can feed himself. He makes them do it each meal. George R. again devours his food. E.T. is lying in bed shivering from his bladder infection. 2 p.m.- Joni arrives with her partner, after a long session with the Cincinnati judicial system. The judge and D.A. will accept a plea of disorderly conduct and a fine of $60 (2 days already served) for the eight who were charged with disorderly conduct. They would go free. Lonnie's charge of resisting arrest would be dropped, but there are no guarantees for Mike, George and me. 4 p.m.- The eight are released, Mike, George and I receive 1O days, with credit for two served. Eight days to go. 9 p.m.- The room seems empty without the other eight ADAPT members. The guards kid about us being the hardened criminals. George continues to ask for his raised toilet seat, I for my correct medication and Mike about assistance with his bowel program. Again-no response. Saturday, May 24 7 a.m.-The library, gym, and telephone are not available on weekends and holidays. Monday is Memorial Day. We realize we will not have access to these amenities until Tuesday. Very much like a hospital stay. We also realize our medical needs will not be met; however, we continue our demands that something be done so Mike and George can get the help they need with their bowel program. Security continues to relay this to the medical staff. Medical staff continues to say it is security’s responsibility. This double think has been going on four days now, with no assistance given so far. 2 p.m.— George is beginning to have adverse effects from Valium withdrawal. Mike is having more and worse spasms because the substitute medications are not working. I have no idea if the substitute antibiotic is doing any good at all. Sunday, May 25 4 p.m.-The day passes as usual. Up at 6 a.m. with breakfast of cold eggs and boiled water that had looked at a coffee bean. After lunch our daily request for medication, supplies, and bowel program assistance is duly noted in the guard’s record book, but as usual no action. Joni and Art Wademan, a minister who has been invaluable throughout the week in Cincinnati, came about 2:30 p.m. We share our concern that if we don't get some assistance one or all of us might get very ill. They go to the supervisor and suggest that if medical is not going to act, then we should be transported to a hospital. Going to a hospital for a bowel program might seem extreme, but after five days, impaction is a real possibility. To our amazement, Mike is taken down to medical and then to the hospital. A raised toilet seat is borrowed from Good Samaritan Hospital. We are finally allowed to take our medications which are brought in from the outside. Monday, May 26 Memorial Day — a quiet day, a day for reflection. If non-disabled prisoners were prevented from relieving themselves for five days, it would be considered torture. Equality is as much a farce in jail as it is out of jail, maybe more so. Cincinnati's judicial and penal systems obviously feel it is fine to use a person's disability as a means of punishing that person. Documented omissions which place disabled people in potentially life-threatening situations don't raise an eyebrow, even from the defenders of justice or the media. Reports that the jail is well-equipped to handle our needs but that we will simply be “less than comfortable" go unchallenged. The fact that we have two people who care, who spend some time and resolve our problem, only highlights the injustice to those who do not have a Joni or an Art and must suffer because of ignorance of the needs of disabled persons. Tuesday, May 27 11:30 a.m.—-The court is two blocks from the jail. They usually transport the prisoners to the court by van for security reasons. We present a problem, since the van is inaccessible. They look to a supervisor, and after a half hour the answer comes down. Let the prisoners roll to the courthouse with a deputy sheriff guarding each of us. Babs, Tisha, Reverend McCracken, Art and Vivian (friends and family) are waiting in the hall. The guards hurry us into the courtroom. The media is out in force. As we wait, we wonder what the D.A. will do. Joni enters the room and her face is blank. Rubenstein, the D.A., is his usual arrogant self. Joni states that the six days served are both punishment and deterrent. Rubenstein surprisingly agrees, but asks the court to get our statement. Had we learned our lessons? He wants us to grandstand for the cameras and to get the judge mad at us again. Instead, we suppress the urge to yell "WE WILL RlDE" and simply state we will be returning to our homes and work. Cincinnati will be only a memory. Judge Sundeman accepts the motion to mitigate. We are free. 2 p.m.—We are sitting in Skyline Chili, a local restaurant, and talking over the last six days. Needless to say much of the talk is also about Detroit, October 5-9, our next battle with APTA. Spending six days in jail makes one think about commitment. Detroit will take commitment from us all, but . . . WE WILL RIDE! PHOTO 1: A close up of a man (Mike Auberger) with shoulder length dark hair and a short beard and mustache. He is wearing a light color sweater and shirt with a collar, and the chest strap from his wheelchair is visible. He looks very serious. Caption reads: MIKE AUBERGER Back in the slammer again. PHOTO 2: At least 4 policemen standing around a manual wheelchair in which someone (Bob Kafka) is being bent forward and something weird is happening with a pole (the picture is dark and hard to make out.) Caption reads: THE AUTHOR being arrested in L.A.