The Phoenix Gazette, April 11th 1987

Title: Disabled Protestors Released From Jail

Sixteen members of an activist disabled group were released from Maricopa County Jail Friday amid further protests that they were mistreated while behind bars.

The releases came after the 16 of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation pleaded guilty charges including trespassing and blocking a public thoroughfare and were sentenced to time served by a city judge, according to Maricopa County sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Joe Rossano.

The releases were part of a plea agreement reached by public defenders and prosecutors, Rossano said. He said the ADAPT members planned to return today to their hometowns after they spent a week in Phoenix to demonstrate during the convention of the American Public Transportation Association.

ADAPT wants all buses in the nation to be equipped with lifts for wheelchairs.

The group continued Friday to complain about the treatment its members received while in jail. Many of those jailed since Tuesday said they received inadequate medical care and were not given necessary medication.

Rossano said the complaints were groundless. He said all the medical needs of the disabled inmates were met “and then some.”

“Everyone who needed medication received it,” Rossano said. “Some were given double mattresses and others who were prone to bedsores slept on sheepskin. They have no right to complain.”

Created on

Thursday 11 July 2013

Posted on

Monday 18 September 2017

Tags

ADAPT - American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, APTA convention, lifts on buses, Maricopa County Jail, poor medical care in jail, time served

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