Immigrant was stuck in jail because no one else would take him in

From the Miami Herald:

A Florida judge has ruled that a paralyzed man will be released after spending about a year in jail  — even though he was not sentenced to incarceration.

Enrique Reyes had been sentenced  to five years’ probation last February after he pleaded no contest to vehicular homicide. But the local hospital declined to take him, so he landed back in jail even though he was technically free.

The issue: No one wants a poor, homeless, undocumented migrant in a wheelchair. The case highlighted the fact that the jail — under court orders to avoid overcrowding — is the dumping ground of last resort. It costs about $115 a day to care for Reyes at the jail, where he has now stayed nearly a year despite no sentence that includes incarceration.

Reyes will rejoin his parents in his native Cuba.

(Miami Herald photo)

See also:

Paralyzed man remains behind bars in Broward – Miami Herald

Paralyzed inmate left languishing in jail likely to return to Cuba – Miami Herald

From the Washington Post:

Paul E. Kay, 71, a lawyer who fought against the exclusion of blind people on D.C. Superior Court juries, died this month after a heart attack.

Mr. Kay was rejected as a juror because of his blindness in 1991 and 1993, even though he represented clients in the same court. The experience prompted him to persuade D.C. council member Jim Nathanson to introduce a bill prohibiting the court from automatically barring blind people from jury duty.

The bill subsequently passed, but not before a federal court ordered the D.C. Superior Court to change its rules in response to a separate lawsuit.

Editorial writers at the the [Newark, NJ] Star-Ledger say there are good economic reasons to close five of the state’s seven institutions, but they say the moral reasons are even more persuasive.

An excerpt:

Ten other states have moved toward eliminating developmental centers, but New Jersey lawmakers have resisted change — maybe because change is scary, maybe because the developmentally disabled don’t vote. Armed with research and spread sheets, Greenwald is shaming his colleagues.

… When public policy wastes millions of dollars, it’s bad policy. When that policy also prevents people from reaching their full potential, or needlessly separates them from those who love them, it’s inexcusable.

Editorial writers at the Philadelphia Inquirer back a proposal by New Jersey Assemblyman Louis Greenwald that would close five of the state’s seven institutions for people with developmental disabilities, and move people into community settings instead. An excerpt:

The state must make sure there is adequate supervision and regulation to ensure that the disabled get the proper care.

… Greenwald’s proposal has the right intent and strikes the right balance. Lawmakers should move forward with the plan. The developmentally disabled deserve a chance to improve their quality of life.

From the [Chicago] Sun-Times News Group, Elmhurst:

Louie Herrera is one of some 22,000 people in Illinois with developmental disabilities who are on the state’s waiting list for services. Herrera graduates from high school soon, but he and his parents have been told that he won’t get services because he “didn’t meet the criteria for immediate funding: He’s not homeless and he hasn’t been abused or neglected.” An excerpt:

The funding simply doesn’t exist to cover the growing number of people in need, said Reta Hoskin, associate director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities in Illinois’ Department of Human Services.

“That’s typical across the nation,” Hoskin said.

… Parents and service providers are concerned that without continued development training, people with disabilities will have little more activity than sitting at home watching TV, and they could lose the skills acquired thus far.

From the Los Angeles Times, Santa Barbara Independent:

An 85-year-old California man who attempted to kill his ailing wife and himself last September has avoided jail, receiving a sentence of time served plus three years probation and 100 hours of community service. His wife had Alzheimer’s disease. The pair had been married since 1944.

James Wheeler was arrested after a neighbor noticed a hose running from the tailpipe of his car into the front window of his home. Wheeler told authorities that he and his wife were in the process of committing suicide. He was charged with attempted murder and elder abuse.

Mrs. Wheeler died last November from complications of Alzheimer’s disease, in a small nursing home where she had been living since the incident. Wheeler has spent a total of seven days in jail.

Wheeler’s family and friends told officials that he had acted out of love and desperation.

Some 10,000 Louisiana residents with developmental disabilities are waiting for help to live independently, and most have been waiting for years. Editorial writers at the Shreveport [LA] Times say it’s time for legislators to start working on clearing the waiting list.

The state’s system for assisting people with developmental disabilities is “clearly in need of an overhaul,” they say. An excerpt:

It has to start with perception that home care is better than institutional care. From there it’s a matter of getting care to children as early as possible.

From a purely monetary perspective, it’s cheaper to hire a full-time personal assistant, who can make sure someone gets ready for work and has a meal at the end of the day, than it is to keep someone in an institution at $140,000 per year.

And on a human level, encouraging independence leads those with special needs to becoming productive, even taxpaying, citizens.