The Patriot LedgerJudge Rotenberg Center lobbies D.C. against billCanton school fights limits on aversive therapy on two frontsBy Taylor Bigler
Patriot Ledger Washington bureau
Posted Oct 20, 2011 @ 11:20 PM
Last update Oct 20, 2011 @ 11:22 PMWASHINGTON — As the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton gears up to oppose new state regulations that limit the use of controversial shock treatment, the school is also covering its bases in Washington.
So far this year, the Judge Rotenberg Center has paid $16,500 to Malkin & Ross, a New York-based lobbying firm, according to recent lobbying reports filed with the secretary of the Senate.
According to the reports, the school paid the firm to lobby on its behalf on matters regarding matters in the House and the Senate. The center has paid the firm $5,500 in each quarter of this year.
The Judge Rotenberg Center paid a combined $111,000 to Malkin & Ross and the international law firm of Bracewell & Giuliani, LLC, the law firm of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, last year.
A bill filed by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., now the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, would ban the use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools. The bill is co-sponsored by 27 Democrats, including Rep. John Tierney, D-Salem, and one Republican.
In the last session of Congress, Miller, who was then chairman of the committee, sponsored the same legislation. The bill passed the House but died in the Senate.
With the House now in Republican hands and few Republicans backing the bill, it is unlikely to make it to the House floor this time.
“Chairman Kline has long-standing concerns with imposing a federal solution that fails to take into account the proactive initiatives being undertaken at the state and local level,” said Jennifer Allen, a spokeswoman for the current committee chairman, Rep. John Kline, R-Minn.
Miller’s office cited a U.S. Government Accountability Office report as reason for filing the legislation. The report found that hundreds of students had been injured, or in some cases died, due to misuse of restraint or seclusion in schools.
Melissa Salamanowitz, a spokeswoman for Democrats on the committee, said in a statement: “This bill both protects students from abuse and provides training for teachers on effective and appropriate discipline practices. … It's disgraceful but not surprising that the Judge Rotenberg Center would rather that no regulations exist to protect students in schools.”
In a telephone interview, Michael Flammia, a Boston-based attorney for the Judge Rotenberg Center, said, “The Judge Rotenberg Center and a number of other schools lobbied against this bill (last session), and in fact, the bill was not passed.
“It would have put children at risk and at harm,” he said. “It would not allow for restraint when a student is engaging in self-aggressive behavior.”
New regulations from the state Department of Developmental Services will go into effect Oct. 30. The Patriot Ledger reported that the school is planning to file a complaint claiming that the regulations violate a 1987 court order allowing the school to use so-called aversion therapy, which includes shock treatments.
The center uses behavioral modification techniques to curb severely aggressive behavior among developmentally disabled students who are in danger of injuring themselves or others. It is the only school in the country to regularly administer electric-shock treatment to modify the behavior of students.
Gov. Deval Patrick issued an executive order last summer that would ban the use of aversion therapy on new students, after years of stalemate in the Legislature.
Under the new regulations, about 75 students who previously received the therapy would still be allowed to receive the treatment, but the practice would be banned for incoming students.
Copyright 2011 The Patriot Ledger.
