Criminal charges against autistic students

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Just posted: ASAN Statement on #JusticeForKayleb

Yeah, and some of the students were sentenced to adult prisons. Some of the students didn't leave the prisons until their twenties. Many of them were denied educational services and so needed to return to school to get a G.E.D.

cant they sue for excessive sentencing, esp. as the judges were proven corrupt

Actually, the lawsuits are still ongoing. There are four class action lawsuits. Three federal lawsuits filed on behalf of the victims have been consolidated with the Juvenile Law Center lawsuit into a master class action. The suits seek damages under the civil portion of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) against the judges' spouses and business associates, shell companies, youth center officials, and Luzerne County.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed a special master, Senior Judge Arthur Grim, who reported that Ciavarella had violated the rights of thousands of students. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court approved Grim's recommendation overturning most of the cases.
A class action lawsuit expunged the records of the students, giving them a clean slate.

Under the Mericle settlement, 1,066 former defendants who appeared before Ciavarella will receive base settlements of $500 to $5,000, with some eligible for additional money depending on the circumstances of their cases and sentences.
The settlement will also pay more than $600,000 to 548 parents to reimburse them for costs, fines and fees ordered by Ciavarella, (who is serving 28 years in federal prison for racketeering.)
The settlement ended up being about $17.75 million in total ($4 million to lawyers.)

A recent two-part investigation by the Huffington Post found that kids confined in YSI facilities “frequently faced beatings, neglect, sexual abuse and unsanitary food over the past two decades.”
The U.S. Department of Justice found that prisons were among those with highest rates of sexual victimization of youth of all juvenile facilities in the U.S.

I think the kids deserve a larger settlement...

Also, Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Sandra Brulo, illegally tampered with juvenile court records in an attempt to evade liability and has been found guilty in one of the lawsuits.

I've seen it likened to an addiction; an addiction to money and power. It's truly terrible. :/ Of course there's probably other factors too.

It's pretty simple when you think about it. Money buys things, makes life easier. More money buys more things, makes life easier still. That's positive reinforcement; it teaches people to behave in ways that get them more money so they can get more happiness. A study was done a few years ago that found that money does indeed buy happiness, up to something like $150,000/year. But there's a threshold. Above the threshold, money has less power to buy happiness because there's only so much happiness money will ever buy. The effect is similar to the diminishing satisfaction of continued drug use.
This leads the wealthy to a desperation of sorts; they've been taught that money will make them happier, but now it is not. They need greater and greater amounts of money to obtain the same level of happiness, and when they can't get that happiness, they keep turning back again and again to the only thing that ever worked: money.
It's just like a lab rat that has been taught to push a button to get an especially tasty treat; if the button no longer gives treats, the rat will keep pushing it over and over long after logic should tell them that the button will not work anymore. They keep 'holding out hope' that the old method will continue to work instead of looking for new ways to get the treats.
So yeah, it is like a drug. Some of the rich rats just haven't learned that they need a new method of obtaining happiness. They keep trying the old method, with greater and greater amounts of desperation.

I was often uncontrollable in school. Nevertheless, the patience involved in helping to guide me I must say has really helped me grow up. I don't think getting locked in juvie would have helped anything.

This is just one of the many reasons why I think we need a separate education system, not just get shoved into mainstream or special ed and hope for the best, neither is even close to suitable.

Oh, Kayleb is also black? Geez, so they lock him up twice as fast, for kicking over a trash can.

Ever political office from school boards on up should be replaced with Aspies. We have logic.

And maybe an Aspie-ocracy might cut out all the red tape and waste in politics. I know that Ireland could do with some of that anyway

Seems like he was just trying to stop an agonizing sensory overload. Anyone, neurotypical or autistic, might react badly if a cop is causing them pain. I think it's self-defense.

I don't think that a segregated special school would solve the problem. There's still as much potential for stupidity in discipline policy

I have been to both mental hospitals and jail and would prefer being in jail than in a mental hospital.

Mental hospitals feel like jail to me where I committed a crime when I really didn't.

Where's the attention on mental hospital abuse and misuse?

Getting back to the original story, this unfortunately illustrates the need for activism and advocacy, not just awareness - not only in our antiquated education system but in all aspects of life here in the US.

I agree without hesitation society is FAR from accessible for those with ASD society is unsafe for those who are different

I was jailed for 15hrs for something stupid before which was a house fight with my former roommates

So disappointing.Our system seems not to care about anyone.