[Image description: this is an info-graphic that is mostly text, with one pie-graph in the center, but otherwise consists of bullet lists and short blurbs citing the injustices regularly committed by the Judge Rotenberg Center.
There are three horizontal sections. The top section contains a large cream-color title banner framed mostly in a dark-salmon color. In large fonts, the title reads:
The Judge Rotenberg Center: An Environment of Torture
The next horizontal section contains three black vertical sub-sections banded at the top by a muted-teal-color banner that spans the width of the info-graphic. The text on this banner reads:
The JRC, in Canton, Massachusetts, is legally considered a residential school, and is licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Students with disabilities at the JRC are subjected to torture techniques: shock aversives, food and sleep deprivation, social isolation, restraint, and seclusion.
This banner points to the left-most sub-section, where the text reads:
“ By the Numbers:
6: Numbers of deaths due to JRC abuse and negligence (if not more)
52: Millions of dollars of revenue the JRC makes every year.
240: Number of students at the JRC currently (approx.)
80: Number of students of JRC who are subjected to shocks (approx.)
5,000: Number of shocks one student received in one day.
2: Years some students are kept in almost constant restraint.
In the center-most section, there is a pie chart, titled:
Racial Disproportionality at the JRC:
Below the chart are numbers associated with each color in the chart. Text reads:
45% Black/African American; 28.1% Latino/a; 21.1% White; 3.9% Pacific Islander; 1.6% Multiracial
The right-most sub-section contains a quote:
“The rights of the students of the JRC subjected to Level III Aversive Interventions by means of electric shock and physical means of restraints have been violated under the UN Convention Against Torture and other international standards.” - Juan E. Méndez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
At the bottom of the middle horizontal section, there is another banner that spans the width of the info-graphic, this time dark-salmon-color and pointing at the Méndez quote above on the right. The text on this banner reads:
The JRC uses 2 shock aversive devices on students: the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED), which delivers a shock of 15.5 milliamps lasting up to 2 seconds, and the GED-4 which subjects students to stronger shocks of 45.5 milliamps. For reference, most stun belts deliver shocks of approximately 3-4 milliamps. The shocks often cause blistering red spots.
The lowest horizontal section is divided into two sub-sections. The lower-left section has a cream-color background and consists of a bullet list. The text reads:
JRC students are shocked as punishment for:
• involuntary body movements,
• waving hands,
• putting fingers in one’s own ears,
• tensing up one’s body,
• not answering staff quickly enough,
• screaming while being shocked,
• closing eyes for more than 15 seconds,
• reacting in fear to other students being shocked,
• standing up, asking to use the bathroom,
• raising one’s hand,
• swearing,
• saying “no”,
• stopping work for more than 10 seconds,
• interrupting others,
• nagging,
• whispering,
• slouching,
• tearing up paper,
• attempting to remove shock electrodes,
• making 5 noises in one hour.
The lower-right sub-section is muted-teal and its text reads:
The JRC has created an environment of fear for students with disabilities who attend the school. Its practices are torturous and traumatizing for students. It has shown a complete lack of regard for the safety and wellbeing of its students.
In 2011, the JRC was banned from using physical aversives on new admissions to JRC. However, many JRC students have been at the school for years and still are being subjected to physical aversives. The school is adamant to keep using shock punishments on its students.
Currently, the JRC relies on an outdated court settlement from 1987 as a defense against regulation of its use of physical aversives. This court order was extended indefinitely, and allows the JRC unchecked power to abuse JRC students. Overturning this court order would be a step in challenging the JRC.
In 2014, an FDA advisory board recommended that the GED and GED-4 that JRC uses be banned. The hearing included testimony from former students and disability rights activists. This advisory panel does not have the authority to ban the aversives, but the FDA could take its recommendation.
End of image description.]
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