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Robert
Elliot | Foster
Parent case | Robert Latimer |
Martensville | Defamation
cases | People representing themselves
Sandra
Crockett
Mother who had her 14 year
old mentally handicapped son sterilized is defending herself
in lawsuit filed against her
The group who defend the rights
of the disabled make the astonished assertion that a better solution
could have been found to deal with a sexually mature person who
lacked the capacity to learn or restrain himself.
Lawsuit Highlights Ignorance
of Rights of People with Disabilities
The Person Within enhances
understanding of rights and needs of children with disabilities
June 19, 2000
A lawsuit against a woman who
arranged for her disabled son to be castrated highlights problems
with our society's attitudes to people with disabilities, says
a UBC professor emeritus who made pioneering strides in the field
of educating children with disabilities.
"The fact that a mother
and doctor together could not come up with an alternative to
castration speaks volumes about our society's attitudes toward
people with disabilities, the lack of support we provide to parents
of children with disabilities, and the lack of education we offer
to professionals who sometimes encounter people with disabilities
in their work," says Sally Rogow.
Rogow is a retired professor
of special education whose accomplishments include developing
a teacher-training program whose graduates now work with children
with disabilities the world over. More recently, she created
the concept for The Person Within, an award-winning video and
training program designed to broaden understanding of abuse often
experienced by children with disabilities.
In a news article about the
case in question, filed last month in BC Supreme Court, Sandra
Crockett is described as a loving, single mother who devoted
her life to caring for her brain-damaged son. However, as he
matured physically, the reporter wrote, his hormones "got
the better of him" and he was "sometimes violent."
In 1997, his mother arranged to have him castrated.
"We don't for a minute
endorse the mother's actions," says Rogow, who is program
director of The Person Within. "However, we have to look
at them in context. What support and education were available
to this mother while she was raising her son? What were her fears
regarding the consequences for her son if he became violent?
Were they grounded in experience of prejudice against people
with disabilities? Who was available to discuss this decision
with her in an informed way? What information was she given by
doctors, social workers, or other professionals?
"We are not absolving
the mother of responsibility," says Rogow. "Yet this
situation highlights social attitudes that lead us to believe
that people with disabilities don't have the same rights as others,
or that other people's rights take precedent."
|
 Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
Truth suppress'd, whether
by courts or crooks, will find an avenue to be told. Sheila Steele, injusticebusters.com
Publisher Sheila
Steele
Got something
to say about this or any other stories on this site? Go to injusticebustersblog Participate!
- injusticebusters
court advice :
- How
to walk yourself through the justice system
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- Why
you should dump your preliminary hearing (written July 1998 and still valid)
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- Sermonette: Sucked
in, Diegested and spit out by Saskatoon police (You will find links
to many more sermonettes in the sidebar on this page
Another target
of Dueck's malice:
Wilf
Hathway
Our activism
contributed greatly to the good vibes which happened around the
civil trial.
Please participate
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Index
to the stories on this website
This is not
regularly updated so if you are looking for a particular story
and you have a name or keyword, please use the site search engine(at
the bottom of the page) which IS regularly updated
Index to Saskatoon Police stories
This is a pretty good scrapbook
for the 1998-2002 period.
-
Canadians
who have been wrongfully convicted because of improper investigations
combined with zealous Crown
Supreme
Court orders new trial and quashes conviction in two more cases
with improper disclosure issues
A round-up of wrongful convictions in Canada
- Robert
Baltovich
- Michael
Burns
- Sebastian Burns
- Wilbert
Coffin
(hanged, 1953)
- Jason Dix
- Jim
Driskell
- Jody
Druken
- Randy
Druken
- Michel
Dumont
- Peter
Frumusa
- Walter
Gillespie and Robert Mailman
- Clayton
Johnson
- Yvonne
Johnson
- Herman
Kaglik
- Darren
Koehn
- Kulaveeringsam
"Kulam" Karthiresu
- Stephen
Leadbeater
- Donald
Marshall
- Chris
McCullough
- Michael
McTaggart
- Felix
Michaud
- David
Milgaard
- Guy Paul
Morin
- Shannon
Murrin
- Jamie
Nelson
- Greg
Parsons
- Benoit
Proulx
- Atif Rafay
- Louise
Reynolds
- Thomas
Sophonow
- Gary
Staples
- Steven
Truscott
- Joe
Warren
- Leon
Walchuk
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