#freeneli

In response to today’s conditional pardon of Neli Latson by Virginia Governor Terry Mcauliffe, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network issued the following statement:

Over the past four years Neli Latson has been restrained, pepper sprayed, shot with a Taser, bound in a restraint chair for hours, placed in solitary confinement, and criminalized all for having a mental health crisis during a catastrophic encounter with a police officer. He has suffered four years of hell for the crime of being a disabled young man. He never belonged in prison. I am the mother of a nonverbal autistic 12 year old son. If we don't change the way our children are treated today, this could happen to any of them tomorrow. Our sons are NOT criminals! Please join the Virginia Chaper of the ACLU, The Arc of Virginia, The Arc of the US, ASAN, The Bazelon Center For Mental Health Law, and countless others in calling for a pardon for Neli Latson.

Quoting The Autistic Self Advocacy Network's Call for Pardon Statement: 

“Yesterday, Reginald “Neli” Latson, an autistic man currently imprisoned in Virginia, pled guilty to assaulting a correctional officer in exchange for a six-month sentence – the statutory minimum. Although the Autistic Self Advocacy Network applauds the efforts of Neli’s attorney in this case, justice is still not served. We call on Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to grant Neli a conditional pardon so that he can finally escape a cycle of incarceration and arrests and begin to heal from his years-long ordeal.

The incident leading to this plea deal should never have happened, let alone resulted in criminal charges. At the time, Neli was in prison because he had been prosecuted for behavior during a mental health crisis. Because the prison was ill equipped to accommodate Neli’s disabilities, it placed him in long-term solitary confinement – an unconscionable response that further exacerbated his behavioral difficulties and led to a suicide attempt. At the time of the incident, Neli was being led to an even more restrictive solitary cell with no mattress and a hole in the floor for a toilet. As a prison guard attempted to physically force Neli’s hands against a wall, Neli panicked and lashed out.

There was no serious injury to anyone in this incident other than Latson, who was shot with a Taser and bound for hours in a restraint chair. Nevertheless, Stafford County prosecutor Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen insisted on bringing yet further charges against Neli, at first pushing for a several-year sentence.

As a result of the tireless advocacy of the disability community, Neli’s attorney was able to secure a plea that would allow Neli to serve only six months, not several years. Moreover, he has now been moved out of solitary confinement. We are glad that Neli is no longer spending his days in torturous solitary confinement and that his days in the prison system will soon be at an end.

Nevertheless, we feel that even six months more of prison time is inherently unjust. Neli’s response to long-term solitary confinement is no reason to extend the cycle of unjust incarceration even longer. We hope that Governor McAuliffe will pardon Neli so that he can leave the prison system and begin receiving appropriate rehabilitation services, including re-entry services and behavior supports.” #FreeNeli

See the links below for more information on Neli's case:

Bazelon Center Statement:

http://www.bazelon.org/News-Publications/Statement-on-the-Plight-of-Reginald-Latson.aspx

Intersected Disability Blog articles:

http://intersecteddisability.blogspot.com/2015/01/catastrophic-encounters-with-police.html

http://intersecteddisability.blogspot.com/2014/12/on-ruth-marcuss-latest-op-ed-on-neli.html

article, January 4, 2015:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/01/04/us/ap-us-inmate-autism.html?_r=1

 Virginian-Pilot editorial, Jan 2, 2015:

http://hamptonroads.com/2015/01/mental-disability-not-crime

 Washington Post, Ruth Marcus op-ed columns:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ruth-marcus-reginald-latsons-case-points-to-a-scandal-in-us-prisons/2014/12/23/ac64c6c2-8ae0-11e4-8ff4-fb93129c9c8b_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ruth-marcus-why-is-reginald-latson-being-denied-the-help-he-needs/2014/11/28/a6c5e2c0-771f-11e4-bd1b-03009bd3e984_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ruth-marcus-in-virginia-a-cruel-and-unusual-punishment-for-autism/2014/11/14/9d7f6108-6c3b-11e4-b053-65cea7903f2e_story.html

 Washington Post Editorial, Dec 8:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/an-autistic-man-caught-in-the-criminal-justice-system/2014/12/07/2d2af6b8-7b42-11e4-b821-503cc7efed9e_story.html

 Arc of Virginia webpage:

http://www.thearcofva.org/advocacy/current-advocacy-issues-and-activities/reginald-neli-latson/

January 9, 2015

Yesterday, Reginald “Neli” Latson, an autistic man currently imprisoned in Virginia, pled guilty to assaulting a correctional officer in exchange for a six-month sentence – the statutory minimum. Although the Autistic Self Advocacy Network applauds the efforts of Neli’s attorney in this case, justice is still not served. We call on Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to grant Neli a conditional pardon so that he can finally escape a cycle of incarceration and arrests and begin to heal from his years-long ordeal.

The incident leading to this plea deal should never have happened, let alone resulted in criminal charges. At the time, Neli was in prison because he had been prosecuted for behavior during a mental health crisis. Because the prison was ill equipped to accommodate Neli’s disabilities, it placed him in long-term solitary confinement – an unconscionable response that further exacerbated his behavioral difficulties and led to a suicide attempt. At the time of the incident, Neli was being led to an even more restrictive solitary cell with no mattress and a hole in the floor for a toilet. As a prison guard attempted to physically force Neli’s hands against a wall, Neli panicked and lashed out.

There was no serious injury to anyone in this incident other than Latson, who was shot with a Taser and bound for hours in a restraint chair. Nevertheless, Stafford County prosecutor Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen insisted on bringing yet further charges against Neli, at first pushing for a several-year sentence.

As a result of the tireless advocacy of the disability community, Neli’s attorney was able to secure a plea that would allow Neli to serve only six months, not several years. Moreover, he has now been moved out of solitary confinement. We are glad that Neli is no longer spending his days in torturous solitary confinement and that his days in the prison system will soon be at an end.

"Autism isn't a mental illness." and things to that effect, and how the media conflates the two.

Well, no, it's not. It's a neurodevelopmental disability - aka, a mental disability from birth that changes sensory processing, spoken communication, language, motor control, etc.

But what that statement, in this context means, is:

"Autism isn't a mental illness, and that's why we should free Neli," and "He's not dangerous because he isn't mentally ill."

Even if the person doesn't mean to just throw mentally ill people like myself under the bus (I have atypical major depression, general anxiety disorder, and PTSD) -- and especially people with psychosis-related mental illnesses, who are mostly depicted as either violent in the media or needing to be institutionalized -- they are.

We're arguing against Neli being in prison because the whole thing has been a miscarriage of justice. We're arguing against putting him in a secure treatment facility because everyone deserves community integration and supports, and also because Virginia has a legal precedent to do so with Olmstead v. L.C., where it stated that "(b)  Undue institutionalization qualifies as discrimination “by reason of … disability.” (Note: contains outdated language now considered slurs, aka the r-slur).

We are not arguing that because Neli is presumably not mentally ill (no reports have indicated him to be so, though he's been through many traumatizing events), he should be able to live in the community. It's about a thing of disability solidarity against injustice, ableism and the racism (though some have remained silent on this issue because of that, I'm sure).

It is not about throwing mentally ill people under the bus. Such things should not be accepted. You cannot combat ableism with ableism, and yes, disabled people can be ableist toward other disabled people.

If you see it, try to not let it go uncontested.