#neli latson

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/

The latest Tweets on FreeNeli. Read what people are saying and join the conversation.

"Ms. Marcus has continued to write excellent pieces on the Neli Latson case, and should be applauded for bringing his unjust incarceration and solitary confinement to the public. While I understand her latest post, her attempt to explain the way the Latson case exemplifies a greater problem, and I agree that problem exists and needs to be dealt with, I am extremely concerned with something else. Ms. Marcus writes that Neli Latson, who has already served time for assaulting a police officer of which the last year was served in solitary confinement should not be free. She says he should be in a secure residential treatment facility. Let us call things what they are.  A secure residential treatment facility is the politically correct way of saying a mental institution.  She describes Mr. Latson as a "sweet young man who nonetheless can become aggressive when agitated". Stop and make a mental list of everyone you know who can become aggressive when agitated.  Should they all be in a "secure residential treatment facility" aka mental institution, for the rest of their lives?"

Reginald “Neli” Latson, a young man with Autism and Intellectual Disability, has been held in solitary confinement at a southwest Virginia correctional facility for almost a year...

“In effect Neli spends 24 hours a day locked in a segregation cell with minimal human contact for the ‘crime’ of being autistic,” his lawyers wrote to Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. “Absent intervention, there is every reason to think he will remain there until the opportunity for effective treatment has been lost.”

"#BlackLivesMatter includes black autistic lives. Mine. Those of the autistic sons of black women who do not sleep easy at night. The socially awkward black geek girl bullied by her classmates. The self-identified-autistic transman navigating his way in a hostile world. My father, if he were still here. And Neli Latson.

In and amongst our mourning and righteous indignation over the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Renisha McBride, and others, we need that same kind of fury for Neli — until he is free."

"Their world is comfortable and safe [...] They are sure their social position, income, and race keeps their children safe. They forget something very important. Neli Latson would not have come to this horrible pass had he not also been autistic. This disaster is the intersection of autism, ableism and racism colliding with the school to prison pipeline. See everyone who is poor in Black America prepares their son for that moment. They teach them the social cues and red flags. They tell them to have a way to make that phone call and an understanding that they will be harassed by police at some point.  But autism parents are told they need to teach compliance and concrete ideas about police to their autistic children. It gives autism parents a false sense of security about their teens encountering police."

#FreeNeli. Since 2010, UNJUST imprisonment, probation & solitary confinement: http://autisticadvocacy.org/2014/11/asan-calls-for-neli-latsons-release/ … #AutisticLivesMatter #BlackLivesMatter