Calif. Bill Would End Use Of 'Mentally Retarded'

[Kitten Resq]

Now here's one I can get behind.  If they end the use of "Mentally Retarded" can the state line them all up and X the ones using this to get out of their punishments?  Works for me!

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Lawmakers want California to join the federal government and 42 other states in ending use of the term "mentally retarded."

The state Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a bill to drop the term from legal references and refer instead to "intellectual disability." The bill now moves to the Assembly.

Democratic Sen. Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills says SB1381 seeks to end the use of an offensive and outdated term in education and social services.

The bill is sponsored by The Arc of California, a group that advocates for disability rights, and is supported by United Cerebral Palsy in California.

Pavley says the bill is not expected to cost the state more money because the changes will be made during routine revisions to laws over the next several years.

Read more: http://www.kcra.com/politics/30883111/detail.html#ixzz1rtMSBiLq

[Russki]

What a shame...... it is only a PC rebranding. Stupid is stupid but the guys on DR are just evil.

[ScoopD (aka: Pam)]

When did the federal government stop using the phrase mentally retarded? I know as recent as the Atkins decision in 2002 they most definitely used it. 

The Atkins vs Virginia case has my favorite Justice (Scalia) dissenting (along with Rehnquist and Thomas) , and some of my favorite quotes are in this dissent.

Quoting Justice Scalia:

"The fact that juries continue to sentence mentally retarded offenders to death for extreme crimes shows that society’s moral outrage sometimes demands execution of retarded offenders. By what principle of law, science, or logic can the Court pronounce that this is wrong? There is none. Once the Court admits (as it does) that mental retardation does not render the offender morally blameless, ante, at 13—14, there is no basis for saying that the death penalty is never appropriate retribution, no matter how heinous the crime."

and....

"Seldom has an opinion of this Court rested so obviously upon nothing but the personal views of its
members."

[ScoopD (aka: Pam)]

and, by the way, doing a quick google search for the definition of intellectual disability turns up this as the first result:

Definition for intellectual disability:
Web definitions:   
Mental retardation (MR) is a generalized disorder, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or..............

[k"KKK"hirschkorn]

True but at the same time Cal.. Cant even execute a fly. It might offend the Other infidels.  Also this just in....

[deeg]

I work in the field of employment for people with disabilities, and I haven't seen mentally retarded used in years.  The term has been developmental disability which technically pertains to any disability occuring due to genetics, birth trauma or a person's development in utero.  Documents the Feds use for data collection, etc. still have Mentally Retarded as a disorder. 

Dee

[Dilligaf]

I thought "Intellectual Disability" was a term reserved for our elected officials.....

[Jim S]

I thought "Intellectual Disability" was a term reserved for our elected officials.....

Same disability now just not reserved for politicians!

[Russki]

I see no reason to worry about the sensitivities of those on DR

[Michael]

I think there are about 142.886 more important things to do ....