Lawyer discusses disability rights
Erick Acuña Pereda delivered a presentation yesterday in the Eck Hall of Law discussing the challenges and obstacles facing regional human rights systems to incorporate the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a treaty adopted in 2006. Acuña is currently a researcher for the Peruvian Working Group of the Ibero-American Network of Experts on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. His lecture was sponsored by the Notre Dame Law School’s Center for Civil and Human Rights. Acuña started by explaining the importance of having certain laws to protect the rights of those with disabilities. “According to a report by the World Health Organization this year, there are more than 4 million people with mental disabilities throughout the world, and seven percent of these people live in developing countries,” Acuña said. “I think it is so important to discuss this topic because whether you work in a public institution or a civil society we should always try to take into account the disability approach either by public policy, litigation or workshops, and know that people with disabilities should have a voice and should be part of it and be included.” While in law school, Acuña said he first became interested in the issue while choosing his thesis topic. “I wanted to research about certain groups that are in a situation of vulnerability, but I wanted it to be a new topic that hadn’t been talked about before,” he said. “After talking with my professor and researching, I ran into indigenous people, African American people, migrants, and women and children, but then I read about people with disabilities.” Acuña said he was struck by the lack of literature on the topic. “What struck me the most was that there is almost nothing written on it,” he said. “They are suffering a lot and there are injustices regarding their disabilities, so that’s why I thought it was a really important topic to write about.” Acuña said there is a major difference between the medical approach and social approach to the CRPD. Prior to the CRPD, the medical approach defined disabled people as mental patients with abnormalities of body structure, appearance or function of an organ or system. However, after the CRPD the entire dynamic and climate of the discussion of the rights of those with disabilities changed, he said. “Before the adoption of the CRPD, people with mental disabilities were considered very ill and therefore needed to be cured be medical care,” Acuña said. “The old definition of those who are mentally disabled has a very negative connotation and made it seem like these people were different from everyone else and needed protection.” Acuña also discussed the right to legal capacity that he said is, “the most important pillar of the CRPD treaty.” The right to legal capacity bans the practice of guardianship for those with mental disabilities. Under the CRPD, it says there shouldn’t be substitution of decisions, he said, but instead there should be support in helping those with mental disabilities make decisions. “With this right to legal capacity, they can make their own decisions and their own mistakes, just like everyone else does,” Acuña said. Finally, Acuña analyzed the approaches of the Inter-American, European, and African legal systems to those with mental disabilities. He said under the CRPD, “states have the moral obligation to make everything that they can to actually create a situation where people with mental disabilities can fulfill or exercise their right of any convenience.” Contact Shannon O’Brien at sobrie12@nd.edu
Share:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) AdamHill / WikipediaALBANY – A downstate New York lawmaker aims to strengthen the state’s already strict gun laws.Democratic Assemblyman Felix Ortiz introduced three new measures this week.The first, wants to tackle so-called ghost guns, which are guns that come in parts and lack any identifying features. The bill would require each gun part to have a serial number.The second bill requires companies making ammunition to use a coding system on all firearms sold in the state. The third measure would place GPS tracking on guns so they can be located when stolen.
The Western Conference is going to finish with a better cumulative record than the Eastern Conference for the 19th time in the last 20 seasons (with the lone exception being the 2008-09 season), and this will be the East’s worst season (0.448 winning percentage with 15 inter-conference games left to play) of the last four.But right now, the eighth-place team in the East (the 38-38 Miami Heat) has a better record than the ninth-place team in the West (the 38-39 Sacramento Kings). So it’s possible that the 16 playoff teams will be the same 16 teams that would have made the postseason if conferences were ignored (not taking schedule imbalance into account).The East race for the final three spots has heated up. No potential 6-8 seed should be a major threat to any of the top three in the East. But there’s intrigue with every team involved.The Detroit Pistons are the only Eastern Conference team that hasn’t won a playoff game in the last 10 years, and they’re trying end their drought in their first full season with Blake Griffin and Dwane Casey’s first year on the bench. They seem to be in good position to finish sixth, but Griffin is dealing with a left knee injury that will have him out for their game in Indiana on Monday.The Brooklyn Nets are the underdog story. They had the East’s worst record over the last three seasons and haven’t had their own draft pick since 2013, but have benefited from player development and smart moves made in the margins. They’ve already won 11 more games than they did last season, but still have some work to do and five tough games left on their schedule.The Miami Heat are trying to get Dwyane Wade to one last postseason. They lost a big game to Orlando last week, but were an East-best 11-4 in March and still control their own destiny, with what could be a huge game in Brooklyn on the last night of the season.The Orlando Magic have won seven of their last eight games (and are 18-8 since Jan. 31) to stay right in the mix. They’re trying to end the East’s longest playoff drought (six years without an appearance) and have been the league’s second most improved team in regard to winning percentage.With 12 days left in the season, anything can happen with these four teams. It will be a success story for the three that make the playoffs and a disappointment for the one that doesn’t.Note: For the 12 teams that have been eliminated from playoff contention (the bottom five in the East and the bottom seven in the West), notes below will be focused on their defense. See last week’s rankings for notes on their offense.Plus-Minus Players of the WeekMr. Plus: Kevin Durant (GSW) was a plus-78 in three games last week.Mr. Minus: Brandon Knight (CLE) was a minus-50 in three games last week.Teams of the WeekMake It Last Forever: Orlando (3-1) — The Magic got three huge wins last week, beating Philadelphia, Miami and Indiana, with the last two coming on the road (where they had lost four straight entering the week).Something Just Ain’t Right: Indiana (0-3) — A winless week (and a 1-7 stretch) included a loss to another team (Oklahoma City) that’s been struggling and a loss (in Boston) that could contribute to the Pacers starting the playoffs on the road.East vs. WestThe West is 240-195 (.552) against the East in interconference games after going 11-9 last week.Schedule strength through Week 24Toughest: 1. New York, 2. Phoenix, 3. DallasEasiest: 1. Toronto, 2. Milwaukee, 3. MiamiSchedule strength is based on cumulative opponent record, and adjusted for home vs. away and days of rest before a game.Movement in the RankingsHigh jumps of the week: Orlando (+3), Boston (+2), Detroit (+2), L.A. Lakers (+2)Free falls of the week: Brooklyn (-2), Charlotte (-2), Miami (-2)Week 25 Team to WatchMiami — Whether Dwyane Wade gets to see a 14th postseason as part of #OneLastDance will be determined in the next 12 days. The Heat will play in Brooklyn on the final night of the season, but both the Nets and Heat will have to navigate a tough schedule before they get to the finale. While the Nets play two games against Milwaukee this week, the Heat will have a home-and-home with the Celtics. They’ll then play in Minnesota on Friday and in Toronto on Sunday.* * *Pace: Possessions per 48 minutes (League Rank)OffRtg: Points scored per 100 possessions (League Rank)DefRtg: Points allowed per 100 possessions (League Rank)NetRtg: Point differential per 100 possessions (League Rank)The league has averaged 100.7 possessions (per team) per 48 minutes and 109.5 points scored per 100 possessions this season. –Source: ESPN