Torture not Treatment - Disability Rights International

TORTURE NOT TREATMENT
machine developed by Israel for children whose behavior cannot be controlled by the GED or
who have become inured to the pain. 69 It delivers 45.0 milliamps RMS for 2 seconds, with a peak
intensity of 91 milliamps. 70 According to the JRC website, they are now developing a third, more
painful iteration of the GED. 71
To put the use of shock into context, the use of electronic devices on animals must comply with
the legal requirements according to state law. Most states prohibit the abuse of animals, and
many animal protection societies protest the use of shock collars on dogs. Torture of an animal in
Massachusetts is a felony and carries up to a 5 year prison sentence.
Whoever […] mutilates or kills an animal, or causes or procures an animal to be
overdriven, overloaded, overworked, tortured, or tormented, deprived of necessary
sustenance, cruelly beaten, mutilated or killed; and whoever […] knowingly and
willfully authorizes or permits it to be subjected to unnecessary torture, suffering or
cruelty of any king shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more
than 5 years or imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 2 ½ years or
by a fine or not more than $2,5000, or by both such fine and imprisonment. –
Massachusetts Statute Prohibiting Cruelty to Animals 72
Other comparisons may be helpful in understanding the power of the electrical force to which
JRC residents are subjected:
A stun gun [used by police] is a legal electrical self-defense device that puts out a high
voltage and low amperage shock. To put things in perspective, one amp will kill a
person. Our stun gun will deliver 3-4 milliamps. However, most stun guns on the
market are only 1-2 milliamps. – Definition of a Stun Gun 73
The level of shock is unbelievable, very painful….No other class of citizen in the
United States could be subjected to this. You could not do this to a convicted felon. –
MDRI interview with psychologist who visited JRC on behalf of the New York State
Department of Education
According to the Boston Globe, two former employees from JRC described the pain level of
electric shock as follows:
The employees, Gail Lavoie and Colleen Seevo, said that they also worked with a female
student who received as many as 350 shocks in one day, another figure confirmed by the
school. The women, who left the school at the end of 1992, said the shock is more
painful than described by school officials. ―I got hit accidentally on my thumb and I had a
tingling up to my elbow on the inner part of my arm I would say for four hours,‖ said
Seevo, referring to a shock. ―I was saying I can‘t believe these kids can do this. My
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