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Handicapped Parking Abuse Causes Problems for Those Who Need It
By Sarah Purtill
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
Almost all parking lots in the United States have handicapped parking spots. These spots are designated for people who have disabilities, whether they are visible or not. However, there are many people who are parking in these spots without needing them. Often times, people use the handicapped placard for someone who is not in the car or they have altered/ forged the handicapped placard.
Officers in Los Angeles are currently on the lookout for vehicles violating these traffic rules and ticketing them. In Los Angeles, police officer have the option of writing a parking ticket or a misdemeanor citations. Officer Yasnyi in particular, chooses to write parking tickets instead of misdemeanor citations because the parking ticket does not appear on the driver’s record. Regardless, the penalty for invalidly parking in handicapped parking is high. Typically, two tickets are written that can be about $363 a piece. One ticket is given for invalid use of a handicapped placard and another is for illegally occupying the space.
The Department of Motor Vehicles in Los Angeles also writes citations for misdemeanors. At the L.A. County Fairgrounds in September 2017, the DMV wrote 477 citations for handicapped placard abuse. The misdemeanor citations can cost the driver anywhere from $250 to $1000. Those that abuse the handicapped parking placard take away spots from those who truly need the handicapped parking spot. Officer Yasnyi says he would estimate that 30% of the time the placard is altered, stolen or issued to someone else (including the dead).
But L.A. is not the only city seeking to bust handicapped parking spot abusers. In Omaha, Nebraska, police are training civilians to be a part of the city’s handicapped enforcement. The civilians have volunteered to help keep enforce the traffic laws. Sgt. Erin Payne with the Omaha Police Department said, “this is really a win-win for us. For our community to be able to give back to our community, and then for them to be able to assist the police.” The volunteers are all certified to cite drivers. The Omaha Police Department said the handicap parking enforcement volunteers issue more than 1,000 citations each year. Like in L.A., the fines are heavy. First time offenders pay a $150 fine, second time offenders pay $300, and third time offenders pay $500 and risk jail time.
However, there are also people who need indeed possess a valid handicapped placard who are accused of abusing them. Lexi Baskin, a student at Kentucky University, is a cancer survivor who currently has to undergo radiation and chemotherapy that leaves her weak, tired and dizzy. She gets her treatments during her lunch break and heads back to school. Her handicap is not necessarily visible at all times, and someone who has been watching her decided to let her know their thoughts on the matter.
This person did not believe that Baskin was sufficiently disabled to deserve the parking spot. The person left signs taped all over Baskin’s car windshield and windows. Some of the signs called her “lazy” and said “shame on you.” One note in particular read, “There are legit handicapped people who need this parking space. We have seen you and your friend come and go and there is nothing handicapped about either of you. Your tag must be borrowed or fake. We will make every effort to see you fined or towed for being such a selfish, terrible person.”
The vandalism is under investigation by University police. Baskin says, “I want to get this out there to make people aware that just because you can’t see something, doesn’t mean people aren’t going through it.” The misuse of handicapped placards creates a multitude of issues including taking handicapped spots from people who do need the spots to those who actually need the spots being accused of being lazy just because their handicapped is not necessarily visible.
For more information, please see:
Blaze – A Cancer Survivor Had Her Car Defaced For Using Disability Parking, But She Responded With Grace – 9 November 2017
KETV Omaha – Omaha Police Seek Volunteers for Handicapped Parking – 8 November 2017
L.A. Times – It takes a special arrogance to steal a parking place from a disabled person. And this cop is out to bust you – 8 November 2017
Transgender Community Hopeful After Passage of New Law in Greece
By: Jenilyn Brhel
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
ATHENS, Greece – The Greek parliament has passed a law making it easier for individuals to change their legally recognized genders, a move that has been met with strong support as well as vehement opposition.
The law passed with 171 votes in favor in the 300-member parliament. It allows Greek citizens over the age of 15 to change the gender listed on identification cards and official documents. This requires a court order but does not require medical tests or surgery. Applicants must not be married and are limited to changing their legal gender twice.
Prior to the law’s enactment, those wishing to change their genders were required to undergo gender reassignment surgery along with a psychiatric assessment. This was criticized by human rights groups and transgender activists as an “outdated and oppressive practice that violates individuals’ bodily integrity.”
In opposition to the law, some churches in the western Greek region rang funeral bells and claimed that “Christian morals have been murdered.”
Some believe that the bill is an attempt to distract the public’s attention away from Greece’s financial problems.
Others believe the minimum age is too young. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of the New Democracy party, said “for us it is inconceivable to bar 15-year olds from consuming alcohol, yet enabling them to take such an important decision.”
Before the vote, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pleaded with lawmakers to support the law, saying that “we are on the side of those who have no voice, or whose voice is stifled.”
The transgender community sees the law as a positive step towards inclusion and hopes that it will foster greater acceptance in the largely conservative nation. The Transgender Support Association stated that the vote was historic and that it was a “first positive step toward enjoying basic rights and freedoms.”
In response to those opposed to the law, Prime Minister Tsipras said this: “Absolutely no tradition, no perception of family calls for people to be sidelined or tossed aside into a social and institutional abyss.”
Anna Kouroupou, a 24 year old female who underwent gender reassignment surgery at the age of 24, believes that the new law will help improve the daily lives of those who suffer in the transgender community. She believes that the new law will help people find jobs and “therefore they’ll have health care, all those rights that each person has from the minute they’re born.”
For more information, please see:
BBC News – Greek Parliament Approves Law Allowing Legal Gender Change – 10 October 2017
NBC News – Churches Ring Funeral Bells Over New Gender Rights Law – 16 October 2017
The New York Times – Greek Transgender Community Hopes New Law Will Improve Lives – 10 October 2017
Reuters – Greece Passes Sex Change Law Opposed by Orthodox Church – 10 October 2017
The Washington Post – Greek Transgender Community Hopes New Law Will Improve Lives – 10 October 2017
2 Detectives of NYPD Indicted for Rape
By Sarah Purtill
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
NEW YORK CITY, New York – On September 15, two New York City detectives stopped a car in Brooklyn under the pretense of searching its occupants for drugs. In particular, the drug at issue was marijuana. The detectives were dressed in plain street clothes and were driving an unmarked vehicle. Inside the car they stopped was an 18-year-old woman and two men.
The detectives searched the vehicle for drugs and asked the woman to lift her skirt “to make sure there is nothing under there.” The woman’s lawyer, Michael David, says “She was petrified, so she showed it. She said, ‘See, I’m not hiding anything.” Immediately after lifting her skirt, the detectives ordered the woman to get out of the car. She was then placed in handcuffs, put in the backseat of the detectives’ car and was told she would be driven to the 60th precinct. The precinct was about a mile and a half from where the woman was pulled over.
According to the woman, the detectives never drove to the precinct. Instead, they drove to a parking lot of a Chipotle that was nearby. It was at that point, the woman said the detectives raped her. She alleges that 45 minutes after, she was shoved out of the detective’s vehicle, not that far from the 60th precinct. The woman called her mother, who took her to Maimonides Medical Center in Borough Park Brooklyn. Her attorney has called the incident a kidnapping. “I don’t think a gang rape has ever been reported in the history of the N.Y.P.D,” Mr. David said.
The woman has become weary from waiting for weeks for some kind of action by prosecutors. “She was getting more frustrated by the day, this has been going on for six weeks already, and it just seemed she was crying for help,” Mr. David said. He adds that she has been crying and is depressed and that this alleged crime has placed a strain on the relationship she has with her parents.
Both the detectives, Edward Martins and Richard Hall, have been suspended without pay during the investigation. These actions are usually reserved for officers who have been charged with crimes. At this point, both of the officers has been indicted by a grand jury for the alleged rape as well as for bribery. The charge for bribery stems from telling the woman they would let her go if she did what they wanted. The detectives had been stripped of their guns and put on “modified duty” after the allegations emerged.
So far, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office has declined to comment. Mark A. Bederow, the attorney for Detective Martins said, “We are going to vigorously contest these charges in a court of law, rather than the court of public opinion.” “We look forward to defending any charges in a court of law rather than in the court of public opinion,” Bederow, said. The detectives’ supervisor has also been placed on modified duty after the woman’s allegations emerged. The detectives were also demoted to police officers last week.
Hall and Martin are said to be turning themselves in early next week, says sources of New York Daily News. The sources say this surrender is likely part of an agreement between the prosecution and detectives because they are not considered a flight risk.
For more information, please see:
Fox News – 2 NYPD Detectives Suspended Amid Probe of Rape Allegations – 28 October 2017
New York Daily News – Two NYPD Detectives Indicted In Rape of 18-Year-Old Woman They Busted For Pot – 27 October 2017
New York Times – Indictment Issued in Case of 18-Year-Old Who Said 2 Officers Raped Her – 27 October 2017
New York Times – Brooklyn Prosecutors Investigating Rape Charge Against Detectives – 1 October 2017
UK Supreme Court to Rule on Abortion Ban in Northern Ireland
By Jenilyn Brhel
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
LONDON, England – Activists in Northern Ireland are urging lawmakers in the United Kingdom to overturn the current restrictions on abortion in the country.
In June, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Council (NIHRC) was unsuccessful in its efforts to convince judges that the rights of sexual assault victims and women with fatal fetal abnormalities were being violated.
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will hear evidence from the United Nations Human Rights Committee beginning on Tuesday, November 7th. The hearing is scheduled to last three days and end with a vote. The Supreme Court in London is the final court of appeal. Ireland will hold a referendum in 2018 regarding its strict abortion laws.
Criminalization of abortion began in 1861 with the passage of the Offences against the Person Act. Abortion is currently still illegal in Northern Ireland, but a provision was added in 1945 that allows for termination of a pregnancy if there is a threat to the life of the mother. Those who break the law face life imprisonment.
Human rights activists believe that the strict laws strip women of their fundamental human rights. Nathalie Lieven, lead counsel for the NIHRC said that “The impact of the criminal law in Northern Ireland does amount to inhuman and degrading treatment by the state.”
In 2016, the legislature voted against allowing abortions in cases of rape, incest or fetal abnormality.
Ms. Lieven says that the laws cause “trauma and humiliation” and criminalize those who are already in “exceptionally vulnerable position(s).”
The NIHRC has provided testimony from women who have been denied abortion to bolster their case. Ashleigh Topley was four-and-a-half months into her pregnancy in 2013 when she was told by doctors that her baby’s limbs were not growing and that the baby would die. Ms. Topley was forbidden from terminating the pregnancy. Her baby girl’s heart stopped when she went into labor after thirty-five weeks.
A poll conducted by Amnesty International found that the majority of citizens favor a woman’s choice to terminate a pregnancy given certain factors. 85% of citizens in Northern Ireland would support the choice for abortion if the pregnancy is the result of rape, 81% if there is a diagnosis of fetal abnormality and 89% if a woman’s health is at risk.
Colm O’Groman, Executive Director of Amnesty International in Ireland, stated that the public shows strong support for “women making their own decisions about their pregnancies.” He points to the poll as evidence that the issue is not as divisive as the media portrays it.
“Public support varies on the precise gestational limits but it remains solidly behind women making their own decisions about their pregnancies,” said O’Groman.
Litigation regarding the law was initiated by NIHRC is 2014 and has been ongoing ever since.
For more information, please see:
The Guardian – Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Northern Ireland Abortion law – 23 October 2017
BBC News – Abortion Laws ‘Punish Sex-Crime Victims’ – 26 October 2017
Reuters – UK Supreme Court Hears Attempt to Change Northern Ireland Abortion law – 24 October 2017
The Washington Post – Rights Group Challenges N Ireland Abortion ban at top Court – 24 October 2017