Assisted Suicide Case Study

Ethan Saylor, a twenty-six year-old with Down Syndrome, was slammed to the floor, held down, and handcuffed. The brutal force left the young man with a fracture in his throat cartilage resulting in his tragic death caused by asphyxiation. After seeing the movie Zero Dark Thirty, Ethan briefly left the theater then returned to see it again without paying. The manager of the theater then called security which was three off-duty deputies acting as security officers. Ethan swore at them and refused to leave, but never acted in a violent way towards the officers. Ethan’s caretaker that had accompanied him to the theater even stepped in and pleaded with the officers to just wait and let her talk to him. The officers not understanding how to handle
Joseph, fearful and confused, drove off after additional officers were called in. He drove off towards New Age Services, an organization that provides activities and services to members of the community with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (IDD). It is apparent that Joseph was startled and was trying to reach a safe space, somewhere familiar that he knew he could get help from. Joseph had low verbal skills along with extreme sensitivity to light and sound. When put in an unfamiliar situation with police lights and sirens, it is likely that Joseph just shut down and his only form of reaction was to return to a place he knew that he could get help. Unfortunately for Joseph, the officers did not understand how to communicate with him or how to respond to his inability to function properly in the high stress situation which resulted in the officers fatally shooting Joseph, who was unarmed and never approached them violently.
Police violence against people with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities is not uncommon, but unfortunately has not received much publicity or public conversation. This bill does not excuse people with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (IDD) from facing trial and punishment for crimes committed. This bill does not prevent officers from using proper force during an interaction with a person with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities or prevent officers from keeping themselves and the public