All posts tagged "Disabilities"

A Texas judge appointed by President Donald Trump launched an "unusual and extraordinary" attack on elections, according to a new report.

Democracy Docket reported on Wednesday that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling that blocked key parts of Texas' voter suppression law. The ruling protects provisions that were previously found to violate federal protections for voters with disabilities.

"It has long been established that mail-in ballots are prone to fraud," Judge Andrew Oldham wrote in a decision that Democracy Docket described as an "unusual and extraordinary attack" on mail-in voting loaded with unsupported claims. "That is why voting by mail jeopardizes election integrity and democracy itself."...

The conservative-majority Supreme Court could decide if IQ tests can rule out an intellectual disability — a move that could echo Project 2025 — and potentially change how states execute disabled people.

The high court will hear Alabama death penalty case Hamm v. Smith starting Wednesday and has prompted the question: "Will Trump’s justices care?" Mother Jones reported on Friday.

The case has focused on Joseph Clifton Smith, who was convicted of murder in 1997, and was previously educated for an intellectual disability. ...

Mack Schroeder, a Department of Health and Human Services employee who was unceremoniously fired as part of Elon Musk's DOGE cuts, appeared on CNN to hit back at a senator's reaction to his plight.

Schroeder took part in protests on Capitol Hill Wednesday when he approached Sen Jim Banks (R-IN) as the Republican made his way toward a congressional elevator.

"Hi, I was a worker at HHS. I was fired illegally on February 14th," Schroeder said as the incident was caught on tape. "There are many people who are not getting social service programs, especially people with disabilities. Are you going to do anything to stop what's happening?"...

More than a year after the federal government first cut off her disability benefits, Denise Woods drives nightly to strip malls, truck stops, and parking lots around Savannah, Georgia, looking for a safe place to sleep in her Chevy. Woods, 51, said she had rented a three-bedroom house she shared with her adult son and grandson until March 2022, when the government terminated her disability payments without notice. According to letters sent by the Social Security Administration, the agency determined it had been overpaying Woods and demanded she send back nearly $58,000. Woods couldn’t come up ......

Brenda Powell had suffered a stroke and was in debilitating pain when she called the Social Security Administration last year to seek disability benefits. The former Louisiana state office worker struggled at times to write her name or carry a glass of water. Powell, then 62, believed she could no longer work, and she was worried about how to pay for medical care with only a $433 monthly pension. Although the Social Security Administration agreed that Powell’s condition limited the work she could do, the agency rejected her initial application for Supplemental Security Income. She had the choi......