Nizark
05-09-2007, 06:38 PM
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/170143.html
Look's they are helping out G Dub and what words will be there to decribe him once he leaves office...
_____________________________________________
No idiots, in state's view, under bill
Old terms for those with mental disabilities are seen as hurtful.
By Jim Sanders - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, May 7, 2007
Lawmakers are poised to make it official: No more idiots, lunatics or imbeciles -- in California's law books.
Not everyone is a genius, perhaps, but pending legislation would ensure that nobody is a dunce in the eyes of the law.
Assembly Bill 1640 would remove from old statutes words that are derogatory now but once were commonly used to describe people with mental disabilities.
"Language matters -- and they're absolutely hurtful," said Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. "I cringe even repeating them."
The legislation, by Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, R-Oroville, was approved unanimously last week by the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
LaMalfa said the words reflect how society, its popular speech and its insults have changed through the generations.
Webster's New World Dictionary defines an "idiot" as someone with an IQ of less than 25, while an "imbecile's" score is 25 to 50.
But most Americans, perhaps, now think of an idiot as a tailgating driver or someone who throws litter onto a pristine beach, for example.
"I think it's time to change the code," LaMalfa said.
Under AB 1640, idiots no longer would be one of six classes of people incapable of committing crimes -- the exception would apply to the "mentally incapacitated."
Similarly, incurable "imbecility" would not be deemed a total disability, but incurable "mental incapacity" would.
The crime of soliciting "lunatics or idiots" to break laws would be eliminated, but the same penalty would apply for enticing "persons who are mentally incapacitated."
AB 1640 targets two provisions in the state penal code, sections 26 and 31; one in the Labor Code, 4662; and one in the Harbors and Navigation Code, 4005.
Frances Gracechild, executive director of Resources for Independent Living in Sacramento, applauded the bill but said actions are more important than words.
"I actually can be forgiving of words," she said. "Actions often bother me more. It's like, you can call me anything you want, but don't not give me the job because I'm disabled. Know what I mean?"
Gracechild noted that "idiots" and "lunatics" are not the first labels to draw wrath. "Retarded," "crippled," "handicapped" and "disabled" also have been replaced through the years by more neutral terms for people with disabilities.
"I always err on the side of: The people who live with that label get to decide what the best terminology is," she said.
Teresa Favuzzi, director of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, said changing the way that institutions use offensive language is a first step toward changing attitudes.
"I think people genuinely want to treat people with respect," she said. "But when (hurtful) language like this is perpetuated, that's what people hear and that's what people use."
Steinberg, author of Proposition 63, a 2004 ballot measure to expand services for the mentally ill, said AB 1640 is important even if few people are likely to read the offensive words.
"It doesn't matter to me whether these words are embedded deep in a California code," Steinberg said. "They don't belong there -- period."
Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, said he is not surprised that words like "idiot," "lunatic" and "imbecility" exist in ancient statutes that lawmakers don't routinely scour.
"We try to clean them up as fast as we can," he said. "But, really, if they're not having a negative impact, then frankly our concern is transportation, health care, housing and public safety. Cleaning up code sections is important, but there's other stuff we need to work on."
Assemblyman John Laird, a Santa Cruz Democrat who is openly gay, said he never has understood why modern deed documents insist upon calling him an "unmarried man."
"Why do you even have to say it?" he asked.
Two years ago, the Legislature targeted racist language in tens of thousands of old property records, called "covenants, conditions and restrictions," that were intended to keep nonwhites out of segregated neighborhoods.
Federal law outlawed housing discrimination in 1948, but the offensive language had not been removed from documents in many neighborhoods -- including Sacramento's Arden Park -- that were built before the civil rights era of the 1960s.
Assembly Bill 394 was designed to make it much easier to strip racist language from old property records. The bill, proposed by Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, was signed into law in September 2005.
LaMalfa knows that his measure, AB 1640, will not stop people from shouting "idiot" or "lunatic" in frustrating clashes at work, home or in traffic that have nothing to do with clinical measurements of brain power.
"These words have become a part of the everyday language," LaMalfa said.
Putdowns can be playful, too.
Johnny Damon, a Boston Red Sox outfielder in 2004, affectionately labeled the championship team "a bunch of idiots."
Golfer Phil Mickelson gave himself the dubious tag, responding to a meltdown loss in the 2006 U.S. Open by lamenting, "I'm such an idiot."
Napoleon Dynamite, in a popular movie of the same name, routinely referred to "friggin' idiots" or "freakin' idiots."
Television sets often are demeaned as "idiot boxes" and a popular consumer guide series begins with the words, "Complete Idiot's Guide to. ..."
Some lawmakers who support AB 1640 don't mind using insults to tar foolish colleagues, tongues firmly in cheek.
Laird smiled when asked whether idiots will remain long after AB 1640 is decided.
"Only in the heat of debate near the end of session," he quipped.
Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, said the Assembly is packed with idiots.
"Half the body here is," he said jokingly.
Look's they are helping out G Dub and what words will be there to decribe him once he leaves office...
_____________________________________________
No idiots, in state's view, under bill
Old terms for those with mental disabilities are seen as hurtful.
By Jim Sanders - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, May 7, 2007
Lawmakers are poised to make it official: No more idiots, lunatics or imbeciles -- in California's law books.
Not everyone is a genius, perhaps, but pending legislation would ensure that nobody is a dunce in the eyes of the law.
Assembly Bill 1640 would remove from old statutes words that are derogatory now but once were commonly used to describe people with mental disabilities.
"Language matters -- and they're absolutely hurtful," said Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. "I cringe even repeating them."
The legislation, by Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, R-Oroville, was approved unanimously last week by the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
LaMalfa said the words reflect how society, its popular speech and its insults have changed through the generations.
Webster's New World Dictionary defines an "idiot" as someone with an IQ of less than 25, while an "imbecile's" score is 25 to 50.
But most Americans, perhaps, now think of an idiot as a tailgating driver or someone who throws litter onto a pristine beach, for example.
"I think it's time to change the code," LaMalfa said.
Under AB 1640, idiots no longer would be one of six classes of people incapable of committing crimes -- the exception would apply to the "mentally incapacitated."
Similarly, incurable "imbecility" would not be deemed a total disability, but incurable "mental incapacity" would.
The crime of soliciting "lunatics or idiots" to break laws would be eliminated, but the same penalty would apply for enticing "persons who are mentally incapacitated."
AB 1640 targets two provisions in the state penal code, sections 26 and 31; one in the Labor Code, 4662; and one in the Harbors and Navigation Code, 4005.
Frances Gracechild, executive director of Resources for Independent Living in Sacramento, applauded the bill but said actions are more important than words.
"I actually can be forgiving of words," she said. "Actions often bother me more. It's like, you can call me anything you want, but don't not give me the job because I'm disabled. Know what I mean?"
Gracechild noted that "idiots" and "lunatics" are not the first labels to draw wrath. "Retarded," "crippled," "handicapped" and "disabled" also have been replaced through the years by more neutral terms for people with disabilities.
"I always err on the side of: The people who live with that label get to decide what the best terminology is," she said.
Teresa Favuzzi, director of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, said changing the way that institutions use offensive language is a first step toward changing attitudes.
"I think people genuinely want to treat people with respect," she said. "But when (hurtful) language like this is perpetuated, that's what people hear and that's what people use."
Steinberg, author of Proposition 63, a 2004 ballot measure to expand services for the mentally ill, said AB 1640 is important even if few people are likely to read the offensive words.
"It doesn't matter to me whether these words are embedded deep in a California code," Steinberg said. "They don't belong there -- period."
Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, said he is not surprised that words like "idiot," "lunatic" and "imbecility" exist in ancient statutes that lawmakers don't routinely scour.
"We try to clean them up as fast as we can," he said. "But, really, if they're not having a negative impact, then frankly our concern is transportation, health care, housing and public safety. Cleaning up code sections is important, but there's other stuff we need to work on."
Assemblyman John Laird, a Santa Cruz Democrat who is openly gay, said he never has understood why modern deed documents insist upon calling him an "unmarried man."
"Why do you even have to say it?" he asked.
Two years ago, the Legislature targeted racist language in tens of thousands of old property records, called "covenants, conditions and restrictions," that were intended to keep nonwhites out of segregated neighborhoods.
Federal law outlawed housing discrimination in 1948, but the offensive language had not been removed from documents in many neighborhoods -- including Sacramento's Arden Park -- that were built before the civil rights era of the 1960s.
Assembly Bill 394 was designed to make it much easier to strip racist language from old property records. The bill, proposed by Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, was signed into law in September 2005.
LaMalfa knows that his measure, AB 1640, will not stop people from shouting "idiot" or "lunatic" in frustrating clashes at work, home or in traffic that have nothing to do with clinical measurements of brain power.
"These words have become a part of the everyday language," LaMalfa said.
Putdowns can be playful, too.
Johnny Damon, a Boston Red Sox outfielder in 2004, affectionately labeled the championship team "a bunch of idiots."
Golfer Phil Mickelson gave himself the dubious tag, responding to a meltdown loss in the 2006 U.S. Open by lamenting, "I'm such an idiot."
Napoleon Dynamite, in a popular movie of the same name, routinely referred to "friggin' idiots" or "freakin' idiots."
Television sets often are demeaned as "idiot boxes" and a popular consumer guide series begins with the words, "Complete Idiot's Guide to. ..."
Some lawmakers who support AB 1640 don't mind using insults to tar foolish colleagues, tongues firmly in cheek.
Laird smiled when asked whether idiots will remain long after AB 1640 is decided.
"Only in the heat of debate near the end of session," he quipped.
Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia, said the Assembly is packed with idiots.
"Half the body here is," he said jokingly.