Citizens Commission on Human Rights
National Affairs Office
Washington, DC

CCHR Commends Congressional Action to Prevent Continued Use of Electrical Shocking Device

by | Jul 13, 2024

Citizens Commission on Human Rights advocates banning an electrical shocking device used on autistic and disabled students at a Massachusetts institution.  Congress removed wording from a current bill that would have allowed shocking to continue after an expected FDA ban of the device.

A provision in a congressional bill that would have allowed continued use of an electrical shocking device on autistic and disabled students, even if the FDA bans the device, has been removed from the bill.  Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) commends the members of Congress who removed the provision. 

For years, CCHR has been active in efforts to ban the painful electrical shocking device, used for behavioral conditioning at the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC), an institution for autistic and disabled students near Boston.  JRC staff administer painful electrical shocks to cause changes in behavior, with electrodes attached to the arm or leg of a student who wears a battery in a backpack.

The FDA previously attempted to ban the device, but JRC prevailed in federal appeals court with a finding that the FDA did not have proper authority over the particular use of the device at JRC.  In 2023, Congress passed legislation that gave the FDA the needed authority. 

The FDA’s rulemaking process is underway to ban the electrical shocking device used on autistic and disabled students at a Massachusetts institution. Congressional action removed wording in a bill that would have allowed continued use of the device after the expected FDA ban.

Earlier this year, the FDA again started the rulemaking process to ban the device. In its proposed ban, the FDA wrote, “These devices present a number of psychological risks including depression, anxiety, worsening of underlying symptoms, development of post-traumatic stress disorder, and physical risks such as pain, burns, and tissue damage.”

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s administration reportedly has told the FDA that they support the ban.

The bill provision, now removed, would have allowed JRC to continue to use the device if a judge signed a court order approving it for a student.  Since the students being shocked at JRC are under court orders, the expected FDA ban would have been ineffective in stopping use of the device.

The autistic community, disability rights groups, and human rights organizations, including CCHR, conducted a grassroots campaign to brief members of Congress on the physical and psychological harm of the electrical shocking device and to register opposition to the bill loophole.  The groups have vowed to continue to oppose any further efforts to insert language that would allow JRC to get around the expected FDA ban of the shocking device.