welcome back. i m melissa harris-perry. july marked 25 years since the passage of the americans with disabilities act. the law was created to protect people from discrimination and employment. transportation, governmental activities and public accommodation like public schools. and yet this week a video of an 8-year-old, a student, being handcuffed as punishment is calling no question how the ada has upheld or not upheld for children in our schools. according to a federal lawsuit filed monday by the american civil liberties union, a school resource officer handcuffed two small children both with disabilities as a means of punishment in covington, kentucky. as part of its case against the kenton county sheriff s office, the aclu released a video of sumner handcuffing one of the children last year. now the video was recorded by a school staffer and later obtained by the aclu. we ll show you part of the video
handcuffed twice last year allegedly. they have attention deficit activity disorder or adad and were being punished for behavior related to those activities. one child is latina and the other is african-american. the aclu argues that handcuffing the children violates the americans with disabilities act and in response the kenton county sheriff s department release add statement, deputy sumner responded to the call and did what he was sworn to do in conformity with law enforcement standards. the deputy put the children in handcuffs because they were placing themselves and other people in danger of harm, and that s what the book says to do. according to the department of education children with disabilities comprise 12% of students in public schools who make up 75% of students restrained by adults nationally. this case was filed a month after the department of justice informed georgia governor nathan diehl and attorney general sam