BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: ACR 123
Author: Chesbro (D), et al
Amended: 4/8/10 in Assembly
Vote: 21
WITHOUT REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE OR FILE
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Read and adopted, 4/8/10
SUBJECT : California Memorial Project Remembrance Day
SOURCE : Disability Rights California
DIGEST : This resolution proclaims the third Monday of
each September as California Memorial Project Remembrance
Day in California, to honor and restore dignity to
individuals who lived and died in California institutions.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following
legislative findings:
1. Since 1852 when the first California state institution
opened, the state has provided services to persons with
disabilities in state institutions, including state
hospitals and developmental centers, and from the
mid-1880s to the 1960s, more than 45,000 individuals
passed away while residents of a state institution, and
information about these patients is incomplete. For the
most part, the remains of the individuals who died at
state institutions were placed in unmarked or numbered
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graves in mass sites, where numbered markers long ago
disappeared and many records identifying where bodies
were buried have been misplaced or destroyed.
2. SB 1448 (Chesbro), Chapter 440, Statutes of 2002, and SB
258 (Chesbro), Chapter 391, Statutes of 2006,
established the partnership between the California
Memorial Project and the state to identify the location
of gravesites at existing state institutions, identify
the names of the patients whose remains were donated for
medical research and the entity to which the remains
were donated, work with the Department of Mental Health
and other state agencies to research the records of
deaths and burials at cemeteries located on state
institution grounds, and develop a plan for the
restoration of cemeteries and gravesites of
institutionalized persons.
3. Beginning in 2003, the California Memorial Project has
held a Remembrance Day to remember and honor individuals
who lived and died in state institutions on the third
Monday of each September, the anniversary of the signing
of the legislation that established the California
Memorial Project partnership with the state.
4. Attention to the California Memorial Project and its
work to restore cemeteries, create memorials, develop
oral histories, and hold Remembrance Day ceremonies to
honor those individuals are critical pieces of
California's history and serve as an opportunity to
reflect upon the strides made in reducing the stigma of
disability, including psychiatric and developmental
disability, as well as promoting community awareness and
education.
This resolution proclaims the third Monday of each
September as California Memorial Project Remembrance Day.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/29/10)
Disability Rights California (source)
Area 1 Developmental Disabilities Board
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California Mental Health Directors Association
People First of California, Inc.
TSM:mw 6/29/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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