Georgianna Dolan-Reilly, LMSW

Georgianna Dolan-Reilly, LMSW

Social Justice Solutions | Staff Writer
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US Congress Bans Use of the Word ‘Lunatic’ in Federal Legislation

By Georgianna Reilly, LMSW
SJS Staff Writer

Following a move by the Senate, the  House of Representatives voted 398-1 on Wednesday to ban the use of the word lunatic from all federal legislation. According to this BBC article:

“Senator Kent Conrad, one of the sponsors of the measure, said: “Federal law should reflect the 21st Century understanding of mental illness and disease, and that the continued use of this pejorative term has no place in the US code.” ”

The one no vote came from Republican Gohmert of Texas, who suggested our concerns should be more on our countries looming bankruptcy. While I can agree that there are bigger pressing issues, we cannot ignore the little things so I say kudos to Congress for making such a move and ridding it’s language of this archaic word with such negative underlying meaning. Interestingly enough, I wasn’t able to find many references to this vote in US New sources. I wonder what that says?

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One Response

  1. Michael Serene December 7, 2012

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