The United Nations has condemned the Judge Rotenberg Center for torture, thanks to its ongoing use of electroshock on disabled children and adults. Now, former Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) has registered as a first-time lobbyist for the Massachusetts facility.
King is working for the center through law firm Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, where he works as special counsel. The JRC is a day and residential school for those with autism, developmental disabilities and "emotional [disturbances]," according to its website.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture reported in 2013 that the JRC's use of electroshock violated the UN Convention Against Torture and called for an investigation into the practices. Although the Food and Drug Administration tried to ban the practice in 2020, the Washington D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ban last summer and ruled that the JRC could continue to shock its residents.
The JRC "is believed to be the only school in the world that routinely inflicts high-powered electric shocks as a form of punishment on vulnerable children and adults," the Guardian reported in 2018.
King, alongside ex-Rep. and veteran lobbyist Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), is lobbying the House on the center's behalf. They're working on education appropriations and unspecified "education and [health-care] policy related to people with disabilities," according to a pair of recent disclosures. King retired from Congress at the end of last term, making him newly eligible to lobby the House under ethics rules.
