MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — The murder of George Floyd ignited conversation all over the world, and for one Maryland family, it also put the wheels in motion for a potential law.
After Floyd's death, Linda Carpenter-Grantham grew concerned about her 18-year-old son, Eric Carpenter-Grantham, in regards to being stopped by law enforcement. He has "high-functioning autism," an invisible disability. This led to Eric Carpenter-Grantham coming up with the idea to create three logos for people with invisible disabilities like autism, mental health concerns and hearing impairment.
The logos would be placed onto driver licenses, college IDs, library cards and any other system that would require an ID. The logos could also be used as a tool for the community to be able to communicate with the person who has an invisible disability. The logos, which are optional, and the law behind them is being called "Eric's ID Law."
"It's very important that this law is passed for people like Eric who have an invisible disability," Linda Carpenter-Grantham said. "My son Eric has autism, which is an invisible disability," Linda said. "If he were to be stopped by the police or law enforcement and they don't know how to interact with him that would be hugely concerning for his safety and for his life actually, and others like him. So this is one of the reasons why this hugely important this law is passed."
Eric's ID Law - ID Examples
Eric Carpenter-Grantham also said this is very important to him as someone with autism.
"Since George Floyd was killed in 2020, me and my mom had the talk about if I ever got stopped by the police," he said. "If so, in that situation, I would think about my friends who have invisible disabilities, like me, because all of our autism is different."
He continued by stating that he worries about the safety of his friends if put in such a situation.
"I am doing this ID to protect me and my friends and people like me, because we deserve a future and we deserve to live our lives just like everybody else," Eric Carpenter-Granthamsaid.
Maryland State Senator Will C. Smith is supporting the law and has agreed to write the bill for "Eric's ID Law," Linda said. They currently believe the hearing for the law will take place in either January or February.
The duo is asking for the community to email letters of support for the law to ericsidlaw@gmail.com.