ANNAPOLIS, MD — Eric Blessed Carpenter Grantham is looking to improve the interactions between law enforcement and people living with disabilities you can't easily see.
"Eric's ID law was created to help save lives for people who cannot use their own voice," said Carpenter Grantham.
Looking at Eric, you might not think of him as someone living with a disability, but he has autism.
People with it may not respond to an officer's commands, they may avoid eye contact or react differently than others to sounds or lights.
"I created the logos because my mother felt if I ever should be stopped by law enforcement I might not be able to respond in the way police would expect," said Carpenter Grantham.
Eric and his mother Linda came up with the idea following the death of George Floyd.
A time when interactions of black men and law enforcement were a major focus of Maryland and the nation.
"In looking at the way the world is today with law enforcement stopping people and not knowing if they have an invisible disability. Some people don't make it out of that situation safely," said Linda Carpenter Grantham.
"By putting this demarcation on the license, that's going to break down barriers and assist people in communicating in times of confusion and miscommunication," said Senator Will Smith, a Democrat from Montgomery County and lead sponsor on the Senate version of the bill.
The bill would allow for markers to be placed on the license of a person with what the group calls invisible disabilities.
It also instructs state police and other law enforcement to be trained on how to interact with neuro-divergent people.
"We are now meeting with congress to make this a federal law to make sure all people with disabilities are safe," said Eric.
This is the second year in a row for the bill to be introduced.
The group is confident this is the year it gets passed.
