‘The beast is dead. Nazi Germany killed these people. Rhode Island made a commitment to treat them with dignity and respect.’ EXETER – Best Judgment: Ladd School Lessons, one of 2024’s new local documentaries, opens with grainy footage of a long-ago parade at the Ladd Center, the institution for intellectually and developmentally disabled Rhode Islanders that opened in 1908 and closed in 1994. Led by a float carrying a clown, the seemingly happy Ladd Center residents smile and wave American flags. But it was a staged event, not reflecting reality at the institution. At that time, in the 1970s, Ladd … Continue reading New documentary about the Ladd Center tells the story of decades of abuse at the long-closed institution for the intellectually and developmentally disabled