[blindlaw] Stephanie's Case

[RJ Sandefur]

How does Florida deal with this issue? RJ
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joe Orozco" <jsorozco at gmail.com>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 3:10 PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Stephanie's Case


> I'm not belittling Stephanie's case, but I guess I'm interested in
> something.  I would have preferred to take the LSAT on a computer but took
> it in Braille instead.  Could I have sued LSAC for not making the exam
> available on a computer, or is this a case where other students are 
> allowed
> to take the Bar exam on a computer and Stephanie is not?
>
> Joe Orozco
>
> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Frye, Dan
> Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 11:07 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
> Subject: [blindlaw] Stephanie's Case
>
> Colleagues:
>
> I was disappointed to read the following article, indicating that the
> Bar Examiners plan to appeal the recent order in favor of Stephanie. The
> article follows:
>
>
> Bar exam firm appeals blind student's request
>
>
> Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer <mailto:begelko at sfchronicle.com>
>
> Thursday, February 11, 2010
>
> (02-10) 14:04 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- The company that administers the
> California bar exam has asked a federal appeals court to stop a blind
> law student from using computer-assisted reading devices in the test,
> which starts in two weeks.
>
> The company, the nonprofit National Conference of Bar Examiners, filed
> an emergency motion Tuesday asking the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of
> Appeals in San Francisco to suspend a federal judge's order requiring
> the firm to accommodate Stephanie Enyart.
>
> Urgent action is needed, the company said, because Enyart might
> otherwise pass the test with computer assistance that she is not legally
> entitled to receive. Enyart works as a law clerk for Disability Rights
> Advocates in Berkeley and would suffer no hardship by waiting a few
> months for an appeals court to review the case, the company said.
>
> Anna Levine, a Disability Rights Advocates lawyer who represents Enyart,
> called the request "flabbergasting ... irrational and mean-spirited."
>
> Enyart, 32, has been legally blind since 15 from macular degeneration
> and retinal dystrophy. As a UCLA law student, she took tests on a laptop
> with software that magnified the text and read the questions into
> earbuds.
>
> But she has not taken the bar exam because the nonprofit company, which
> administers the two multiple-choice portions of the California test,
> refused to allow the same arrangements.
>
> The company, which uses some of its questions on successive exams, said
> putting the test on a computer disk would expose its content to thieves.
> Its lawyers also argue that disabled students are not entitled to their
> preferred accommodations, only to those that provide reasonable access.
>
> The examiners offered a pencil-and-paper test with questions displayed
> on a large screen, a human reader and twice the usual three-day testing
> period. Enyart said she would become nauseous from having to look at the
> screen and needed the computer setup to have a fair chance of passing.
>
> U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco ordered the
> accommodations Jan. 29 and said the bar examiners could provide their
> own computer for increased security.
>
> The company said in Tuesday's motion that it still faces security risks
> from loading the questions into a laptop and shipping it to California.
> And although Breyer specified that his order applies only to Enyart, the
> company said other visually impaired students might take advantage of
> the ruling to demand their own preferred accommodations.
>
> E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko at sfchronicle.com
> <mailto:begelko at sfchronicle.com> .
>
>
> ***********************
> Daniel B. Frye, J.D.
> Editor
> The Braille Monitor
> National Federation of the Blind
> Office of the President
> 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
> Baltimore, Maryland 21230
> Telephone: (410) 659-9314 Ext. 2208
> Mobile: (410) 241-7006
> Fax: (410) 685-5653
> Email: DFrye at nfb.org
> Web Address: www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org/>
> "Voice of the Nation's Blind"
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindlaw mailing list
> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account
> info for blindlaw:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/jsoroz
> co%40gmail.com
>
>
> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of
> virus signature database 4859 (20100211) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>
> http://www.eset.com
>
>
>
> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus 
> signature
> database 4859 (20100211) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>
> http://www.eset.com
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindlaw mailing list
> blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindlaw_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> blindlaw:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindlaw_nfbnet.org/joltingjacksandefur%40gmail.com