[blindlaw] Federal Judge Orders the National Conference ofBarExaminers ...

Michael Fry mikefry79 at gmail.com
Fri Feb 12 03:01:27 UTC 2010 

Glad to see that your fighting to make things better for all of us,
Staphnie.  You're awesome.  By not taking the easy way out, you're sending a
message that it's not okay to block new technology that makes the lives of
people with disabilities better.

The defendants want to forstall the application of technology that
will alleviate a small part of the visually impaired's suffering, albeit a
small amount of suffering.  They want to do this because of some supposed
hypothetical security threat.

They want to shift the burden of proof from them proving that the software
posses a threat to you proving that the software is safe.  It's impossible
to prove a negative, i.e. that the software is safe.

This here is a small example of the precautionary principal at work.  The
precatuionary principal is the enemy of people with disabilities.  I tell
you all right now, this neo-luddite way of thinking is more dangerous to
people with disabilities than it is to anyone else.

I wish you could sue them for damages instead of just injuctive relief.
Teach these b$#%ards a lesson to think twice before denying a legitimate
accomodation request.

On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 4:51 PM, RJ Sandefur
<joltingjacksandefur at gmail.com>wrote:

> Stephanie, are you willing to take this up to the supreme court if need be?
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Danielsen" <cdanielsen8 at aol.com>
> To: "'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 7:14 PM
>
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Federal Judge Orders the National Conference
> ofBarExaminers ...
>
>
>   These guys are so gonna lose. How can they argue that waiting for
>> appellate
>> review will not harm Stephanie? It puts her career on hold. Sure, she has
>> a
>> job, but her opportunities would be greater financially and otherwise if
>> she
>> were licensed. I cannot see how they win on the merits.
>>
>> Chris
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of AZNOR99 at aol.com
>> Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 10:47 AM
>> To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Federal Judge Orders the National Conference of
>> BarExaminers ...
>>
>> It's not over yet. See article below from ABA Journal.
>> _http://ow.ly/16y2Fp_ (http://ow.ly/16y2Fp)
>>
>>
>> Blind Student's Bar Exam Battle Isn't Over: Test Firm Seeks Emergency 9th
>> Cir. Software Ban
>>
>>
>> A federal judge's ruling last month that Stephanie Enyart must be allowed
>> to  use screen-reader software when taking the Multistate Bar Examination
>> might not  be the final answer for the blind law graduate.
>> In a filing yesterday, the National Conference of  Bar Examiners seeks an
>> emergency ruling from the San Francisco-based 9th U.S.  Circuit Court of
>> Appeals suspending a district court order that Enyart must be  allowed to
>> use
>> the software during the California bar exam later this month, the  _San
>> Francisco Chronicle_
>> (
>> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/10/BA911BV6LN.DTL
>> )
>> reports.
>> The NCBE, which administers the test throughout the country, contends that
>> having to wait a few more months for appellate review of the federal
>> district  court's decision in Enyart's favor would not pose a hardship to
>> her, the
>> newspaper says.
>> Attorney Anna Levine of Disability Rights Advocates represents Enyart. She
>> calls the appellate filing "flabbergasting ... irrational and
>> mean-spirited."
>> The NCBE objects to the software, which magnifies the test text and reads
>> the  material into earbuds worn by the user because of security concerns.
>> Enyart says  that a human reader, which the NCBE would permit, is less
>> efficient at the job  and a potential distraction during the exam.
>> Earlier coverage:
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 2/11/2010 9:03:38 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
>> JFreeh at nfb.org writes:
>>
>>
>>
>> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>
>>
>>
>> CONTACT:
>>
>> Chris  Danielsen, National Federation of the Blind, (410) 659-9314, ext.
>> 2330
>>
>> Scott LaBarre, LaBarre Law Offices, P.C., (303)  504-5979
>>
>> Daniel Goldstein, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, (410)  962-1030
>>
>> Anna Levine, Disability Rights Advocates, (510)  665-8644
>>
>>
>>
>> Federal Judge Orders the National Conference of Bar  Examiners
>> to Provide Individualized Testing Accommodations
>>
>> to Blind  Law School Graduate
>>
>>
>>
>> San Francisco, California (February 5,  2010):  A federal court has
>> ruled that the National Conference of Bar  Examiners (NCBE) will cause
>> a blind law school graduate irreparable harm  unless it provides her
>> the technology-based testing accommodations she  needs to take two
>> exams required to become a member of the State Bar of
>> California.  The court issued its ruling in an order granting the law
>> school graduate's motion for preliminary injunction on Thursday,
>> February 4, 2010.  The court's ruling allows the plaintiff, Stephanie
>> Enyart, to take the February 2010 Multistate Bar Examination (MBE)
>> and  March 2010 Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination
>> (MPRE) on a  laptop computer equipped with the assistive technology
>> software Ms. Enyart  relies upon for screen reading (JAWS) and screen
>> magnification  (ZoomText).
>>
>>
>>
>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National  Federation of the Blind,
>> said: "The National Federation of the Blind is  extremely pleased with
>> the ruling in this case.  Law and equity  simply do not permit the
>> NCBE to dictate a one-size-fits-all solution for  all bar candidates
>> with disabilities.  We hope that this ruling will  cause the NCBE to
>> think long and hard before it denies the requested  accommodations of
>> applicants to take its examinations."
>>
>>
>>
>> The  plaintiff, Stephanie Enyart, said: "A little over a year ago I
>> sent my  first request for accommodations on the March 2009 MPRE, and
>> tonight I can  go to sleep knowing when and how I can effectively take
>> the exams to  fulfill my dreams."
>>
>>
>>
>> Anna Levine of Disability Rights Advocates,  an attorney representing
>> the plaintiff, said: "I hope that our hard-fought  victory here will
>> send a message to testing organizations that they need  to comply with
>> the ADA and provide each individual test taker with a  disability the
>> accommodations that he or she needs to demonstrate his or  her actual
>> knowledge, skills, and abilities."
>>
>>
>>
>> The suit was  filed on November 3, 2009, due to the NCBE's refusal, on
>> multiple  occasions during the past year, to allow Ms. Enyart to use
>> the same  technology on the MBE and MPRE that she has used on
>> university and law  school exams and in various jobs and
>> internships.  The suit charged  that the NCBE violated the Americans
>> with Disabilities Act (ADA) and  California's Unruh Civil Rights Act
>> by denying accommodations on the MBE  and the MPRE.
>>
>>
>>
>> NCBE had argued that it fulfilled its legal  obligations to Ms. Enyart
>> by offering alternative accommodations, such as  a human reader,
>> notwithstanding evidence that these alternatives did not,  in fact,
>> accommodate Ms. Enyart's disability.  In rejecting NCBE's  argument,
>> the court's ruling paves the way for other individuals prevented  from
>> pursuing their professional dreams by high stakes testing providers
>> who take a rigid approach to disability accommodations.
>>
>>
>>
>> The  plaintiff is represented with the support of the National
>> Federation of  the Blind by LaBarre Law Offices, P.C., in Denver,
>> Colorado, and by Brown,  Goldstein & Levy, LLP, in Baltimore,
>> Maryland.  The plaintiff is  further represented by Disability Rights
>> Advocates, a nonprofit law center  that specializes in civil rights
>> cases on behalf of persons with  disabilities, based in Berkeley,
>> California.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ###
>>
>>
>>
>> About the National  Federation of the Blind
>>
>>
>>
>> With more than 50,000 members, the  National Federation of the Blind
>> (NFB) is the largest and most influential  membership organization of
>> blind people in the United States.  The  NFB improves blind people's
>> lives through advocacy, education, research,  technology, and programs
>> encouraging independence and  self-confidence.  It is the leading
>> force in the blindness field  today and the voice of the nation's
>> blind.  In January 2004 the NFB  opened the National Federation of the
>> Blind Jernigan Institute, the first  research and training center in
>> the United States for the blind led by the  blind.
>>
>>
>>
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