[Journalists] Note From G. Norman on an Article in the "Paper" Service Animals

[GL Norman]

>From G. Norman, Esq. L.L.M.
Friends:
Flying is on my mind. I will soon fly with Brother Bowie to Okla. I will enjoy the great hospitality of our brothers in Elk City, Okla. I completed, today, another step towards retiring Brother Bowie. I hope, upon obtaining a new dog; I will surprise the wife with an international trip.

So, flying is on my mind. I have actually time to pen a missive.

As background, one of our standards, or in other words papers of record, has discovered evidently the sometimes-questionable nature of flying with a service animal. See:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/08/28/airline-regulations-service-animals/

Metta Comment: My two columns in the Daily Record and the column at the ABA have consistently emphasized the nonsense of the new forms. One could argue the bias and discrimination infused into the Final Rule as well. Here are briefly my observations.

1.      Clearly, lawyers with disabilities did not play a major role in writing the Final Rule. This serves as evidence of what has been coined as the political determinant of health. To the extent, groups of disability advocates were included, I tend to agree. They were included to justify a pre-deviled course of action.

2.      One must ask, when it concerns transportation policy in the United States, who is shaping the dominant narrative that ultimately results in funding. Short of its time to distance ratio, the ROI to society of subsidizing airlines is arguably not robust. When we compare that, at some point, we have not decided to invest more productively in other forms of public conveyance. Say highspeed rail that would connect me from here in Maryland to where I am teaching in Northeast, Ohio.

3.      Then, again, airlines are no more than glorified gritty, cramped, buses. It is no wonder why people with disabilities, who work service animals are so poorly treated; all are mistreated on some level.

*        People with disabilities, partnered with service animals, who are perceived as not having power, are mistreated more.

Positive: Then again, an argument could be put forward that, by our regular negative encounter with the airline industry, we are actually treated as all other Americans. That is, high cost to poor customer returns.