[Nfbc-info] Law Schools Discriminate Against Blind Applicants

Fri Jun 11 16:38:31 UTC 2010

Greetings;
What happened to the other schools that were on this list?

Roderick M. Parker
President/Practitioner
The  Innervision Neuromuscular Center

1553 Virginia Ave.
Atlanta Ga.
404.763.0441
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Freeh,Jessica (by way of David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)" 
<JFreeh at nfb.org>
To: <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 12:41 PM
Subject: [Nfbc-info] Law Schools Discriminate Against Blind Applicants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org

Law Schools Discriminate Against Blind Applicants

National Federation of the Blind Files Suit Against Four California Law 
Schools

San Francisco, California (June 9, 2010): The
National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the
nation's oldest and largest organization of blind
people, and three blind students who have applied
or are considering applying to law school in
CaliforniaDeepa Goraya, Bruce J. Sexton, and
Claire Stanleyfiled an amended lawsuit yesterday
against the Law School Admissions Council and
four California law schools for violating
provisions of the California Disabled Persons
Act, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the
Americans with Disabilities Act.  The suit was
filed because the law schools require or
encourage applicants to use a centralized
Internet-based application process provided by
the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) through
its Web site (<http://www.lsac.org/>www.lsac.org)
that is inaccessible to blind law school
applicants.  Blind students must seek sighted
assistance to use the LSAC system.  Furthermore,
blind law school applicants cannot perform other
tasks on the LSAC Web site, such as downloading
official study materials for the Law School
Admissions Test (LSAT) that is required by almost
all <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
/>U.S. law schools.  The four law schools are:
University of California Hastings College of the
Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Whittier Law
School, and Chapman University School of Law.

Blind people access Web sites on computers
equipped with screen access software that
converts what is on the screen into synthesized
speech or Braille.  The keyboard is used instead
of a mouse to navigate the Web site and click on
selected links or buttons.  If a Web site is
improperly coded, however, blind computer users
cannot access or interact with the site.  The law
school applications available on lsac.org are
completely inaccessible to screen readers,
requiring blind users to resort to sighted
assistance in order to complete their law school
applications.  In addition, the practice tests
and preparation materials for the LSAT are not
available in an electronic format that is accessible to blind computer 
users.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National
Federation of the Blind, said: "The National
Federation of the Blind demands that those who
control admission to the practice of law obey the
law.  For too long, blind people have experienced
barriers to entering the legal profession,
despite a long history of success and
distinguished service by blind attorneys and
judges.  The National Federation of the Blind
will not sit quietly while the LSAC willfully
refuses to provide the same services to blind
people seeking admission to law school that it
does to the sighted.  The LSAC is engaging in
blatant discrimination against the blind and we
will not stand for it.  Since all of the schools
named in our amended complaint either require or
strongly encourage applicants to use the
inaccessible LSAC application system, they too
are actively discriminating against blind
applicants and we will ask the courts to hold them responsible for doing 
so."

The National Federation of the Blind and Ms.
Goraya originally filed suit against the LSAC for
its inaccessible Web site in February of
2009.  The complaint filed today amends that
action.  The National Federation of the Blind
recently filed complaints with the United States
Department of Justice against nine other law
schools across the United States that use the
LSAC online application system.  The Civil Rights
Division of the Justice Department is investigating those complaints.

Plaintiffs are represented in this matter by
Daniel F. Goldstein and Mehgan Sidhu of the
Baltimore firm Brown, Goldstein, and Levy;
Laurence W. Paradis, Anna Levine, and Karla
Gilbride of the Berkley firm Disability Rights
Advocates; and Scott C. LaBarre of the Denver firm LaBarre Law Offices.

###

About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National
Federation of the Blind 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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