<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:st1 =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=us-ascii" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18828"></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr class=OutlookMessageHeader align=left><FONT size=2
face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Freeh, Jessica
[mailto:JFreeh@nfb.org]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, November 03, 2009 2:16
PM<BR><B>To:</B> Alpidio Rolon; Amy Buresh; Angela Wolf; Anil Lewis; Art
Schreiber; Beth Rival; Bob Kresmer; Carl Jacobsen; Cathy Jackson; Charlene
Smyth; Christine G. Hall; Dan Hicks; Daniel Burke; Don Galloway; Donna Wood;
Elsie Lamp; Frank Lee; Franklin Shiner; Fred Schroeder; Fred Wurtzel; Gary Ray;
Gary Wunder; J.W. Smith; James Antonacci; James Broadnax; Jennelle Bichler;
Jennifer Dunnam; Joe Ruffalo; John Batron; John Fritz; Joyce Scanlan; Ken
Rollman; Kevan Worley; Marie Johnson; Mary Willows; Matt Lyles; Matt Lyles;
Melissa Riccobono; Michael Barber; Michael Freeman; Mika Pyyhkala; Nani Fife;
Pam Allen; Parnell Diggs; Patti Chang; Richard Gaffney; Ron Brown; Ron Gardner;
Sam Gleese; Scott LaBarre; Selena Sundling-Crawford; Terri
Rupp<BR><B>Subject:</B> Please distribute on nfb listservs<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><IMG src="attaf857.jpg" width=194
height=112 v:shapes="_x0000_i1025"></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: right; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=right><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: right; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=right><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: right; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal align=right><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt">NEWS
RELEASE<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 5">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><U>FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE<o:p></o:p></U></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><st1:date Year="2009" Day="3"
Month="11" w:st="on"><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">November 3,
2009</B></st1:date><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p> </o:p></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p> </o:p></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><U><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">CONTACTS:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></U></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>Chris Danielsen, Director of
Public Relations, <st1:stockticker w:st="on">NFB</st1:stockticker>, (410)
659-9314, ext. 2330<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><U><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></U></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>Scott Labarre, Labarre Law
Offices, P.C., (303) 504-5979</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>Daniel Goldstein, Brown,
Goldstein & Levy, LLP, (410) 962-1030</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on">Larry
Paradis</st1:PersonName>, <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Disability Rights
Advocates</st1:PersonName>, (510) 665-8644</P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF BAR EXAMINERS (NCBE)
DISCRIMINATES AGAINST BLIND <st1:stockticker w:st="on">AND</st1:stockticker>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><st1:stockticker
w:st="on">LOW</st1:stockticker></st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">VISION</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">LAW</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">SCHOOL</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
GRADUATES<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">OAKLAND</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">Calif.</st1:State></st1:place> - A suit filed today in Federal court
alleges that The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) discriminates
against blind and low vision law school graduates. The suit charges that the
NCBE is violating Title <st1:stockticker w:st="on">III</st1:stockticker> of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>’s civil rights law by denying
accommodations on the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) and the Multistate Professional
Responsibility Exam (MPRE) to a law school graduate who is blind. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>The Plaintiff is represented with
the support of the National Federation of the Blind (“<st1:stockticker
w:st="on">NFB</st1:stockticker>”) by Labarre Law Offices, P.C., in Denver, CO,
and by Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, in Baltimore, MD. The Plaintiff is
further represented by <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Disability Rights
Advocates</st1:PersonName> (DRA), a non-profit law center that specializes in
civil rights cases on behalf of persons with disabilities, based in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Berkeley</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">CA</st1:State></st1:place>.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>The NCBE provides standardized
examinations for the testing of applicants for admission to the practice of law.
Two of the tests it controls, the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) and the Multistate
Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) are required for admission to the
bar by most states. The <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State> Bar
examination has two sections; a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> section and the MBE. Although both
parts of the exam are administered by the California State Bar, the NCBE
controls the type of accommodations each state can offer test takers with
disabilities for the MBE portion of the bar exam. </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>Even though the California State
Bar is a named Defendant in the suit, they have offered to provide the Plaintiff
with all the accommodations she requested for the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> section of the
bar examination. However, the NCBE refuses to allow the California Bar Examiners
to give the Plaintiff certain of the accommodations that she needs on the MBE
portion of the bar exam. The California State Bar is fulfilling its legal
obligation and is only named in the complaint as an indispensable party.
Plaintiff hopes that the lawsuit will convince the NCBE to follow the California
State Bar’s example and provide the requested accommodations on the MBE portion
of the bar exam. </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>The NCBE has also denied
Plaintiff the accommodations at issue on the MPRE exam.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is a separate exam that bar
applicants need to pass to be admitted to practice.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The ACT is also named in the complaint
since it administers the MPRE examination for NCBE and is thus also an
indispensable party.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>The Plaintiff <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">Stephanie Enyart</st1:PersonName> is a law school graduate who is
legally blind and requires accommodations to take the MBE and MPRE. She has
requested to take the exams on a laptop computer equipped with screen reading
(JAWS) and screen magnification (ZoomText) software. Ms. Enyart has relied on
this combination of assistive technology as an accommodation on her exams
throughout law school and in her current legal work. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>The NCBE has refused to allow Ms.
Enyart these reasonable accommodations for the MBE and MPRE on several occasions
during the past years. In recent discussions with Plaintiff’s counsel, the NCBE
has indicated that it will continue to deny Ms. Enyart her requested
accommodations.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Instead, the NCBE
has offered alternative accommodations that are not suited to Ms. Enyart’s
disability and are not effective. The NCBE’s denials of accommodations are
preventing Ms. Enyart from obtaining admission to the bar, impeding her
career.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the
National Federation of the Blind (<st1:stockticker
w:st="on">NFB</st1:stockticker>), supporting the lawsuit, said “Too often law
students who are blind or have low vision have to prolong their prospects for
licensing while they fight to get the same accommodations they've had throughout
their educational history. Those that opt to settle for inadequate
accommodations usually struggle to pass or sometimes do not pass at all. Those
who control admission to the practice of law must obey the law."<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>Janice Ta, President of the
National Association of Law Students with Disabilities (NALSWD), which expressed
support for the lawsuit, said “The legal profession must recognize and be
prepared for the spectrum of conditions and disabilities that law students have.
Testing entities need to be open to a wide range of accommodations. But we find
that time and again they don’t seem to understand their obligation for providing
individualized accommodations and adaptive technologies that reflect the way
real law students with disabilities get tested, study, and make their way around
the world.” </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">###<o:p></o:p></B></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>