[nfbmi-talk] merry christmas?

[joe harcz Comcast]

I don't think he'd turn a blind guy away from the manger just because of a 
guide dog.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Terry D. Eagle" <terrydeagle at yahoo.com>
To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2013 3:09 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] merry christmas?


> Hmmmmmmmm,  WWJD, What Would Jesus DO were he alive within that "Christian
> Religious Institution"?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbmi-talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of joe
> harcz Comcast
> Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2013 10:54 AM
> To: nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nfbmi-talk] merry christmas?
>
> Judge More info needed about shelter that turn - Flash Player Installation
>
>
>
> By
>
> Brian Bowling
>
> y
>
> Published: Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, 1:42 p.m.
>
>
>
> A faith-based, men's homeless shelter that turned away a blind man because
> of his seeing-eye dog might be exempt from federal housing and disability
> laws,
>
> but it still has to prove that, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.
>
>
>
> In separate lawsuits in November 2012 and June 2013, Kenneth DeFiore, 
> whose
> age was unavailable, and the federal government, respectively, claim that
> City
>
> Rescue Mission of New Castle violated federal regulations when it refused 
> to
> provide DeFiore, who is blind, with shelter in December 2011 because of 
> the
>
> dog.
>
>
>
> Bruce McElrath, chairman of the Philadelphia-based Disability Rights
> Advocacy Group Inc., said he's never heard of a homeless shelter refusing 
> to
> take a
>
> blind person.
>
>
>
> "You can't turn somebody down because they're blind and have a seeing-eye
> dog," he said. "I think that's horrible."
>
>
>
> Kevin Green, executive director and CEO of City Rescue Mission, and John
> Steidle, the lead attorney representing the shelter, couldn't be reached 
> for
> comment.
>
>
>
> The shelter, which requires residents to attend group meetings and church
> services during their stays, claims it's exempt from the Americans with
> Disabilities
>
> Act and the Fair Housing Act because it's a religious organization.
>
>
>
> Carol Horowitz, managing attorney of the Pittsburgh office of the 
> Disability
> Rights Network, said she has heard of other cases in which shelters 
> refused
>
> people because of their service animals and wasn't surprised that one had.
>
>
>
> "Certainly people with disabilities are discriminated against in services
> such as shelters on a regular basis," she said. "Discrimination reaches 
> all
> walks
>
> of life."
>
>
>
> Most of those cases involve shelters that aren't handicapped accessible, 
> she
> said. The Disability Rights Network is a private, nonprofit group 
> appointed
>
> by the state to protect and advocate for people with disabilities.
>
>
>
> U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon denied the shelter's motion to dismiss 
> the
> lawsuit, saying that determining whether it qualifies for the exemption
> requires
>
> a factual examination of nine factors enumerated by the 3rd U.S. Circuit
> Court of Appeals in a 2005 case.
>
>
>
> In that case, the appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that threw out
> an employment discrimination lawsuit an evangelical Christian filed 
> against
> the
>
> Lancaster Jewish Community Center because the court determined the center
> was a religious organization.
>
>
>
> Bissoon's order allows the case to move forward and requires both sides to
> develop the facts to support their positions. In addition to the religious
> exemption,
>
> the shelter claims it's exempt from the housing act because it doesn't 
> sell
> or rent living space to the residents.
>
>
>
> The judge said she couldn't rule on that issue without more facts, such as
> whether the shelter receives subsidies for housing the homeless.
>
>
>
> Brian Bowling is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at
> 412-325-4301 or
>
> bbowling at tribweb.com.
>
> BrianBUpdate
>
> TribLive
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Source:
>
> http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/5243857-74/shelter-court-federal#axzz2nSs
> L11YN
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