[nfbmi-talk] Article: Happy Birthday ADA

joe harcz Comcast joeharcz at comcast.net
Sat Jul 27 12:01:33 UTC 2013


Tennesee v. Lane does require that all state and local courts are accessible 
to people with disabilities.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Terry D. Eagle" <terrydeagle at yahoo.com>
To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 27, 2013 2:49 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Article: Happy Birthday ADA


> Great article.  Thank you Joe for sharing it!
>
> As the ADA and I celebrate our birthdays this weekend,  we both are
> certainly living breathing works in progress, and prayerfully a beacon of
> hope for the advancement of equality for all blind persons, who simply
> desire to be independent and share in the equality that our federal and
> state Constitution and lawsrequire of society.
>
> Indeed, we have a long road to travel to educate away the ignorance,
> stereotypes, paternalism, and control others hold in their hearts, minds,
> and political agendas, and yet, as the article points out, we have 
> traveled
> a long stretch of road to educate and achieve equality with our sighted
> peers.
>
> Just this year, I experienced discrimination under the effective
> communication provisions of the ADA, in my attempt to have equal access to
> the state courts.  Ironically, the discrimination was not committed by the
> state courts, as they went beyond their duty to accommodate, but rather, 
> the
> discrimination was committed by the Department of the chief law 
> enforcement
> official--the Michigan Department of Attorney General, and none other than
> the Director of the Bureau of Services for Blind persons (BS4BP), Mr.
> Rodgers, allegedly a blind person himself, and an alleged sworn officer of
> the courts, as a licensed attorney.  Is that amazingly ironic or what? 
> That
> clearly demonstrates what we as disabled persons have to ddeal with and
> contend with in our journey for equal access and basic dignity and respect
> for justice.
>
> While the legal actions go forward to obtain equality and accountability, 
> we
> as individuals need to exercise our rights to vote, and assemble
> collectively, to exercise our political franchise to demonstrate our 
> resolve
> and voice for equal access and equal opportunity to compete with our 
> sighted
> peers, whether in the classroom, workforce, or the courtroom!  Each and
> every person is valuable and needed to walk together on our journey to 
> equal
> access and opportunity to be productive contributing citizens.
>
> Happy Birthday to the ADA, and God bless America and the NFB!
>
>
> Subject: Fw: Article: Happy Birthday ADA
>
> And this ain't just the half of it. I documented that MCB itself and all
> State of Michigan entities violate the effective communications 
> requirements
> of the ADA virtually daily for those of us who are blind (ADA, Title II,
> Subparte e).
>
> And they also daily violate in this state the requirement of the ADA,
> Regulations and Americans with Disabilities Act Guidelines (ADAAG 3.40.1,
> 4,5,6 to thhis very day. Those require that each and every permanent room
> have proper raised character and Braille representations on every 
> permanent
> room and not just rest rooms or on elevators either.
>
> Are we, the organized blind children of a lessor God in enforcement when
> these glaring denials of access to visually deliverred information are
> ignored daily for these past 23 years alone?
>
> Access to visually deliverred information is not just a nice thing, under
> the ADA and Section 504 before it for federally funded entities, it is a
> Constitionally derived civil right.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Jones, Robin <mailto:guiness at uic.edu>
> To: GREATLAKES at LISTSERV.UIC.EDU
> Sent: Friday, July 26, 2013 2:39 PM
> Subject: Article: Happy Birthday ADA
>
>
> The following information is forwarded to you by the Great Lakes ADA 
> Center
> (www.adagreatlakes.org) for your information:
>
>
> PBS News Hour
>
>
> July 26, 2013
>
>
>
>
>
> Happy Birthday ADA
>
>
> By: Judy Woodruff
>
> The Americans with Disabilities Act is 23 years old today. This is the law
> aimed at eliminating discrimination against people with disabilities and
> ensuring equal opportunity for them "in employment ... government 
> services,
> public accommodations, commercial facilities and transportation," as
> described on the website of the Department of Justice.
>
> Sponsored by Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer and signed
> by President George H.W. Bush on July 26, 1990, the ADA was the result of
> years of debate over whether it would do as much harm as it would good,
> because of the new requirements it placed on governments, employers and
> people who own airlines, bus companies, office buildings, stores,
> restaurants and any other facility someone with a disability might want to
> use. In other words, just about every place you can think of, other than
> private homes. Not long before it was enacted, several hundred people with
> disabilities showed up outside the U.S. Capitol building, and those who
> could, let go of their wheelchairs, walkers and crutches, and crawled or
> pulled themselves up the 100 steps, urging members of Congress to vote for
> the ADA. Those who couldn't climb, yelled or held up signs.
>
> The Los Angeles Times was on the scene and described the crowd of
> supporters:
>
> "The demonstration at the West Front of the Capitol had some of the fervor
> of a civil rights rally of the 1960s as the demonstrators chanted slogans
> and sang songs to underscore their message to Congress.
>
> Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) made the comparison, telling the crowd:
> "What we did for civil rights in the 1960s we forgot to do for people with
> disabilities."
>
> Photo of Signing of the ADA on the White House Lawn on July 26, 1990.
>
> President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act on 
> July
> 26, 1990. Photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images
>
> Despite lopsided votes for the law in the Senate and the House, it's 
> hardly
> been a settled issue since it first came into being. Over the past couple 
> of
> decades, it has been subjected to significant amendments and ongoing
> arguments about whether and how it should be applied and interpreted. Just
> since 2006, the federal government and individual citizens have taken 
> legal
> action against cruise lines, hotels, sheriff's and fire departments, 
> public
> school systems, colleges and local governments from one end of the country
> to the other, usually over the accommodations they provide to those with
> disabilities. Even the District of Columbia had to be legally coerced into
> providing accessible shelter for the homeless with disabilities. One of 
> the
> prisons in the Pennsylvania State Correctional system was found in 
> violation
> of the ADA for denying adequate services to inmates with mental illness 
> and
> intellectual disabilities. In Arizona, the Phoenix International Raceway
> reached a settlement with the U.S. government only last month after a 
> racing
> fan with disabilities filed a complaint that it didn't provide accessible
> seating and parking.
>
> Reading the scores of complaints filed by citizens, that were later
> investigated by the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department --  
> many
> of which resulted in settlements -- creates an image of a living, 
> breathing
> law, rather than a one-dimensional statute that rests in bound copies on a
> dusty shelf. It seems to be constantly changing; it's been interpreted and
> re-interpreted to prevent discrimination and provide equal opportunity.
>
> On one of these evenings when you get discouraged thinking about today's
> gridlock in Washington, go to the Justice Department website for a list of
> ADA "Enforcement activities" <http://www.ada.gov/enforce_current.htm> ,
> legal settlements reached to require changes made in physical structures 
> or
> classroom teaching arrangements, for example. Even as we recognize how 
> many
> of these accommodations had to be imposed on an employer or an 
> institution,
> they are a reminder of how far we've come as a nation in the way we treat
> those who are differently abled.
>
> Source: 
> http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/07/happy-birthday-ada.html
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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