[nfbmi-talk] Fw:

[David Robinson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: David Robinson NFB MI 
Cc: Eleanor Canter ; Darma Canter ; Norm DeLisle ; Laura Hall ; Bill Earl MI ADAPT ; Larry Wanger ; Larry Posont NFBMI Pres. ; Robin Jones ; Kelly Buckland ; Mark Johnson ; Daniel Levy ; Egan, Paul ; Elizabeth Picciuto ; Sally Conway USDOJ 
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2015 8:32 AM


Crimanalizing My and Our Civil Rights

 

People must understand the nature of the event held on the Michigan State Capitol Lawn on September 17 and funded by taxpayers dollars. It was the Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It was free and open to the public and especially to people with disabilities such as me. For indeed it was our party!

The ADA is based upon the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Like all civil rights laws it prohibits discrimination. The non-discrimination mandate says in part: “No qualified person with disabilities may be discriminated against or be denied thebenefits of the services, programs and activities of any public entity or place of public accommodation.” Yet, I, a blind activist for these very civil rights and several others were denied this in glaring fashion at this very event!

The ADA is also an integration mandate, yet those of us protesting the segregated workshops that perversely also exploit hundreds of thousands of us were denied access to even protest these things with words, pamplets, and signs. And ladies and gentlemen, separate is never equal!

 

The, ADA also requires that physical barriers and communications barriers were  to  have been removed 25 years ago. Yet, The State of Michigan and all of these public actors literally placed barriers to our entrance which also included State Police in full body armor.

 

 

 

This was a hidious assault upon our civil rights at the very celebration of its anniversary. It was our birthday party and the state wouldn’t even let us in.

 

This is akin to having a celebration of the 1964 civil rights Act  being held on the Capitol and having State Police bar, quite literally,  African-Americans who wished to point out that there is still racial injustice from attending and expressing  the facts, or denying some because they were affiliated with the NAACP, or Black Lives Matter. And then to arrest anyone who refused to comply with that discriminatory order.

 

 

Now, as to the charges for they are frivilous and, in fact have “criminalized my civil right of access let me say this:

 

I willfully tried to get around the barrier for it was an unlawful  and grossly discriminatory, on its face, order to begin with. I did resist the order, but not arrest. As to the element of “obstruction” it was the agents of the State who obstructed, quite literally  me and dozens of people with disabilities from participating in the anniversary of my civil rights.

This was not a direct action, or civil disobedience. It was my right and the right of others to access this event.

 

The arrogence of the State in this regards is apparent.



By the way among other print items expressing my rights including speech my very T-shirt I was wearing said on the front, "Access  is a Civil Right", and on the back said: "Disability Rights Are Civil Rights.

I also had numerous stickers including those promoting the ADA which was grossly violated on multiple counts on September 17, along with multiple violations of our, and my First Amendment Rights.!





 

Joe Harcz

1365 E. Mt. Morris Rd.

Mt. Morris, MI, 48458

810-516-5262

joeharcz at comcast.net

 

 

Member:

National Federation of the Blind

Member:

ADAPT