DEAF WATCH NEWSLETTER!

DEAF WATCH NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2000

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Greetings!

With so many interesting things happening this month, I have been very busy!

Americans with Disabilities Act is once again in danger of being weaker. The Supreme Court has decided to accept a constitutional challenge to Title II which covers government activities. The consequences of striking down Title II could be huge! What this could mean for the deaf is that state employees with hearing disabilities will not get their accommodations such as TDD's, interpreters, and signal notification accessories. This also could mean youll be going to court without an interpteter and you wont be able to tell the judge your side of the story. You wont have any access to any governmental activity, such as hearings and appeals.

According to several psychologists who are familiar with disenfranchised groups, taking away their rights or a portion of can lead to a sharp increase of suicidal activity by people within the disenfranchised groups.

Let's have a heart for the disabled, ask your local disability support agency to file amicus briefs in support of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I wish you all a Happy Valentines day!

Always yours! RICHARD ROEHM Chief Editor, Deaf Watch Newsletter

NEWS

US, UK NOW MORE RECEPTIVE TO WORKING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES NEW SURVEY SHOWS

ITHACA, N.Y. --People with disabilities -- one in six of us -- must surmount workplace obstacles that those without disabilities never even notice, everything from inaccessible work spaces to indifferent, or even intolerant, colleagues. The picture is beginning to improve, however, spurred by the recent passage of such legislation as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the United States in 1990 and the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) in the United Kingdom -- Great Britain and Northern Ireland -- in 1995. The Program on Employment and Disability at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations undertook a study of 2,000 U.S. and U.K. human resource professionals -- the people who hire at most companies. The purpose? To determine their response to the new laws and identify ways to eliminate workplace discrimination against people with disabilities. Its results were published this fall. Susanne Bruyhre, the Cornell program's director, discussed the study's findings this December as the keynote speaker of an international videoconference that was part of the "Celebrating Change" Disability Millennium Festival in Belfast. She also presented the results at an international meeting in Harrogate, England, this October. "People with disabilities still represent a largely untapped employment resource," said Bruyhre. "They are often greatly underemployed or unemployed altogether." Bruyhre sees this as an unfortunate trend, with employers and the economy as the real losers. "With a shrinking labor force in some countries and an increasing need for skilled labor in certain industries, now is the right time to explore how to recruit and integrate skilled people with disabilities into the workplace. The best news: The survey showed that organizations in the United States and the United Kingdom already have done a lot of training of their HR professionals in the new laws. Many U.S. and U.K. companies have become more flexible in their policies toward hiring employees with disabilities and have made their facilities more accessible to them since the ADA and DDA were enacted. And most of the HR professionals surveyed on both sides of the Atlantic saw the cost of training, supervising and accommodating employees with disabilities as less of a problem than combating negative attitudes toward them among co-workers and supervisors. An exception was Northern Ireland, where accommodation costs ranked high as a barrier. While those surveyed agreed that improving people's attitudes remains a big challenge, they already know how to go about it. More than two-thirds of the respondents worked for organizations with return-to-work, retention or disability management programs and saw those as an effective way to change attitudes as well as comply with the new legislation. There were differences too. The survey showed U.S. employees to be better record keepers than their U.K. counterparts. In Northern Ireland 56 percent of those surveyed worked for firms that kept no records at all on accommodations made for employees with disabilities. In the rest of the United Kingdom, 35 percent kept no records, while in the United States only 13 percent kept none. The survey also revealed a different chain of responsibility for accommodation among companies in the different countries. In the United States, it was the human resources staff that made the final decisions on how to accommodate employees with disabilities, whereas in the United Kingdom, the managers and directors of the employees made the decisions. U.S. employers were more familiar than their U.K. counterparts with how to frame nondiscriminatory questions to job applicants, such as inquiring about their ability to perform specific job tasks, not their disability. They also were better informed about what could "not" be asked or required under the new laws, such as information on their medical health. On the other hand British respondents were better prepared to handle job applicants with vision problems than their U.S. counterparts were and knew more about adapting printed materials used in the interview process to large print, diskette or Braille. Both the U.S. and U.K. groups appeared least informed about how to accommodate employees with hearing problems and mental health disabilities and wanted more information. An area still seen as a barrier to the hiring of more people with disabilities was their relative lack of training and work experience, which Bruyhre hopes future government-sponsored training programs may remedy. And finally, while the U.K. companies of those surveyed were much more likely to be unionized than the U.S. companies, U.S. unions were involved more often in getting workplace accommodations for employees with disabilities.

In addition to Cornell's Program on Employment and Disability, survey collaborators included the Society for Human Resource Management, the Washington Business Group on Health and the Employers' Forums on Disability in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. For a report, contact Susanne Bruyhre at (607) 255-9536, or view this web site:

http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/ped/projects/IDI/IDI_Projects/CS.html

DEAF CUBAN SCHOOL CHILDREN GET INTO THE ELIAN GONZALEZ AFFAIR

HAVANA, CUBA - Deaf Cuban schoolchildren gestures with their hands as they demand the immediate return of shipwrecked boy Elian Gonzalez January 11 during a performance at Palacio de las Convenciones in Havana City. Legal confusion surrounded the future of Elian Gonzalez after a Florida judge said the young Cuban shipwreck survivor should stay in Miami for now, a ruling that legal scholars said she had no authority to make. Castro's government has staged protests around the country since early December. Photo by Heriberto Rodriguez (Reuters)

See photo: http://news.excite.com/photo/img/r/cuba/boy/usa/20000111/hav03d

DISABLED CALIFORNIA MAN DENIED BEER PURCHASE, SUES, JURY SIDES WITH CONVENIENCE STORE.

John Kirby and one of his buddies went on a beer run before a Sunday night football game over two years ago. Kirby, who walks with a limp and has slurred speech due to his disability, pulled out his wallet to make the purchase at a Modesto, California 7-11 store, and was told by clerk Robert Ieshah that the sale would not be made.

"He told me he was unable to sell to me because I am handicapped," said Kirby. "He even went on to say that this was company policy to do so, and having a beer was not good for me 'because you're handicapped.' "

"The jury admitted that the clerk was wrong," says Kirby's attorney Dan Mitchell. "But there's a $2,000 fine for selling alcohol to someone who is intoxicated and they felt he had to make a business decision," says Kirby's attorney, Dan Mitchell. "

Kirby took the 7-11 to court and last week, a jury ruled in favor of the 7-11 store. "It was an innocent mistake," says Davod Sidran, attorney for 7-11. "The clerk didn't know what cerebral palsy was. He thought Mr. Kirby was intoxicated."

FREEDOM THREATENED AGAIN!?!?!

Last year American citizens with disabilities faced the possible loss of the "most integrated setting" provision of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act in Olmstead v. L.C & E.W. But we fought it and we won. Now we face losing ALL protection from discrimination against people with disabilities by the states. If you thought Olmstead was a threat to your freedom, just wait, here comes his daddy!!

In the Fall 1999 issue of The Whole Story I reported on the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling Title II of the ADA [Alsbrook v. City of Maumelle] and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act [Bradley v. Arkansas Department of Education] as unconstitutional.

ï¿½ Since July 23, 1999, citizens of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arkansas, and Minnesota have had no right to file lawsuits against state entities under Title II of the ADA.

ï¿½ On August 31, 1999, we lost our 504 right to sue state entities that receive federal funds.

It is still unclear how the Alsbrook decision has and will affect local governments that do not receive state funding, or who are not arms of state governments. It is also unclear how this may affect state-provided telecommunications relay services (TRS) under Title IV of the ADA.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have both notified advocates in 8th Circuit states that we can still file complaints with them, but we have no private right of action.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The time is nearing for the rest of the country to face the threat against ADA Title II that citizens in the 8th Circuit realized last year. In its original brief to the Supreme Court, the DOJ had recommended that Alsbrook be heard by the Court after a decision in Kimel v. Board of Regents, a case challenging the use of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) in fighting discrimination by state employers.

The DOJ stated that it would file a supplemental brief within fourteen days of the Kimel decision, which was issued on January 11, 2000. This means the DOJ's supplemental brief on Alsbrook is due to be filed with the Supreme Court by January 25, 2000.

In Kimel the Supreme Court ruled that the ADEA was inappropriate legislation and that Congress had exceeded its authority under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is supposed to allow Congress to pass legislation to abrogate state immunity under the Eleventh Amendment, if necessary to afford equal protection of law to citizens when the states have failed to do so. Following the reasoning of this decision, the future of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is directly threatened.

Even the mainstream media has recognized the slippery slope with the Associated Press (1/11/00) reporting, "Today's decision did not discuss whether another federal law anti-bias law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, could be enforced with federal lawsuits against state employers. But the court's rationale seemed to rule out such enforcement as well."

Writing for the majority rule in the 5-4 Kimel decision, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor noted that, "Age classifications, unlike governmental conduct based on race or gender, cannot be characterized as 'so seldom relevant to the achievement of any legitimate state interest that laws grounded in such considerations are deemed to reflect prejudice and antipathy.'"

In obvious denial or ignorance of the widespread incarceration of elderly people in nursing "homes" by States, the Court concluded that, "Older persons, again, unlike those who suffer discrimination on the basis of race or gender, have not been subjected to a 'history of purposeful unequal treatment.'"

Further, the Court stated in Kimel that, "Old age also does not define a discrete and insular minority because all persons, if they live out their normal life spans, will experience it." Even though the Congress did specifically recognize that, "individuals with disabilities are a discrete and insular minority who have been faced with restrictions and limitations, subjected to a history of purposeful unequal treatment, and relegated to a position of political powerlessness in our society," the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities (PCEPD) recognizes that: "People with disabilities are the nation's largest minority, and the only one that any person can join at any time. If you do not currently have a disability, you have about a 20% chance of becoming disabled at some point during your work life. People with disabilities cross all racial, gender, educational, socioeconomic, and organizational lines."

The National Organization on Disability recently designated Franklin D. Roosevelt as Person of the Century. After serving four terms, Roosevelt's presidency could be used to show we have had political power. There have been presidents with disabilities, but still no women or racial minorities.

Additionally in Kimel the Court found that, "The exception in (Sec.)623(f)(1) that permits employers to engage in conduct otherwise prohibited by the Act 'where the differentiation is based on reasonable factors other than age' confirms, rather than disproves, the conclusion that the ADEA extends beyond the requirements of the Equal Protection Clause. That exception makes clear that the employer cannot rely on age as a proxy for an employee's characteristics."

It seems the court could not conceive of Equal Protection Clause coverage having conditional exceptions. This analysis by the Court is particularly foreboding considering the exception language used in the ADA Title II: 35.130(b)(7) "A public accommodation shall make reasonable accommodations in policies, practices, or procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless the public entity can demonstrate that making the modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity."

According to the National Constitution Center, "...equal protection does not require the government to treat all people equally; there are hundreds of federal and state laws that discriminate against classes of individuals. For instance, state laws requiring drivers to be 16 years and older discriminate on the basis of age: however, the classification is reasonably denied related to the state's need to regulate public safety." Any wheelchair user who still remembers being called a fire hazard will recognize the obvious implications of using that kind of rationale.

While the National Constitutional Center recognizes certain suspect classes to fall under the Fourteenth Amendment such as race, ethnicity and religion; the Supreme Court's 1997 invalidation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, challenges this assumption. "...Congress had uncovered only 'anecdotal evidence' that, standing alone, did not reveal a 'widespread pattern of religious discrimination in this country.'" While religious persecution in this country is a far cry from the atrocities of Kosovo, numerous US organizations representing Christians, Moslems, Jews, Pagans, Native American groups, and other religious minorities continue to report widespread, and possibly increasing, religious discrimination in the US.

Justice O'Connor contends that Kimel does not mean the end of age discrimination protection for state employees, because state statutes, "...in almost every State of the Union," already address this issue. That may be our one saving grace with Alsbrook, that most states do NOT provide nondiscrimination protections like the ADA for citizens with disabilities. Under Missouri law, people who are deaf have the explicit right to an interpreter in courtroom settings only, but not during the arrest process. Now the Supreme Court needs to know things like this.

We need to tell the Supreme Court AGAIN that we will not go quietly into the night, and that we will not tolerate the trampling of our civil and human rights! We will not passively allow the Court to tread on our ADA!!!!

-Heather De Mian
[email protected]

NATIONAL CLASS ACTION FILED AGAINST DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION IN LAW SCHOOL ADMISSION TEST

Suit Follows U.S. Justice Department Lawsuit
Apple Computer Co-founder Steve Wozniak Contributes Expenses

Philadelphia, PA. A national class action lawsuit will be filed on Monday January 17, 2000 against the administrators of the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) which is required for law school admission. The suit alleges that the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) discriminates against people with disabilities by failing to grant them testing accommodations, such as extra time, which have been recommended by their treating doctors.

Three Seattle, Washington LSAT applicants are filing the case through Philadelphia class action and civil rights attorney, David Ferleger (http://www.ferleger.com) claiming that the LSAC has violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. They seek money damages for the entire plaintiff class as well as a court order compelling the LSAC to halt its violations of the law.

Last month, the U.S. Justice Department filed suit against the LSAC charging discrimination against people with physical disabilities in the law school testing process. (Sheila Delaney, Disability Rights Section, US Justice Dept., 202 307 6309). This new class action is broader in scope, as it includes discrimination against people with mental or physical disabilities.

The lawsuit opens with these words:

[QUOTE STARTS] The Americans with Disabilities Act has literally opened doors for millions of people who did not have access to facilities and opportunities nation-wide. To pass through a law school's doors, one must possess the "ticket" of an honest score on the Law School Admissions Test, the LSAT. The Defendants control the tickets and, in violation of the ADA, they refuse to pass them out to many individuals with disabilities whose personal treating doctors confirm are in need of testing accommodations to obtain an honest LSAT score which fairly represents their aptitude and capabilities. This nation-wide class action is intended to right that wrong. [QUOTE ENDS]

Attorney David Ferleger said, "The Law School Admissions Council is breaking the law. LSAC acts like a kingdom unto itself, making itself judge and jury about applicants' disabilities. By ignoring medical reports from students' own doctors, the Council is shutting out some of America's great lawyers of the future. People with disabilities have a right to fair testing. LSAC's policies are unfair to hundreds of applicants."

Plaintiffs are all persons who have applied for accommodations and been denied accommodations recommended by their personal doctors. The class representatives include:

* Lise Nicole Dorfsman, a 1995 University of Washington graduate, a 22 year old with documented learning disabilities and mental health challenges.

* Cima Fatomeh Amiri, who will graduate this year from the University of Washington, and has congenital physical anomalies including fusions in her vertebrae, resulting since 1998 in chronic and debilitating back pain and muscle spasms.

* Pearl De La Cruz, who will graduate from Seattle University this year, and who has learning disabilities and mental health challenges, along with a serious and exhausting sleep disorder.

In each case, the named class representatives' personal doctors supported their request for accommodations, requests which the LSAC refused to accept.

Representing plaintiffs is David Ferleger. Ferleger has worked in the class action, civil rights and disability fields since he became an attorney in 1972. He has argued five times in the U.S. Supreme Court, taught at law schools (NYU and U of PA), and been a national writer and consultant in his fields. See http://www.ferleger.com.

A national fund for legal expenses was announced by Ferleger with a major contribution from Apple Computer co-founder Steve ("THE WOZ") Wozniak who is well known for his contributions in education. The fund, Law School Anti-discrimination in Testing Fund ("LSAT") will assist the plaintiffs. The Law School Anti-discrimination in Testing Fund is accepting donations. "The three courageous women who filed this lawsuit have one goal, to bring justice in the testing process with the help of Steve Wozniak and other supporters, we will prevail", said David Ferleger.

STATEMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISATIONS OF THE DEAF, HARD OF HEARING AND THEIR FRIENDS (ASNEP)

From January 12th, 2000

Ministry of Labour And Social Affairs of the Czech Republic published on January 7th, 2000 on the Internet a list of citizen's associations projects those have been eliminated from grant proceeding and a list of projects those have been included into the so called Reduction program. Reduction program means that the citizen's associations can acquire MLSA grants maximally to the extent 60 % of last year's real state for so classified projects and in 2001 year these associations will acquire no grants.

MLSA have proclaimed in public that MLSA wants to remove subjective evaluation of the projects and to introduce absolute transparency of the grant proceeding and that MLSA will support social services development above all.

In contradiction with these proclamations almost all projects of organisations of the Deaf and of the blind have been refused or included into the Reduction program.In the most part it is just a case of projects providing social services for these particularly handicapped people, services those are not provided by the State.

Practically it means danger of dissolution of most organisations of the hearing and of the visually impaired and liquidation of all their institutions where the social services have been provided and those have been often rebuilt from very devastated buildings by summoning up all their funds and immense efforts of volunteers.

Member organisations of ASNEP have acquainted with results of the MLSA grant proceeding and declare that this elimination of almost all projects of the hearing and of the visually impaired shows very subjective and prejudiced decisions of MLSA and pure demonstration of discrimination of hearing and visually impaired people of the Czech Republic.

ASNEP asks Minister of Labour and Social Affairs to remove MLSA officials who are responsible for this situation for their incompetence and ignorance of these problems. ASNEP also asks for repeal of present results of the grant proceeding and for impartial review by experts in handicapped people problems.

Association of organisations of the Deaf, hard of hearing and their Friends asks the Government and the Parliament to find and to put into life a way of subsidising of citizen's associations of handicapped people that should be independent of current cast of respective offices.

After the foreign experiences it could be for example profit by gaming machines operation, tax assignations or perhaps 1 heller from every sold packet of cigarettes.

contact persons: Romana Mazerova, Veronika Hodonska - [email protected] Veronika Hodonska - ASNEP - [email protected]

Explanation of the situation of the Associations and Clubs of the Deaf in the Czech Republic.

After their coup the communist regime was afraid of the civic society which was very difficult to control. In the years 1948 - 1951 communists liquidated all independent public associations, including approximately 40 associations, corporations and clubs of the deaf people in the Czech Republic.

For all people with handicaps they created the only one organization - The Associations of Invalids, which was completely under communist control. All the leading persons of this organisation were nominated by the communist party, the individual handicaps had no possibility to decide about their needs. On the other hand the Association of the Invalids was generously subsidized by the communist government. It owned buildings, recreation centres and even factories.

After the velvet revolution in the 1989 came a very fast revival of the civic society in the Czech Republic. Many independent organisations were created, including 12 organisations of people with hearing impairment. At the beginning the government supported the organisations of people with disabilities and even donated them some buildings from the former ownership of the Communist Party and of the Communist Youth. The state subsidy of the organisations was of vital importance, because in the Czech Republic are so far nearly unexistent other possibilities how to finance activities of the nongovernment organisations. Especially the ethic of sponsoring is not developed. There does not exist any possibility to assign part of individual taxes to charities etc.

During the years 1990 - 1998 the mechanism of state subsidising of nongovernment organisations was elaborated. The organisations submitted each years their grant applications to the individual ministries and the grant applications were evaluated by the teams of experts. The main source of grants for the nongovernment organisations was the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. There was an agreement with the another ministries, that while the another ministries will subsidise a specific projects of organisations of disabled (like the cultural activities, rehabilitation programmes etc.), the Ministry of Labour will subsidise both the social services provided by the organisations and running expenses of the organisations. It was never full coverage of the needs, but it enabled the existence of organisations.

In the year 1997 there were personal changes at MLSA. The team of experts deciding about the grant applications of the organisations was dissolved and the new people came into their positions. Unfortunately they do not understand the problems and needs of people with disabilities or they are even personally hostile to them.

The situation culminated in January 2000 when all grant applications of organisations of hearing impaired and organisations of visually impaired were rejected by MLSA. If the organisations of people with disabilities will not succeed to change this decision, the consequences will be dramatic. They will have to get rid of all the buildings they owned and even the modest existence of organisations will be threatened.

DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATES SEEKS TESTERS

Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), a non-profit law office which works to protect the civil rights of people with disabilities, is currently investigating a nationwide retail store for employment discrimination against people who are deaf or hearing impaired. We are looking for people who use American Sign Language who would be willing to assist us with our investigation as testers. We are willing to pay $100.00 for your assistance. If interested, please contact:

Rowena Gargalicana
Disability Rights Advocates
e-mail: [email protected]
449 15th Street, Ste. 303
Oakland, CA 94131

TEXAS MAN SENTENED 60 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AND THREATENING TO CUT HANDS OFF 7 YEAR OLD DEAF VICTIM IF SHE TOLD OTHERS

Dallas Morning News (Jan. 8, 2000}--A Dallas County judge has sentenced a man of Lewisville, Texas to 60 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 7-year-old deaf girl and then threatening to cut off her hands if she told anyone. James William Adams, 40, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault. Prosecutor Marie Briner told state District Judge Janice Warder that Mr. Adams assaulted the girl more than once. His threat, she said, couldn't have been more cruel because it made the girl fear not being able to use sign language, thus losing her only way of communicating. Judge Briner also noted that Mr. Adams had a history of animal cruelty, including killing a family's dog with a hunting knife and killing fish in an aquarium by spearing them.

HOUSING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST DEAF FOUND IN IN NEW YORK CITY

Cuomo said HUD filed housing discrimination charges accusing John McDermott, President of Space Hunters, Inc. -- a room locator service in New York City -- of violating the Fair Housing Act in two ways. First, HUD charged McDermott with refusing to help deaf people find housing. Second, HUD charged McDermott with steering people posing as renters to different neighborhoods based on their race.
Space Hunters provides prospective renters with a list of rooms for rent by owners, usually in single-family homes.

The charges were filed on behalf of Keith Toto, a deaf man from of Nanuet, NY, and on behalf of the Fair Housing Council of Northern New Jersey.

The housing discrimination charges filed against McDermott and Space Hunters carry civil penalties of at least $22,000 plus monetary compensation for damages, humiliation, mental distress, and loss of housing rights if an Administrative Law Judge rules against McDermott. If either side chooses to take the case to federal court, punitive damages may be awarded.

In early 1999, Toto called Space Hunters using the services of a relay operator. Relay operators are typically used by hearing impaired people to communicate by phone with parties who do not have a Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD). Toto said that the person who answered at Space Hunters said the company did not serve people with disabilities, used an obscenity when questioned, and hung up.

McDermott told HUD investigators that he did not have time to deal with relay operators serving people with hearing impairments and it was his policy not to talk to them.

``Many people don't realize the Fair Housing Act protects people with disabilities from housing discrimination,'' Cuomo said. ``This protection isn't something people with disabilities have to request as a favor -- its their right under the law, and HUD will enforce the law.''

Toto contacted HUD last March. HUD then asked the Fair Housing Council of Northern New Jersey in Hackensack, which receives HUD funding to enforce the Fair Housing Act, to assist in the investigation. The Council had testers posing as prospective deaf customers call Space Hunters using a relay operator. The tester said the person who answered for Space Hunters refused to assist him and used obscenities against the tester.

A HUD investigator called Space Hunters a few days later and spoke to a man who identified himself as the manager. When told about the fair housing complaint from a person with a disability, the manager used obscenities and said his company did not have to deal with disabled people because it is time- consuming. The manager also used a racial epithet against the HUD employee, who was African American.

In response to a racial epithet used by a Space Hunters employee, HUD then requested the Fair Housing Council in April to also test Space Hunters for possible racial discrimination. A white male tester met with McDermott and inquired about renting a room in a predominately Latino area of the Bronx known as Hunt's Point.

The tester told HUD that McDermott tried to discourage him from living there, and that during their conversation McDermott referred to African Americans he has dealt with as ``niggers,'' ``lowlifes'' and ``dumb.'' Black testers who advised McDermott that they were interested in the same neighborhood told HUD he did not discourage them from living there.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

COURT BLOCKS STREET ALARM BOX REMOVAL

Years of litigation over access by the deaf to emergency street alarm boxes in New York has been brought to a close by Southern District Judge Robert W. Sweet.

A final order by Sweet, agreed upon by plaintiffs' lawyers and the Office of Corporation Counsel last week, sets the ground rules for the City's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The order makes permanent rulings made by Sweet in 1996 and 1997 that blocked the City from removing the alarm boxes. The boxes enable everyone, including the deaf and hearing impaired, to push a fire or police button that tells emergency dispatchers the source of the alarm.

In 1996, Sweet, in Civic Association of the Deaf of New York City v. Giuliani, 915 FSupp 622 (S.D.N.Y. 1996), found that under the ADA, the City must take into account the needs of the disabled when it designs services or proposes to change or eliminate a service.

In 1997, in Civic Association II, 970 F Supp 352, the rejected the City's contention that its new, enhanced 911 system (E911), together with a single-button alarm system would perform the same function, and offer equal accessibility to the deaf under the ADA.

FCC CHAIRMAN KENNARD APPLAUDS INDUSTRY DECISION TO PROVIDE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The deadline for mounting a legal challenge to our Section 255 rules which provide access for people with disabilities to telecommunications in the information age passed, with no challenges being filed. I am pleased that the industry is focusing its considerable talents on implementing the rules rather than on challenging them.

The industry's willingness to focus on increasing access to people with disabilities, rather than on litigation, is a testament to the enormous amount of work industry representatives put into developing these rules. It proves that collaborative problem solving yields the best result.

ATTENTION!! ALL EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA DEAF PEOPLE!!

Was your home, trailer, or car/truck being destroyed by the FLOODS after Hurriance Floyd?!? Still waiting for FEMA to help you? Problems with communication with people, need interpreter to help you?!?

GOOD NEWS!! We, Mental Health Association in Pitt County, can help and work with you! We only provide help with the flood problem and we are not part of any hospital or AA/NA/SA places. Mental Health Association is an ORGANIZATION that provides resources to help you with food, housing, clothes, and transportation.

We have Deaf Outreach/Crisis counselors that can communicate with Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf/Blind people. We use ASL.

We can give you an interpreter (interpreters are paid by State of NC) for any appointment or meeting about your flood problem. Examples can be meeting your bank, car dealer, house builder, FEMA, DSS, United Way, Food bank, Salvation Army, Goodwill, or any place that provide help with your flood problem.

We can help you or your family, if upset or sad about the flood or if you want to talk with someone about what happened to you. We have coloring books for young children to help them understand about hurriances and floods. We have brochures/pamphlets for young teenagers to understand about hurriances and floods.

We can give you more information about where you can get things you need. We can help people anywhere in Eastern North Carolina.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that Eastern NC Deaf people, who lost things to floods, contact us for help. Any of you know anyone who really needs help, PLEASE contact us and we can help them.

You can Email us at [email protected]

Or call us at (252) 752-7448 (Voice) or (252) 752-8350 (TTY)

OHIO INMATES USING RELAY SERVICES TO COMMIT CRIMES

Ohio: Dayton -- Inmates at Ohio prisons are using a phone service for the deaf to make harassing calls, commit credit card fraud and arrange drug and weapon smuggling, John Brown, a communications assistant for Ohio Relay Services, claims. He also says that inmates are making thousands of dollars in unauthorized long-distance calls. The state will look into the allegations, a corrections department official said.

ï¿½ Copyright 2000 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

HOT LINKS TO HOT SITES

Closed Captions: An Untapped Resource in Combating Illiteracy

Employment Prospects for Disabled People in Transition Countries

DISABILITY FRONTLINES

FLORIDA UNIVERSITY SUED FOR LACK OF ACCOMMODATIONS TO DEAF STUDENTS

Miami, Florida December, 1999 -- The Association for Disabled Americans and several individuals, sued Florida International University for failing to provide adequate sign language interpreters and other accommodations for note takers.

FLORIDA HOSPITAL SUED FOR ADA NON-COMPLIANCE

Miami, Florida October, 1999 -- The Association for Disabled Americans and several individuals, sued Jackson Memorial Hospital in U.S. District Court, alleging the hospital fails to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Attorney William Charouhis filed the suit on behalf of the Association for Disabled Americans and the individuals. Among the allegations are inadequate numbers of disabled parking, the majority of restrooms with inaccessibility (such as missing grab bars), most of the elevators without auditory indicators for individuals with visual impairments, no permanently installed telecommunication devices for the Deaf (TDD), doors with excessive resistance and inadequate closing delay for elderly and individuals with mobility impairments and ramps with slopes so steep an individual who uses a wheelchair could tip over backwards. Daniel Ruiz, one of the Association's board members, asserts " hospitals should have accessibility as a priority since they usually provide services to the Disabled. They've had years to comply."

RESOURCE OF THE MONTH

AWARDS

DeafCarolina News

LETTERS

Dear President Clinton,

I really respect you as much as you did do many good jobs for us deaf Americans but you may have overlooked or ignored one missing thing for us (Deaf Americans) is the A.D.A.

In 1993, Ex-president Bush signed the new A.D.A. then in later years, we learned that this A.D.A. is good for blind people, handicapped wheelers, etc..... but A.D.A. is does not help the deaf people because it have too many loopholes. I heard horrible stories from other deaf people that they tried A.D.A. and it didnt protect them from like discrimination against them in being not hired for jobs, deal with law enforcement, etc.... some of reports mentioned that some deaf victims tried to sue private companies for discrimination that involves not being promoted in their jobs or the company ignored deaf employee's required interpreter for meetings then at the end, the deaf victims were counter-sued and lost their houses, money from bank accounts, etc by greedy and insensitive private companies who hired the top lawyers in the field. Many deaf people cannot afford top A.D.A. lawyers. President, now you see that's why many deaf people are leery of using A.D.A. to file complaint against private companies, states and cities etc...

This will cause more and more deaf people to become depressed and lose pride in themselves and more will become poorer and turn to crime and more deaf people go to prisons. Trust and believe me because my own eyes have seen some of my deaf friends became drug addicts, homeless, sell A B C cards at malls, drug pushers etc... because they did try so hard to get good jobs but they got burned sooner or later after they tried A.D.A. and lot of private companies treated them like 2nd class citizens. Many deaf people rely on SSI to survive because they cannot get jobs even they got college degrees and /or training in certain fields--why? Many company chose to ignore deaf qualified applicants because it cost too much (equipment and interpreters to help deaf communicate with the hearing) and they don't want to take the time to communicate and train new deaf employees.

If you want to see many deaf people become big successful like have good jobs and good families and reduce dependence on S.S.I. If the SSI payments to deaf were cut off then how we can survive if no one wants to hire us?? Imagine if you were deaf and you cannot get a job..what would you do to survive?? Become starved with no food and you have to steal so that you can live for another day. Then make the A.D.A. strong with teeth to bite those who abuse the deaf rights. We will be very appericate if you help us by tell congress to cork loopholes in damn A.D.A now!

or.... you better to pray that million deaf Americans don't become criminals to survive or more impovished and end up in more new federal and states prisons someday. This means mad taxpayers will pay mult-million dollars to fed deaf mates!!!

James Queen and Trish Mckenzie

for
Freedom Fighters for Anti-Phony A.D.A.

[email protected]

~---~

OUR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER ATTACK
TITLE II of ADA THREATENED
A CALL TO ACTION

Justice for All
Washington, DC
USA

Colleagues

Our crowning achievement of the 20th century the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA is under massive attack and our civil rights are threatened.

The Supreme Court has taken two cases challenging the constitutionality of Title II of the ADA. Simply stated, the nine Supreme Court Justices will decide this summer if Congress had the authority to pass this part of the ADA or should our civil rights be a State's prerogative.

This is unconscionable and we should all be outraged at this frontal attack on our civil and human rights.

We must do more than be outraged - WE MUST ACT!

We must Renew the Pledge to the ADA!

I implore you to advocate with others in your State to send the message: Don't Tread On the ADA!

Please meet with your Congressional delegation, your Governor and your Attorney General and have them Renew the Pledge to the ADA. Challenge them to show their support for the ADA.

This is not a time for complacency. This is a time for action. If we don't show our power and our commitment to the ADA it will be continuously attacked and weakened.

It would be the irony of ironies if during the tenth anniversary of the ADA our rights were ripped away by the Supreme Court.

This is a battle we must win. Together we will win. There will be Justice for All. America for All.

Thank you!

Justin Dart, Jr.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

January 28, 2000

Greetings,

Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center is a proactive organization which caries many levels of proactive advocacy and support activities. Our 3 main strategic goals are to help people with disabilities attain a safe, healthy, and productive living.

Today we will show you one FREE tool you can use to become and remain productive.

TWO things we intend to accomplish in this letter. Introduce you to a new free payment service that will help people such as those with hearing disabilities expand their business and maintain their self sufficiency. And help you get $10.00 and earn up to $1,000.00 by introducing PayPal.com to your friends, associates, contacts, and relatives!

1) PayPal.com is a FREE new reliable electronic payment service. This is excellent for Deaf owned online stores, businesses, and companies seeking cheaper alternatives to the current costly credit card merchant services currently available. You can accept credit card charges for your business, online or not. This introduction puts us in line with one of our strategic goals which is to help people with hearing disabilities attain and sustain productivity and self sufficiency. Through PayPal.com Deaf merchants with valid email addresses can now accept credit cards without all the hassles, costs, and complications of many credit card merchant service providers. Even though PayPal.com does not have merchant services at this time, you can use this tool to receive payment for goods and services.

WHY DONT YOU TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS?

2) We will now help you earn $10.00 and more. Just sign up for your personal PayPal.com account. Click on the graphic below to begin the process of earning up to $1,000.00!

We are pleased to maintain our leadership in helping people with disabilities attain and maintain their self sufficiency. This introduction helps people with disabilities expand their business scope. Excellent FREE tool for organizations to use in raising money!!!!!

We believe this referral bonus program ends soon so it's best you sign yourself into PayPal.com as quickly as possible and start referring PayPal.com to your friends, associates, contacts, and relatives.

Thank you for your support.

Designed and Maintained by Deaf Watch Newsletter

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