Launch of ADAWatch.org and the incoming set of legal resources
Below please find below ADA Watch's July 26 press release about
the launch of its advocacy website, http://www.adawatch.org. Apologies to
the US-based list members who may have already received this press release.
Although the press release is self-explaining it woudl be helpful to note
that there has been recent so called "judicial backlask" and "political
backlash" against the Americans with Disabilites Act (1990). The judicial
backlash has been characterised typically with the Garrett case (2000) where
a disabled nurse in a university was deprieved of the protection of the ADA
under the doctrine of the sovereign immunity for the states which was
defended by Sutton whose name appears in the press release. Please note that
http://www.student.city.ac.uk/~cx639/index.htm would host in the incoming
weeks the selected full-text legal resources from both the US and the UK in
a fast changing public policy environment. This may include the full text of
the Garrett case, among others as well as the UK-based Special Educational
Needs and Disability Act (2001) (already available at the web site) and
Disability Discrimination Act (1995) as amended together with the related
regulations and the selected appeal DDA cases among others. All these texts
would be annotated for accessibility purposes.
Source: Justice for All discussion list
_______________________
ADA WATCH 900 Second Street, Suite 211 Washington, D.C. 20002 Contact:
Jim Ward July 26, 2001
Disability Advocates Launch Internet Destination to Protect ADA and Urge
President Bush to Meet with Disability Community Leaders Site Goes Live on
11th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Provides
Advocacy Tools to Fight Threats
WASHINGTON, DC -- ADA WATCH.org, an Internet destination to respond to
threats to the civil rights of people with disabilities, is being launched
by disability rights advocates. The site will be an informational network
and advocacy tool of the ADA WATCH coalition of
disability rights organizations united to protect the ADA. The group also
released a letter today requesting the President Bush meet with them to hear
their concerns regarding implementation of the Olmstead Executive Order.
As America celebrates the 11th Anniversary of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities are faced with serious
threats including:
- President Bush's nomination of Ohio attorney Jeffrey Sutton to the 6th
Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. ADAWATCH.org has already gathered more
than 60 national disability organizations and 280 state and local
organizations that are united in opposition to this nominee. Sutton has
fought to weaken disability rights in the Supreme Court and his Federalist
agenda, shared by other Bush nominees, will roll back civil rights
protections for all Americans. The site includes an automated Stop Sutton!
Petition.
- Recent 5-4 Supreme Court rulings such as the Garrett decision which ruled
that Congress did not have the authority to allow state employees to sue the
states for monetary damages under the ADA. The site includes an automated
sign-on to encourage states to waive their
sovereign immunity.
- Proposed legislation in Congress to weaken the ADA including the ADA
Notification Act introduced by Congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla) which requires
a 90 day waiting period before people with disabilities can get their rights
to equal access enforced. The bill would discourage voluntary compliance of
the ADA and allow offenders to delay accommodations without consequence. The
site includes a petition against the ADA Notification Act.
The ADA WATCH.org mission statement:
- The ADA WATCH campaign is a nonprofit informational online network
designed to activate the disability community's grassroots in response to
threats to civil rights protections for people with disabilities.
- The ADA WATCH campaign educates and informs people with disabilities,
disability advocates, members of the general
public, the business community, policy makers, and the media regarding
threats to civil rights protections for people with disabilities.
- The ADA WATCH campaign seeks to build an online community of empowered
citizens united against attempts to roll back civil rights protections for
people with disabilities.
- The ADA WATCH campaign provides support to the ADA WATCH coalition, a
network of disability rights, service, and consumer organizations united to
protect and strengthen the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
ADA WATCH coalition organizations include the ADAPT, American Association of
People with Disabilities (AAPD), Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law,
Disability Rights Center, National Association of Protection and Advocacy
Systems, National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), National Disabled
Student Union (NDSU), National
Organization on Disability (NOD), and many others. ADA WATCH.org is
supported in partnership with www.wiredonwheels.org, a nonprofit site for
rating accessibility.
Disability Advocates also marked the 11th anniversary of the ADA by
releasing the following letter to President Bush urging a meeting to discuss
the civil rights of people with disabilities:
July 26, 2001
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Bush:
As disability rights leaders, we commend you for your stated support for
strong implementation and enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) and other disability rights laws, including your recent Executive
Order calling on your cabinet to implement the Supreme Court's Olmstead
decision.
One of the fundamental principles of the disability rights movement is that
people with disabilities should be put in the driver's seat regarding public
policy that affects us. We are concerned that in the last six months, you
have not met with disability rights leaders to have a substantive discussion
about our priorities and how they relate to your disability agenda. We are
concerned as well that you have been very slow in appointing people with
disabilities to political jobs overseeing programs that affect us.
Respectfully, we believe that now is the time for you to sit down with a
representative group of disability leaders and engage in a real dialogue
about how best to accomplish the goals of the ADA. We appreciate your
willingness to lead on disability rights issues, but we encourage you to
recognize that the best way for you to lead is to engage disability leaders
as partners in setting and implementing
your agenda. That partnership process has not occurred to date, and time is
of the essence as you move forward with your New Freedom Initiative and
Olmstead implementation.
Today, as we celebrate the 11th anniversary of your father's signing of the
ADA, we request the opportunity to meet with you between now and September
15 to discuss our priorities as a disability rights community for your
Administration.
Sincerely yours,
Justin Dart, Justice For All
Daniel Davis, NDSU
Andrew J. Imparato, AAPD
Mike Auberger, ADAPT
Bob Kafka, ADAPT
Mike Oxford, NCIL
Anne-Marie Hughey, NCIL
Marcie Roth, NCIL
Jim Ward, ADA WATCH
_____________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
________________End of message______________________
Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List
are now located at:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.
|
