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Several years ago the City of Hutchinson, Kansas, told a federal judge that the city shouldn't be forced to install the sidewalk ramps for wheelchairs required by federal law because it couldn't afford to do so. Since that time the city has given money to a large corporation and spent money on a hiking trail among other things. The city could find money for a hiking trail for the able-bodied but not sidewalks so those with mobility problems could get to the store. Now the hypocritical city staff is trying to convince the city council that people would be required...

San Francisco merchants, concerned about being sued for failing to provide access to disabled customers, met Tuesday with city officials who soon will embark on a campaign to educate business owners about accessibility requirements and help forestall lawsuits that might put them out of business. Since November, several Noe Valley shop owners have received letters from people with disabilities suggesting that their stores may be violating state laws or federal access standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Those notices coincided with a rash of civil rights lawsuits in the Richmond District in late November that led some businesses to...

Crack dealer, car thief, Social Security fraudster, ILLEGAL ALIEN. Yet he is 'making a living' suing hundreds of small business owners under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Alfredo Garcia, who became paralyzed after getting drunk and falling out of an avocado tree, goes around all day - every day - looking for the most minor violations of ADA (or just filing false claims) in order to extort cash. How does an illegal alien felon even have standing to sue American citizens? Why was he never deported? Why is he not deported now? God only knows. It is just another story...

Why did feds claim Kindle violates civil rights? By: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent August 3, 2010 _________________________________________________________ The Justice Department threatened several universities with legal action because they took part in an experimental program to allow students to use the Amazon Kindle for textbooks. (AP) Did you know the Justice Department threatened several universities with legal action because they took part in an experimental program to allow students to use the Amazon Kindle for textbooks? Last year, the schools -- among them Princeton, Arizona State and Case Western Reserve -- wanted to know if e-book readers would be more...

Snip:...press coverage nowadays treats the ADA as if it were uncontroversial, with at best a nod to libertarian commentators who see it as a coercive and fabulously expensive government venture into what ought to be private decision-making....

The Washington Examiner reports today on a promising new education program that provides Amazon (AMZN) Kindles to students to reduce paper use in universities — and how the the Department of Justice stepped in to squash it. The DOJ actually sued the schools, including Princeton, Arizona State and Case Western Reserve, to halt the programs because it decided the e-book reader does not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Overregulation: Leave it to California's 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to mark the 20th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) with another of its goofy, ripe-for-recision rulings. This one involves the counter height at a couple of Chipotle Mexican Grills in San Diego. Seems the 45-inch walls between customers and the food-preparation areas prevent people in wheelchairs from "fully participating in the selection and preparation of their order," as Judge Daniel Friedman put it. In short, Friedman wrote for the court, the wall "significantly reduced" the "ability to enjoy the Chipotle experience." We won't argue that "the Chipotle...

The U.S. Justice Department has struck deals with three universities not to promote Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle or other electronic-book readers unless the devices are fully accessible to blind students. The legal settlements were made with Pace University in New York; Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland; and Reed College in Portland, Ore. Two organizations representing the blind had sued after universities announced pilot classroom projects using the Kindle. ... The Justice Department's civil rights division began examining the issue of whether the use of Kindles and other e-readers violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. In June, the National Federation of...

A Denver-based conservative legal foundation says a federal policy that barred development of about 58 million acres of forests nationwide illegally created de facto wilderness areas. The Mountain States Legal Foundation makes that argument in a brief filed Tuesday in support of the state of Wyoming's fight to overturn the so-called "roadless rule" approved by President Bill Clinton in 2001. Conflicting federal court rulings have upheld and overturned the road-building ban on the national forest land. The California-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August threw out a Bush administration policy that opened some of the roadless areas to...

It is not your imagination. There really are more dogs strolling through public spaces with their owners. Animals are going where they have never gone before. "In San Francisco, it is just so much more in your face," says Emily Simone, a senior field manager for Guide Dogs for the Blind. "In the '80s and especially in the '90s, I've just seen an explosion. We've become animal obsessed. The East Coast and San Francisco are particular hotbeds for advocacy." San Francisco has become a city filled with "service animals," meaning the owner has a permit that allows him or her...

Nearly all Contra Costa County cities have agreed to dedicate 5 percent of their gas-tax revenues for the next 30 years to make sidewalks more accessible to people in wheelchairs or who cannot see well, as part of a lawsuit settlement. The settlement has not yet received final approval; a Sept. 16 hearing will determine whether the judge will accept the class-action settlement terms. Under the proposed settlement, wheelchair users and other people with vision or mobility disabilities would not be permitted to file additional lawsuits against the cities for the issues covered in the settlement, such as missing curb...

The owner of a tiny but famous Sacramento burger joint said a lawsuit about handicapped access could shut him down. The Squeeze Inn, known for huge mounds of melted cheese on its burgers, violates the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the lawsuit alleges. Kimberly Block, who says she has severly limited use of her legs, argues she suffered "embarrassment and humiliation" and that her civil rights were violated because of inadequate access inside the Fruitridge Road restaurant.

Fat can be disabling. A person 180 pounds over a healthy weight is susceptible to arthritis, has increased blood pressure, a weakened heart and could soon need a walker just to get around. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, such a person could legally be labeled as disabled. But should obesity be considered a disability? On Tuesday the American Medical Association voted a resounding no at its annual meeting. But in a country where nearly one in three people is obese but where laws do not always cover size discrimination, and many health insurance policies do not cover obesity treatments...

Over at Opposing Views, bioethicist Jacob Appel argues that pre-implantation genetic screening for severe disease mutations should be compulsory for parents undergoing IVF. Appell dodges one obvious criticism of this suggestion - that it unacceptably limits parental autonomy - by pointing out that "Western societies have long acknowledged that parental authority cannot undermine the medical interests of a child". As examples, Appell cites the facts that Jehovah's Witnesses cannot deny their own children blood transfusions, however strong their religious opposition, and that "American courts consistently compel pediatric cancer therapy, even when parents object". Given these precedents, Appell argues that allowing...

State lawmakers will cut $8.4 billion from the $58.1 billion budget for public education, lowering per-pupil spending from $8,784 to $8,404 over the next two years. That's $11,400 less for a typical K-12 classroom of 30 kids.

I looked up the ratings of all of the US House and Senate members and did a mini-analysis on them;I used ACU (American Conservative Union - conservative) ratings, and ADA (Americans for Democratic Action - liberal)ACU ratings by party: Percentage of Republicans with 100 percent ACU ratings in 2007 -- 26.40 Percentage of Republicans with 90 percent or more ACU in 2007 -- 56.29 Percentage of Democrats with 0 percent ACU ratings in 2007 -- 52.80 Percentage of Democrats with 10 percent or less ACU in 2007 - 81.82 ADA rating by party: Percentage of Republicans with 0 percent ADA...

Marilynn Phillips is sick and tired of waiting for people to take her seriously. The disability-rights activist has long said Gettysburg lags far behind many other towns when it comes to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. For years, Phillips has filed complaints with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. But those cases take months, sometimes years, to resolve. In the meantime, Phillips said the businesses and other facilities she files against have largely ignored her concerns. Now with the help of an attorney, Phillips has decided for the first time to file some Gettysburg cases in federal court in...

The good news — you've been offered the perfect job. The not-so-good news — it's contingent on a medical exam. For the disabled, people with diseases like HIV, or those who are simply mega-stressed at the thought of a doctor's waiting room, undergoing a medical exam to qualify for a job can be daunting. For them, new research from Tel Aviv University brings excellent news.

Disability regulations are likely to get “tougher” in Gettysburg, according to town administrators, to help the borough government avoid court time as it battles American with Disabilities Act (ADA) complaints. The municipality is currently mired in 26 disabled rights suits filed with the state’s Human Relations Commission in Harrisburg.(snip) Property owners in Gettysburg, according to town officials, are responsible for sidewalks. Some driveway and sidewalk ADA upgrades, Lawver has predicted, could cost as little as $2,500 and as much as $10,000. (snip) President George H.W. Bush signed the American with Disabilities Act in 1990, making accessibility for disabled persons a...

Congress gave final approval yesterday to legislation that will bring more Americans under the umbrella of “disabled” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). President Bush said he’d sign the bill (S. 3406). The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 reverses several court rulings from recent years that had limited the scope of ADA protections. It directs U.S. courts to apply a broader definition when deciding what truly qualifies as an ADA-covered disability. The biggest change: The bill makes clear that courts (and employers) should not take into consideration any “mitigating measures” that reduce the impact of an impairment—such as medication,...