Free Republic

Two years ago, Conner Slevin learned from a Facebook friend about out-of-state attorneys who were said to specialize in disability access law and were looking to expand into the Pacific Northwest. Slevin got the Tennessee lawyers’ contact numbers and reached out. And so began a lucrative relationship that targeted dozens of Portland metro businesses for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, netted thousands for Slevin and untold thousands for his attorneys. Slevin on Tuesday sued his Portland attorney Jessica Molligan for $4 million, alleging malpractice. One business filed a motion in court Tuesday seeking sanctions against her. Another...

On this day in history, July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), one of the most sweeping affirmation of rights for the disabled in American history, according to History.com. President Bush signed the act into law on the South Lawn of the White House South Lawn in front of an audience of 3,000 people, according to the White House's website. "On that day, America became the first country to adopt a comprehensive civil rights declaration for people with disabilities," the same source cited. The ADA is a civil rights law that...

Earlier, our own Brett T. did a post focusing on to the story of how the Department of Justice’s Civil Right Division filed a ‘statement of interest’ claiming that Gender Dysphoria was covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The reactions to that post talked in detail about how deep of a philosophical contradiction it is to call it a disability and that is valid. But I wanted to take a moment in a VIP post to dive deep into how utterly outrageous it was … and to talk about the actual legal implications that the actual text of...

Office of Public Affairs The Justice Department today filed a statement of interest in a lawsuit brought in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia challenging the denial of treatment sought for gender dysphoria in a correctional setting. The statement explains that gender dysphoria falls within the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)’s definition of “disability” and affirms that correctional institutions cannot deny medically appropriate care for people with gender dysphoria, no matter their particular circumstances, consistent with the Eighth Amendment. “People with gender dysphoria should be able to seek the full protections of the American with Disabilities...

A social media user waiting to board a Southwest flight recently cried foul over an apparent “pre-boarding scam” involving wheelchairs — while the airliner stresses that its policy complies with the law. Passengers are known to get antsy boarding and exiting planes, but Paul, whose Twitter handle is @trendready, complained about how some fellow flyers are possibly attempting to game the system by requesting wheelchair assistance and be the first ones on a flight before takeoff. “Pre-boarding scam at @SouthwestAir,” he claimed in a Saturday tweet with a photo of a line of people lined up in wheelchairs. “20 passengers...

On January 18, 2023, the United States filed its Complaint and proposed Consent Decree to resolve allegations that Cumberland County, Tennessee violated Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act by denying a corrections officer a reasonable accommodation and constructively discharging him based on his disability of opioid use disorder. In addition, the County implemented a policy that prevents people who are taking legally prescribed controlled substances or certain medications from having those substances or medications present in their system while at work for the County, thus prohibiting working for the County while taking such medications. Under the Consent Decree,...

Prominent organizations including the World Health Organization and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have dismissed low-carbohydrate diets that prevent tooth decay in favor of recommending high-carbohydrate diets which rely on fluoride and food fortification to mitigate dental damage and nutritional shortcomings, a researcher says. Dr. Philippe Hujoel says that not only these organizations but other associations reversed earlier positions and began recommending high-carbohydrate diets. Specifically, he cites the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Dental Association (ADA). In the meantime, Dr. Hujoel says, some scientists provided compelling evidence that low-carbohydrate diets were at least as beneficial...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal ruling that gender dysphoria is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act could help block conservative political efforts to restrict access to gender-affirming care, advocates and experts say. A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week became the first federal appellate court in the country to find that the 1990 landmark federal law protects transgender people who experience anguish and other symptoms as a result of the disparity between their assigned sex and their gender identity. The ruling could become a powerful tool to challenge legislation restricting access to medical...

The American Civil Liberties Union was once considered a bulwark against government intrusion and overreach. Its mission was simple: to defend the constitutional rights of individuals, regardless of those individuals’ political affiliations. But that law firm is long gone. The ACLU of today cares little about bureaucratic overreach so long as the officials doing the overreaching are on its political team, and it gladly sacrifices the civil liberties of individuals if doing so advances its left-leaning agenda. Just a few weeks ago, the ACLU of Virginia filed a lawsuit against Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin over his executive order mandating that...

Legal education is about to undergo a revolutionary change, with the American Bar Association poised to mandate race-focused study as a prerequisite to graduating from law school. ... This race-focused educational mandate is being forced on law schools through the American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (ABA). Much of ABA’s power stems from the federal government. Law students must attend schools whose accreditor is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to receive federal student loans. The ABA is the only federally recognized law school accreditor. Yet, ABA’s accreditation power doesn’t...

There could be a verdict in the Rittenhouse trial as early as today. Closing arguments (and antics, in the case of the prosecutor, see picture below) were made yesterday.Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger argued that Rittenhouse provoked the attack, thereby forfeiting his right to self-defense. Rittenhouse instigated the first shooting by pointing his weapon at people, and caused the subsequent encounters by creating an “active shooter” situation in which protesters felt an urgency to disarm him.While making that claim Binger demonstrated by picking up Kyle’s rifle and aiming it at the spectator section of the courtroom, with his finger on...

My sister and I are the primary caretakers of our elderly mom. She's 89 and disabled and has issues with memory due to age and TIAs. She has been to the ER twice this week. Once by ambulance...second by general admission. We were NOT allowed by the hospital to be with her. We had no way of knowing treatment for her was administered or diagnosis...even tho they gave us a "# to call". That proved useless. She was sent home with a UTI she was sent home with but they failed to treat her for it...even tho it was logged....

you have heard more than you want to about voter fraud, much of it seems unlikely... but this is brilliant. Dr. Coomer head of the Dominion Voting company presents the Imagecast Evolution Ballot Marking Device (BMD) at the 15:00 mark. It functions as an all- in-one (votes, tabulates, and prints the ballot) an(ADA) solution. ADA voters get a blank ballot to insert and the voter can use any ADA compliant input device attached to the unit or use the device itself. An internal printer marks the ballot for the voter and directly deposits into the ballot collection box. Something important:...

People with diabetes account for a staggering 40 percent of those who have died from COVID-19 in the US, according to the American Diabetes Association ... the risk of hospitalization and death related to COVID being six to 12 times higher for people with diabetes ... Alarmingly, the ADA has also said that cases of type 2 diabetes have almost doubled in children since the pandemic.

Carey McWilliams is a gun owner, a successful small and big game hunter, holding concealed carry permits for 20 years. He has been turned down for a Minnesota permit because he is blind. He has applied for a second time.It is blatant discrimination based on a disability. It probably violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).Update: The Minnesota Sheriff, confronted with the evidence, and with the possibility of an ADA lawsuit, has issued Carey a Minnesota Carry permit.The initial thought of blind people carrying firearms causes many to do a double-take. Consider the concept more closely and you will see...

Houston woman let go from her job as a nurse after refusing to get COVID-19 vaccine.. FOX 26 Reporter Maria Salazar spoke with the woman who claimed she was also silenced and harassed. A Houston-area woman says she was a nurse at Houston Methodist for about 10 years until this week. "I knew that the date was looming over my head of me to get the vaccine and we were constantly being pressured and pressured," Michelle Fuentes told FOX 26. On April 1, Houston Methodist announced it would require employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine by June 7. However, the...

Amazon delivery drivers nationwide have to sign a "biometric consent" form this week that grants the tech behemoth permission to use AI-powered cameras to access drivers' location, movement, and biometric data. If the company's delivery drivers, who number around 75,000 in the United States, refuse to sign these forms, they lose their jobs. The form requires drivers to agree to facial recognition and other biometric data collection within the trucks they drive.

A local family says their disabled son was unfairly turned away from the ABQ BioPark Zoo for not wearing a mask despite having a doctor’s note. The Peterson family decided to go to the zoo for a family outing on Sept 19. They were all wearing masks at the time, except for 14-year-old Nicholas who is severely disabled. “We just feel like he was definitely mistreated,” said his father, Robert Peterson. “He was refused because he was not wearing a mask…. By the time my wife got him back to the car he was in tears and just upset. He’s...

More than 30 lawsuits have been filed against Giant Eagle over the grocery chain’s mask policy, with plaintiffs claiming it is discriminatory under the Americans with Disabilities Act. A wave of lawsuits against Giant Eagle began in late May with seven cases filed in federal court. Plaintiffs included residents of the Alle-Kiski Valley, Cranberry and other areas surrounding Pittsburgh. They described grocery store employees yelling at them and physically escorting them from the premises after they tried to shop without masks. In the span of just three weeks, the number of lawsuits in the region has grown to 32, all...

As school districts and colleges around the region go online-only or close, Washington state’s largest school district released a statement Friday saying it won’t be doing that: Seattle Public Schools will remain open. The district’s reasoning, the announcement said, beyond listening to health officials, is making sure children receive the different services they need — in and out of the classroom. “While education is our primary responsibility, public schools are also the access point to critical social services for thousands of students and families,” district spokesman Tim Robinson wrote in the statement. “Many of our families rely on our schools...