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In This Issue
Community Meeting
with US Attorney General
Eric Holder
Dear Friends,
DREDF Policy Analyst Marilyn Golden participated in a meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder on September 9, 2009, at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC. Nine people with disabilities and from leading disability organizations met with the Attorney General to discuss our priorities for the Department of Justice during the Obama Administration. The meeting covered these issues:
Leadership at DOJ
Need for the Attorney General (AG) to take a leadership role on disability rights, and especially to use his bully pulpit to frame our issues as civil rights and justice matters, rather than as personal struggles or medical obstacles. It is critical for the AG to educate the general public about disability issues as civil rights; about the similarities between disability discrimination and other types of discrimination; and about the moral imperative not to tolerate harmful prejudices against any group of people.
Problem of inconsistent positions between the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and Civil Division. For example, the Civil Division is representing the Social Security Administration in a class action brought by DREDF on behalf of 3,000,000 blind and visually impaired beneficiaries who receive agency information in standard print. DOJ’s defense of SSA’s refusal to provide alternative formats is contrary to long-standing interpretations of disability civil rights laws by the Civil Rights Division.
Importance of DOJ being a model employer of people with disabilities.
Request that DOJ provide the disability community with a highly placed disability community liaison in Attorney General Holder’s office and a clear mechanism for communicating our concerns.
Enforcing disability rights laws
Need for rapid publication of DOJ Final Rule on the Americans with Disabilities Act, to finalize long-standing pending regulation changes.
Need for stronger enforcement of the ADA and other civil rights laws protecting people with disabilities.
Particular need to more strongly enforce the Olmstead decision by moving people out of institutions, especially nursing homes, and providing services in the community.
Need for stronger enforcement of the right to access information through assistive technologies under Section 508 and other laws.
Importance of DOJ leadership to combat abuse and neglect of people with disabilities generally and specifically to oppose the use of corporal punishment, seclusion, and restraints for children with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Access to justice
Need to improve to the way criminal and civil justice systems intersect—people with disabilities often encounter difficulties with law enforcement and corrections officers who have not received training in communicating with people who have various disabilities, and especially with people who are deaf or have hearing impairments, people who experience seizures, and people with psychiatric disabilities.
Need for increased access to justice with respect to courthouse environments; law boards, law schools, and bar exams; and in employment in the legal profession.
The Attorney General ended the meeting with a much greater understanding, a long list of key issues to address, and a stated interest to stay in touch with the disability community over the course of the Obama administration.
Attending the meeting were:
Tony Coelho
Curt Decker, National Disability Rights Network
Sandy Finucane, Epilepsy Foundation of America
Steve Gold, ADAPT
Marilyn Golden, DREDF
Andy Imparato, American Association of People with Disabilities
Jennifer Mathis, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Marc Maurer, National Federation of the Blind
Jeff Rosen, National Association of the Deaf and Snap!VRS
© 2009
Resources
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US Department of Justice (DOJ)
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DOJ ADA website
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American Council of the Blind v. Social Security Administration
The trial in US Federal Court in San Francisco ended on September 23, 2009. -
US Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy
Combined Federal Campaign #11944
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CONTACT DREDF:
info@dredf.org
www.dredf.org
2212 Sixth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510-644-2555