October 4, 2023
DREDF is hopeful that SCOTUS will allow testers to continue to play a meaningful role in the enforcement of civil rights laws and bring the ADA's still-unfulfilled promise closer to fruition.
Author Archives: DREDF
DREDF Joins Over 175 Organizations Calling on NIMHD to Recognize People with Disabilities As A Health Disparity Population
September 12, 2023
DREDF joined a letter to protest a recent decision by an Advisory Committee of National Institutes on Minority Health and Health Disparities to not recognize people with disabilities as a health disparity population across the National Institutes of Health.
DREDF Acknowledges HHS OCR for Proposing Updated 504 Regulations that Include Disability Community Priorities in Health and Healthcare
September 8, 2023
The new provisions show HHS’s commitment to reconciling Section 504, the ADA, and key cases that together enable people with various disabilities to achieve consistent and timely access to needed healthcare, so that they can pursue their own life goals and interests. DREDF shares this commitment.
Amicus Brief Filed in U.S. Supreme Court Case Emphasizes Importance of Testers to ADA Enforcement
August 10, 2023
If ADA testers lose standing, people with disabilities will continue to experience discrimination and barriers to their full participation in society.
Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities Members Denounce Attacks on LGBTQI+ Rights, Call for Comprehensive Non-Discrimination, Care and Accessibility Measures
July 19, 2023
The undersigned members of the CCD join in solidarity with the transgender and broader LGBTQI+ community to denounce discrimination against LGBTQI+ people, including those with disabilities.
DREDF’s Statement on SCOTUS Ruling on Affirmative Action
June 30, 2023 The decision ends affirmative action programs in college admissions and undermines efforts to create the diverse campuses that our nation needs.
Fighting for Safe Access in a Masks-Optional Healthcare Environment
June 27, 2023
How can we fight for safer access to healthcare in this increasingly masks-optional world? People with disabilities have federally protected civil rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and state laws to equal access to places of public accommodation and government programs, like public and private healthcare settings.
DREDF Responds to Questions about Preventive Services for People with Disabilities
June 9, 2023
The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) put out several questions on May 5, 2023 for public comment on the coverage and delivery of preventives services for people with disabilities. The AHRQ evidence-based practice center started an investigation in late April on the barriers that people with disabilities face when they seek preventive care, and seek information on the benefits and harms of interventions to reduce those barriers. AHRQ [lays a key role in the federal process that recognizes populations that experience health and healthcare disparities. DREDF has long argued that people with disabilities experience inequitable health and healthcare disparities. and provided responses to the AHRQ questions.
In Memory of Neil Jacobson
May 22, 2023
We are very sad to report that our longtime friend and colleague, Neil Jacobson, died on May 10, 2023, at his home in Oakland, California. Neil was a committed disability rights advocate and a supreme optimist. When someone told him that something was too complex, expensive, or impractical, he unfailingly said, "Why?" He insisted that it was possible to achieve any goal by simply persevering and believing in the righteousness of its purpose. He ended every email and conversation by saying, "Go, go, go!" That drive, tenacity, and, yes, stubbornness enabled Neil to convince his wife and life partner, Denise, to marry him and to persuade the social service bureaucracy that they should adopt their son, David. Neil himself acknowledged that his life was filled with joy and happiness. During Neil's memorial service, family members recalled him saying, "I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
Civil Rights Complaint Filed Against State Bar of California for Failing to Provide an Accessible Bar Exam
May 18, 2023
Today, four law school graduates with disabilities have filed a group complaint with the U.S. DOJ against the State Bar of California for consistently violating the ADA by failing to provide accommodations on the California bar exam.