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U.S. Gets Agencies to Adapt for Disabled - Forbes.com
In nine of every ten cases, the Justice Department forced government agencies and businesses to comply with federal disability laws during the past five years by using mediation and not imposing penalties.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Thursday that 1,800 complaints out of 2,000 cases involving the Americans With Disabilities Act had been settled through mediation. The department's civil rights division also settled 151 such cases against state and local governments.
"We have accomplished this through an aggressive program of enforcement and public education," Gonzales said at the annual conference of the U.S. Business Leadership Network, which promotes employment of people with disabilities.
Gonzales cited as an example the case of 10-year-old Justin Tokioka, a deaf baseball player from Hawaii who played second base with the help of a sign-language interpreter in the dugout. Justin, nicknamed Pono, was told he could not use a sign-language interpreter during a tournament last year. The youth baseball association running the tournament finally agreed to allow him the use of one.
"I can tell you, from my own experience playing baseball when I was young, that even something that might seem so small can make a tremendous difference in a young boy's life," Gonzales said.
The cases were pursued under a Bush administration initiative to improve the access that people with disabilities have to theaters, sport venues, hotels and other destinations where large numbers of people gather.
It is also taking steps to ensure more cities and counties make their public spaces and services accessible to disabled people. Those include making cuts into sidewalk curbs for wheelchairs, allowing guide dogs for the blind in shelters and installing test telephone systems for deaf people making 911 calls.
In Hennepin County, Minn., which includes Minneapolis, local officials agreed to provide a sign language interpreter for deaf people who are undergoing chemical dependancy treatment and other programs. Anne Arundel County in Maryland agreed to improve services for the deaf and hard of hearing in its two jails.
The report did include a few cases in which offenders faced penalties, including one where movie theater chain AMC Entertainment had to pay $100,000 in damages to customers discriminated against because of access problems.
The carrot-and-stick approach had some wishing for a little more stick, though.
"I think there's room for more enforcement, but I'm very pleased with the cases they have taken," said John Kemp, a Washington lawyer who has worked on disabilities law for more than 30 years and heard Gonzales present his report.
In nine of every ten cases, the Justice Department forced government agencies and businesses to comply with federal disability laws during the past five years by using mediation and not imposing penalties.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Thursday that 1,800 complaints out of 2,000 cases involving the Americans With Disabilities Act had been settled through mediation. The department's civil rights division also settled 151 such cases against state and local governments.
"We have accomplished this through an aggressive program of enforcement and public education," Gonzales said at the annual conference of the U.S. Business Leadership Network, which promotes employment of people with disabilities.
Gonzales cited as an example the case of 10-year-old Justin Tokioka, a deaf baseball player from Hawaii who played second base with the help of a sign-language interpreter in the dugout. Justin, nicknamed Pono, was told he could not use a sign-language interpreter during a tournament last year. The youth baseball association running the tournament finally agreed to allow him the use of one.
"I can tell you, from my own experience playing baseball when I was young, that even something that might seem so small can make a tremendous difference in a young boy's life," Gonzales said.
The cases were pursued under a Bush administration initiative to improve the access that people with disabilities have to theaters, sport venues, hotels and other destinations where large numbers of people gather.
It is also taking steps to ensure more cities and counties make their public spaces and services accessible to disabled people. Those include making cuts into sidewalk curbs for wheelchairs, allowing guide dogs for the blind in shelters and installing test telephone systems for deaf people making 911 calls.
In Hennepin County, Minn., which includes Minneapolis, local officials agreed to provide a sign language interpreter for deaf people who are undergoing chemical dependancy treatment and other programs. Anne Arundel County in Maryland agreed to improve services for the deaf and hard of hearing in its two jails.
The report did include a few cases in which offenders faced penalties, including one where movie theater chain AMC Entertainment had to pay $100,000 in damages to customers discriminated against because of access problems.
The carrot-and-stick approach had some wishing for a little more stick, though.
"I think there's room for more enforcement, but I'm very pleased with the cases they have taken," said John Kemp, a Washington lawyer who has worked on disabilities law for more than 30 years and heard Gonzales present his report.