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RALLIES
TO SAVE THE ADA!
PROTEST THE ATTACK ON |
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LOS ANGELES WHEN: JUNE 13,2000, 11:30am-1:30pm. WHERE: 300 S. SPRING ST., #16701 PARTICIPANTS: DISABILITY RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS, CIVIL RIGHTS ADVOCATES & COMMUNITY Los Angeles - Civil Rights Advocates,
members of the disabled community and disability rights attorney's will
stage a rally at the Governor's office in Downtown Los Angeles
at 11:30 a.m. to protest the direct threat to the constitutionality
of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
A rally is scheduled to take place to express concerns
from disability advocates and the community regarding the state 6f California's
challenge to the constitutionality of the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) of 1990 in the U.S. Supreme Court. The state of California
has requested that the Supreme Court declare Title 11 of the ADA unconstitutional
as applied to state and local governments as well as their departments
and agencies.
If the ADA is ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme
Court, the disability community will be denied and refused access to
many basic services that enable them to live independently in the community.
States may no longer have to make their buildings and services accessible.
State capitols, state courts, and state universities, among others,
may no longer have to have wheelchair ramps, provide interpreter services,
or provide written materials in accessible formats.
State employers may no longer have to comply with
the ADA man date against employment discrimination. State employers
may be able to refuse to hire and/or fire people with disabilities at
Will, and may no longer have to provide employees with disabilities
reasonable accommodations in the workplace.
Over the past several years the U.S. Supreme Court
has heard a number of cases involving issues of "states rights," and
has made decisions about the extent of state power relative to the power
of the federal government.
Last year the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which
is the federal Circuit Court that has oversight over California, decided
a case involving the validity of California's fee for disabled parking
placards in Dare vs. State of California. In this case, the Court decided
that the placard fee was a surcharge that violated the ADA. In response
to the Dare decision, governor Davis not only asked the U.S. Supreme
court to hear this case, but explicitly asked the high court to rule
the Eleventh Amendment immunity protects California against the application
of Title II of the ADA.
Governor Davis must act now to withdraw or settle
the case. Only then will California be free to do the right thing in
support of the ADA. A case about a $6.00 parking fee is not the kind
of case that the U.S. Supreme Court should use as the vehicle for considering
a constitutional issue of profound importance to the entire body of
federal civil rights laws.
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SACRAMENTO WHEN: June 13, 2000, 11:30am-1:30pm. WHERE: The North Side of the State Capitol, (facing L Street). Sacramento, CA. Disability rights advocates and persons with disabilities throughout California will hold a rally on the state capitol to urge Governor Davis to withdraw his constitutional challenge to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Please join us to save the ADA! Governor Davis recently instructed lawyers to file a petition with the Supreme Court of the United States challenging the constitutionality of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The petition was filed in a case called Dare v. State of California, Department of Motor Vehicles, which arose from the Department's policy of charging persons with disabilities an additional $6 fee for disability parking placards. The federal court of appeals struck down the fee as an unlawful surcharge on persons with disabilities. In its appeal to the Supreme Court, California claims that the ADA is unconstitutional as applied to state governments and their agencies. If the Supreme Court declares the ADA unconstitutional as applied to the states, the health and well being of many persons with disabilities will be in jeopardy. Among many others, the following rights may be lost if the ADA is declared unconstitutional as applied to the states:
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