Colorado Springs - Most disability and deaf/hard of hearing (HOH) civil rights advocates have long suffered watching the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lose both its original intent and ability to effectively protect the rights of people with disabilities. Supreme Court rulings, aggressive employers seeking to escape the ADA’s requirements, and even a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals federal justice - Jeffrey S. Sutton, who has said the ADA was a “useless law” - have contributed to the current state of the ADA.
Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner stated:
… the full promise of the law has not been fulfilled. Through a series of court decisions, the Supreme Court has chipped away at the protections of the ADA, leaving millions of citizens vulnerable to a narrow interpretation of the law.
The Supreme Court’s interpretation has created a vicious circle for Americans with disabilities. It has created a broad range of people who benefit from ‘mitigating measures’ such as improvements in medicine, who still experience discrimination from employers, yet have been labeled ‘not disabled enough’ to gain the protections of the ADA. This is unacceptable.
After years of watching the ADA’s effectiveness crumble under the weight of a poorly defined law, Represenative Sensenbrenner joined House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer - along with Senators Tom Harkin and Arlen Specter - in introducing the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 in late July of this year. For many disability and deaf/hard of hearing (HOH) civil rights advocates, this is welcome news and long overdue.
One day soon, the ADA may be restored back to its original intent and provide effective protections of for people with disabilities that has been missing since 1990. Long needed, and overdue, the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 may be the best solution to restore the ADA back to where it belongs: the protector of civil rights for those with disabilities.
Quick Hits:
- Check out the American Association of People with Disabilities website for more information on the Restoration Act itself.
- Currently, there are almost 200 Congressional sponsors of the Restoration Act with many more needed. Contact your local Congressman and ask for their support if they haven’t joined in sponsoring the Restoration Act.
- A national bus tour advocating for the restoration of the ADA to its original intent has been ongoing since November of last year.
Paotie
Hello.
I am the parent of a disabled child & have gone thru so much redtape to get my child the care and education he needs. The ADA needed to be fixed for a long time and now it will happen.
Paotie thank you for being an inspiration for me and my son.
A mother
[...] Help for the ADA is on the Way, Sept 14 ‘07 at Paotie’s Green Couch/Crumbling of Things. About how disability and deaf/hoh community has watched with distress as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 gradually lost its ability to protect the rights of Americans with disabilities. About how the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 is meant to restore the original intent of the ADA. [...]
As you can see from the pinback above, I have now linked to your blog entry here. I have been maintaining a continually updated list of blog entries from all over the web that focus on the ADA Restoration Act of 2007. If you do any more blogging on this topic, please let me know and I’d be delighted to add your future entries to my list. My master list is here.
[CommentSmith modified this post. Link provided was too long.]