After years of being weakened in the courts, Congress is coming to the rescue of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the bipartisan civil rights protections signed into law in 1990. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 on July 26, the seventeenth anniversary of the ADA. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) have introduced the bill in the Senate.

This vital legislation will restate and clarify the intent of Congress in order to keep the promise of the ADA. Please take action now to encourage members of Congress to sign-on and pass this legislation which was drafted with the support of a broad coalition of disability organizations.  

Contact Congress
Click the link above to tell your representatives in Congress to support the ADA Restoration Act.

Sign the Petition
Click the link above to show your support for passage of the ADA Restoration Act. We will distribute the petitions to Congress and the media.

Tell Your Story
Click the link above to tell your story about disability discrimination, how the ADA has helped you or how the promise of the ADA is still unfulfilled. We will share these testimonials with Congress and the media.

Get On the Bus
Click the link above to follow the Road To Freedom: Keeping the Promise of the ADA, our year-long, cross-country bus tour promoting the restoration of the ADA.   Freedom bus Check out the tour schedule, read the blog and view photos of our journey so far covering more than 14,000 miles, 30 states and 45 bus stop events.

Background:
Seventeen years ago, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with overwhelming bipartisan support. However, in recent years, a number of Supreme Court decisions have significantly reduced the protections available to people with disabilities in employment settings.

Courts are quick to side with businesses and employers, deciding against people with disabilities who challenge employment discrimination 97% of the time, often before the person has even had a chance to show that the employer treated them unfairly.

Indeed, courts have created an absurd Catch-22 by allowing employers to say a person is “too disabled” to do the job but not “disabled enough” to be protected by the ADA. People with conditions like epilepsy, diabetes, HIV, cancer, hearing loss, and mental illness that manage their disabilities with medication, prosthetics, hearing aids, etc. — or “mitigating measures” — are viewed as “too functional” to have a disability and are denied the ADA’s protection from employment discrimination.

People denied a job or fired because an employer mistakenly believes they cannot perform the job or because the employer does not want people with disabilities in the workplace are also denied the ADA’s protection from employment discrimination.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Legislation is needed to reverse court decisions that have left most workers with disabilities without any on-the-job protections against discrimination, witnesses told the House Education and Labor Committee today.

The Americans with Disabilities Restoration Act (H.R. 3195), introduced by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), would restore the original intent of the historic Americans with Disabilities Act. The bipartisan bill would reverse recent court decisions that have made it easier for employers to discriminate against workers with disabilities.

Full Story Continues Below…

The Road To Freedom bus and traveling exhibit has been on the road promoting passage of the ADA Restoration Act. Here is what you can do to learn more and take action to restore civil rights protections for people with disabilities:

1) Sign the Petition to restore the ADA at: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/adawatch/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=589&t=roadtofreedom.dwt

2) Urge Congress to pass the ADA Restoration Act at: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/adawatch/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6722&t=roadtofreedom.dwt

3) View photos and descriptions of the Road To Freedom bus tour events across America at: http://adawatch.smugmug.com/gallery/2925333

4) View samples of news coverage on the ADA Restoration Act generated by the Road To Freedom tour at: http://roadtofreedom.org/cs/press_room

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With several rulings beginning in 1999, the Supreme Court dramatically narrowed the definition of who is protected under the ADA. The court held that disabled workers who are able to mitigate their impairments, such as by wearing hearing aides or taking medication, should not be considered disabled. In such cases, these workers would have no remedy under the law when they are discriminated against because of their disability. In other words, an employer could fire or refuse to hire a fully qualified worker simply on the basis of his or her disability, while contending in court that the worker is not “disabled enough” to qualify for protection under the law – a Catch-22 that workers’ advocates said today must be remedied.

Hoyer, who was the chief House sponsor of the ADA in 1990, testified that Congress needs to act to ensure that workers with disabilities are treated fairly in the workplace.

“The bill does not seek to expand the rights guaranteed under the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. Instead, it seeks to clarify the law, restoring the scope of protection available under the ADA,” said Hoyer. “It responds to court decisions that have sharply restricted the class of people who can invoke protection under the law. And it reinstates the original Congressional intent when we passed the ADA.”

“Despite our progress, the courts – including the U.S. Supreme Court – have narrowly interpreted the ADA, limiting its scope and undermining its intent,” Hoyer continued.  “We could not have fathomed that people with diabetes, epilepsy, heart conditions, cancer, and mental illnesses would have their ADA claims kicked out of court because, with medication, they would be considered too functional to meet the definition of ‘disabled.’”

Carey McClure testified that an initial job offer was revoked by General Motors because of his muscular dystrophy. But the courts ruled that because McClure had adapted to his condition by modifying the way he performed everyday tasks such as showering or brushing his teeth, he was not disabled and, therefore, not protected by the ADA.

“Even though GM revoked my offer because of my disability, GM’s lawyer started arguing to the federal courts that I didn’t have a disability at all,” said McClure. “Well, you can’t have it both ways – am I disabled or not? If I am, then the ADA should have been there to protect me. If I’m not, then I should be working…at GM right now.”

Andrew Imparato, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, said that the initial promise of protecting disabled workers under the ADA has largely faded as a result of Supreme Court rulings.

“In 1990, the ADA was heralded as an ‘emancipation proclamation’ for people with disabilities,” said Imparato. “Seventeen years later, on account of judicial activism, we are far from having a law that can be counted on to safeguard the fair treatment of people with disabilities in the workplace.”

Robert Burgdorf, a law professor at the University of the District of Columbia, agreed and noted that fewer than one in ten ADA complaints is successful.

“Even a cursory review of the cases decided under the ADA reveals a plethora of court decisions in which people with conditions everyone thought were covered under the law when it was enacted have had their lawsuits thrown out of court based on technical, harshly narrow interpretations of what a ‘disability’ is,” said Burgdorf.

“It is evident that the Supreme Court’s misinterpretation of Congress’s intent when enacting the ADA has left many Americans without protection from workplace discrimination,” said Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ), chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions. “Without question, Congress must act to rectify this mistake so individuals like Carey McClure can apply for a job without fear of being fired because of their disability.”

http://edlabor.house.gov

http://support.tennessean.com/blogs/?p=5494 

By Michael Cass

(Nashville, Tennessee) The cross-country Road to Freedom tour stopped in Nashville on Wednesday to pitch the importance of preserving the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Mayor Karl Dean and Councilman Darren Jernigan were there to talk about the cause. Advocates for the ADA, which Congress passed in 1990, say its power to protect the civil rights of people with disabilities has been steadily eroded by federal court decisions favoring employers over workers. The advocates are now lobbying Congress to pass an “ADA Restoration Act.”

“We must restore the language, we must restore the intent of the ADA,” said Jernigan, who became the first Metro councilman with a physical disability when he was elected to represent District 11 in Old Hickory this year. “We will not go quietly into the night.”

Dean helped ensure that Metro government complied with the ADA when he was the city’s law director from 1999 until earlier this year. He said Nashville “needs to be an accessible city.”"I know as a city we can do more. We need to do more,” the mayor said at a news conference outside the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, which displayed a photo exhibit related to the tour. The Road to Freedom bus has been on the road since last November, stopping in 44 states, said one of its riders, Jim Ward, president of the National Coalition for Disability Rights. The bus will return to Washington, D.C., where it started, on Nov. 15.

http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/News/200710295

By Eric Eyre
Staff writer

A national bus tour exhibit about the disability rights movement will make a stop this weekend at the South Charleston Wal-Mart on Corridor G. West Virginia leads the nation with more than 27 percent of residents reporting they are disabled, according to national health surveys. Nearly 10 percent of West Virginians have health problems that require special equipment — also the highest rate in the United States.

The bus tour includes a multimedia display about the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act and photographs from Tom Olin, whose work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

“The Act is extremely important here in West Virginia because we have so many people with disabilities,” said David Stewart, coordinator for the West Virginia ADA Coalition. The “Road to Freedom Tour” has stopped at 65 events in 44 states during the past year, a journey that has stretched more than 20,000 miles. The exhibits explain the struggle for disability rights and promote the expansion of educational and economic opportunities for children and adults with physical and developmental disabilities.

The ADA was designed to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities. Stewart said 70 percent of disabled people of working age in the United States don’t have jobs. Also, 90 percent of people who file disability rights lawsuits in federal court wind up losing, he said. Stewart said U.S. Supreme Court rulings have eroded the Act in recent years.

“The United States of America made a promise to people with disabilities, and it’s not being upheld,” Stewart said. “We need to make people aware of what’s happening, the history of the Act, and why it’s important.”

Jim Ward, president of ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights, travels on the bus and plans to talk about problems with the Act, which became law 17 years ago. Ward also is collecting signatures that he will present to Congress, urging lawmakers to approve the proposed ADA Restoration Act. West Virginia disability rights advocates also plan to speak at this weekend’s event.

“This is very significant, and it’s extremely relevant in West Virginia,” said Seth DiStefano, field organizer with the state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union. “The photographic display alone is worth a visit.” The exhibit will be open 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Southridge Centre Wal-Mart, 2700 Mountaineer Boulevard, South Charleston.

To contact staff writer Eric Eyre, use e-mail or call 348-4869.

http://www.post-trib.com/news/619890,adabus.article

By Michelle L. Quinn
Post-Tribune correspondent

MERRILLVILLE — Life since the Americans with Disabilities Act has improved in a way that a road full of potholes spot-filled with asphalt is improved: It’s better but still fundamentally flawed.

People with disabilities have better access to buildings and have their own washrooms and parking spaces, said Jim Ward, president of ADA Watch and the National Coalition of Disability Rights, during his stop at Everybody Counts, Inc. on Wednesday.

But that’s only one small fraction of a larger issue that continues to leave much of the population sliding through the cracks, he said. Ward and his family have been touring the country for the past year in their “Road to Freedom” bus. They have stopped at 65 events in 44 states, spreading both the victories and obstacles of the ADA through a display shot by photographer Tom Olin.

Ward and the bus came to Merrillville as a kickoff to other initiatives Everybody Counts and its sister organization, Indiana F.A.C.E.S., plan to implement, said Indiana F.A.C.E.S. executive director Emma Sullivan.

“We’ve committed to host three more discussions like this one today here in Northwest Indiana and eight more around the state,” Sullivan said. “We want to continue the discussion we’re having here today.”

According to Ward, 95 percent of ADA employment-related court cases are dismissed before ever going to a jury because people with disabilities aren’t found “disabled enough.”

“Disabilities are determined by ‘mitigating measures,’ like if you have epilepsy and you take medication for it, courts are ruling you’re no longer disabled,” Sullivan said. “But those mitigating measures can change at any time.”

The Road To Freedom is supporting the ADA Restoration Act, legislation introduced in Congress this past July which will clarify the intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act and restore these civil rights protections.

“Are we looking for special rights? No. We’re just asking for equal rights,” Ward, who’s a person with bipolar disorder, said. “The world’s wealthiest nation doesn’t respond to its own humanity.”

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To learn more:

For more information on the Road to Freedom bus and exhibit, log on to roadtofreedom.org

http://www.masslive.com/metrowest/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-11/119269385953160.xml&coll=1

By Diane Lederman

AMHERST - About 50 people, some in wheelchairs, some on crutches or with service dogs, gathered yesterday to welcome the Road to Freedom bus to Stavros Center for Independent Living.

James Ward, president of the National Coalition for Disability Rights, has been traveling around the country in his red, white and blue bus since November with his wife and two children to teach people about the Americans with Disabilities Act and to listen to stories about how the act is failing to protect those who need it.

His stop here was one of about 60 across the country, a journey that has stretched more than 20,000 miles, he said.

Ward, who said he suffers from an invisible disability - mental illness - was also collecting signatures that he will bring to Congress urging the approval of the ADA Restoration Act that will address some of the problems with the act that was approved 17 years ago.

He said the act has improved physical access, but over the years the courts have interpreted it narrowly, and many people with disabilities had their cases dismissed.

“Judges are not supposes to write law,” he said. They’re supposed to interpret it.

The restoration act, he said will address and create the law that Congress believed it was passing.

James A. Kruidenier, executive director of Stavros, said having the bus stop “is a wonderful opportunity for people to learn about the issues.” Also, he said, “It’s a way to get people together. We’re very glad for the chance.”

Mark C. Rossi, of Agawam, is a comedian who uses a wheelchair. He said people with disabilities are invisible. He talked about an elderly woman at the Holyoke Mall who in her manual wheelchair couldn’t make her way out of the store last holiday season. Rossi, who said he’s about 450 pounds, told her to hold on to the back of his motorized chair and helped clear the way.

Addressing a crowd, Ward said, “We’re not looking for special rights. We’re not looking for special privileges.” He said people just want to be treated fairly.

He said there’s a Catch 22 because some people can’t get hired because of their disabilities, but their disability isn’t apparent enough for them to be protected by the law.

“We’re not going to give up the battle. We’re going to make the ADA the sweeping civil rights law it was intended to be,” he urged the crowd.

“Let’s get on the bus for equal opportunity,” he said. “Let’s get on the bus for freedom.”

The tour includes a multimedia display and exhibit highlighting the history of the disability rights movement and the passage of the disability act.

©2007 The Republican© 2007 MassLive.com All Rights Reserved.

Campaign To Toughen ADA Visits Amherst, Massachusetts 
By Paul Tuthill, WAMC Public Radio Bureau Chief

http://publicbroadcasting.net/wamc/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1167730

AMHERST, MA (2007-10-17) A national campaign to strengthen the Americans with Disabilities Act , called The Road to Freedom, rolled into the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts this afternoon…WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports…..

Listen to this radio news report >>

By Mark Zaretsky  

NEW HAVEN — If you’re someone without a disability, you may think that when Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, it took care of problems people with disabilities may have with accessibility and opportunity. But a traveling “freedom tour” landed on the New Haven Green Sunday, and dozens of Connecticut disabilities rights advocates spent the day spreading the message that 17 years later, the ADA is threatened. And particularly threatened by some court decisions by judges who opted to narrowly interpret the law. The advocates say the law is in need of protection, reinforcement and, in some cases, repair.

The event on the Green celebrated “disability culture.” The Road to Freedom Bus Tour, a project of ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights, is touring all 50 states to urge Congress to keep the promise of the ADA and build support for passage of the proposed ADA Restoration Act in order to do that.

“We feel that the Americans with Disabilities Act over the years has been weakened by a lot of the court cases,” said Heather Northrup, coordinator of CT-KASA, which is an acronym for “Connecticut Kids As Self Advocates.”

CT-KASA, an organization that, except for Northrup, is largely run by youths, was one of two such organizations that organized the New Haven stop. The other was the Connecticut Youth Leadership Project. Jeff Prushko of Shelton, one of CT-KASA’s two youth co-facilitators, said events like Sunday’s let people know about ADA, as well as how it falls short.While many people might think the passage of ADA solved the problem, “there are many places where new buildings are built” that, while largely accessible, don’t have things such as “paddle buttons” to help people like Prushko, who use wheelchairs, enter the building. Prushko, 16, a junior at Shelton High School, cited the relatively new Shelton Intermediate School as one such example.The event included afternoon-long entertainment on the Green and a host of information displays in the first and second floor of the City Hall atrium, along with a visit by the traveling “Road to Freedom” RV and exhibits that included a display of the photos of Tom Olin, who for decades has documented the history of the disability rights movements in much the same way that earlier photographers captured the civil rights movement.“Nothing is given to us” without hard work, said Olin, who has carved out a documentary legacy despite his own outwardly subtle disability: dyslexia. Olin, who is in the process of moving from Kansas to Milwaukee, said one of the most interesting things about Sunday’s gathering “is that two primarily youth groups are putting this on.” He said that Connecticut is one of the few places where young people are relatively out front in the fight for disability rights.Nicole Beno, 17, a senior at Tourtellotte Memorial High School in Thompson who is a member of the Connecticut Youth Leadership Project, said the Road to Freedom Bus Tour “promotes equality for everyone.“I don’t think there is” full equality “right now,” Beno said. “People may treat you nice, but I think they don’t always look at you as a human being.” While some people’s problems or difference “are more visible” than others, “everybody is unique,” Beno said.——————————————————————————–Mark Zaretsky can be reached at mzaretsky@nhregister.com or 789-5722.

The fifty—state Road to Freedom Tour visited Connecticut last week, and due to the outstanding effort of several dozen individuals and organizations it was an unqualified success. The three-stop visit was coordinated by the Disability Advocacy Collaborative.

The Tour concluded with a rousing welcome at the State Capitol the afternoon of Monday, October 15 attended by 70 advocates and disability rights supporters. The highlight of the Capitol stop was a commitment by First District Congressman John Larson to support the ADA Restoration Act. Larson had been the only member of the State’s Congressional delegation that had not signed on as a Co-Sponsor of the Act.

Governor M. Jodi Rell proclaimed the date “Road to Freedom Day” in Connecticut, and Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz not only welcomed the crowd but made available for testing the new voting technology that will be used in municipal elections on November 6. Entertainment at the Capitol event included disability—rights veteran Elaine Kolb, signers/singers from the American School for the Deaf, and Selina Welborn from Advocacy Unlimited.

At each stop, Road to Freedom organizer Jim Ward described the original tour Justin Dart made in the late 1980’s that generated the grass roots support so critical to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. The 2007 tour is being made to garner support for the ADA Restoration Act, needed to remedy the restricted definition of disability that has resulted from a series of U.S. Supreme Court decision over the last eight years. Included in each Tour stop were three exhibits, among which was Tom Olin’s photographic history of the disability rights movement, which has been on display at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.

CT—KASA (Kids As Self Advocates), the City of New Haven Department of Disability Services, and the UConn Center on Disabilities (the A.J. Pappanikou Center) collaborated on Sunday afternoon to produced a youth-focused event on the New Haven Green. The Collaborative thanks Heather Northrop and Jessica Dybdahl from KASA, Michelle Duprey and Kristen Barber from the City of New Haven, and David Martin from the Pappanikou Center for the extra-ordinary effort they made to pull together a multi-phased celebration. New Haven Mayor John DeStefano and State Representative Pat Dillon welcomed the attendees, followed by short presentations from a series of speakers and performances by three entertainers who happened to have disabilities (musician Ryan Silveira, storyteller Carol Glynn, and singer, Ellie Hazan). Inside City Hall, twenty five organizations and agencies set up tables dispensing information and sharing resources.

In Winsted, the Northwest Disability Advocacy Network, Independence Northwest, and the State Independent Living Council (SILC) collaborated on a Tour stop held at Northwestern Connecticut Community College. Bill Knight, Michael Valuckas, and Thom Condon are recognized for the skill with which they put together the Monday morning event. Torrington Mayor Ryan Bingham brought a welcome from his town, and representatives from the Town of Winsted, NWCCC, the Polio Outreach Network, and Independence Northwest also voiced their support for the ADA.

Special thanks go to the Commission on the Deaf and Hearing Impaired, which provided sign language interpreters at each stop; Larry Robinson, a VISTA Volunteer with the Disability Advocacy Collaborative for his work on both the New Haven and the Winsted event; Boundless Playgrounds for providing a photographer at the State Capitol event; Chris Gaynor from the Office of Protection and Advocacy for her support on many levels; the UConn Center on Disabilities for providing staff support; and Lyman’s Farms for their donation of cider and apples for the State Capitol stop.

 http://www.troyrecord.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18788850&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=7021&rfi=8

By Kathryn Caggianelli

TROY - A 50-foot red, white and blue bus carrying a group of advocates in favor of redefining the meaning of the word “disabled” rolled into downtown Wednesday afternoon for a press conference in front of the Atrium on Third Street.

One side of the bus touted the slogan “keeping the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act” (ADA). “The Road to Freedom Bus Tour” was emblazoned on the other side.

“We’re calling on Americans to pass the ADA Restoration Act of 2007,” said Jim Ward, founder and president of ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR) based in Washington, D.C.

Ward and a handful of other advocates have been on the road for 10 months to raise awareness about the plight of people with disabilities and how the ADA, passed by Congress in 1990, falls short with regard to protecting the civil rights of those individuals.

The local press conference was presented by the Sanctuary for Independent Media and The Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley to showcase ways the spirit of the ADA has been eroded by court cases that fail to support the right of the disabled. The event preceded the opening of a multi-media exhibit at the Atrium and a benefit dinner.

The bus has visited 36 states and covered more than 17,000 miles. Advocates have appeared at 45 similar press conferences in an effort to drive home the need for reform.

“We are here as students to learn from local leaders and people with disabilities how the ADA is and is not working,” Ward said.

More than 95 percent of employment-related disability cases are dismissed in the courts. If a disabled person can be helped by medication or a prosthesis device the courts, many times, don’t consider them disabled enough to be covered by the ADA. That’s not what Congress intended when it passed the ADA in 1990, Ward said.

Disabilities, whether visible or not, do not exempt people from their basic civil rights, he said.

“For example, people with epilepsy or mental illness are often left out of the increasingly narrow interpretation of disability under the ADA,” Ward said.

The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is 70-percent, which is further proof that not much progress has been made since passage of the ADA, Ward said.

Ward and his peers are pushing for reform through passage of the ADA Restoration Act of 2007. Passage of the new and revised legislation would limit ways the courts can exploit the rights of disabled Americans.

“It helps to have a national presence in local towns to help bring light to the fact that the ADA has been under attack for the last 17 years,” said Denise Figueroa, director of the Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley.

The Independent Living Center provides life services for people with disabilities.

By raising awareness, the Road to Freedom Bus Tour helps such organizations as Figueroa’s recruit volunteers and educate the public about the need for reform, she said.

Advocates have taken their message on the road as a way to achieve equal access to the American Dream for all people, disabled or not, Ward said.