aloha, y'all!

as some of you may know, an A.D.A. compliance law suit has been pending
against San Francisco State University (SFSU) since 1997...  recently,
details of SFSU's planned challenge to the suit -- which questioned the
constitutionality of the A.D.A. -- surfaced in, amongst other places, The
Ragged Edge, the online version of the Disability Rag, in a news item
located at:

http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/drnation.shtml#36

The Ragged Edge news item quoted a San Francisco Examiner story detailing
the lawsuit and SFSU's strategy of contesting the authority of the U.S.
Congress to promulgate the A.D.A. in light of SFSU's lawyers' reading of
the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (which states, quote The
Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any
suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one on the United
States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any
Foreign State. unquote) as well as the SFSU attorneys' interpretation of
the primacy of states' rights versus federal authority...  the Examiner
story is still available online as of this posting, and can be accessed
using the following (long) URL:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/1999/09/27/MN
48006.DTL&type=printable

The strategy of contesting the legality of the A.D.A., rather than
contesting the facts of an A.D.A. based suit, has recently gained
considerable currency amongst the legal departments of those Title 2 and
Title 3 entities which are actively attempting to evade the requirements
set forth by the A.D.A. -- of course, such legalistic sophistry has been
viewed by disability activists of nearly every stripe as the most
pernicious attempt yet not only to derail A.D.A. based complaints, but to
undermine the A.D.A. itself ...

On Friday, November Fifth, the following article, which details the suit's
settlement, appeared in the San Francisco Examiner...  the text of the
article is followed by a (short) list of related resources

Disabled at S.F. State granted major victory
Larry D. Hatfield
San Francisco Examiner
November 5, 1999

University settles suit, pledges to improve access at campus

San Francisco State University has pledged a more vigorous program to make
its campus more accessible to disabled students in a settlement that
disability rights advocates say puts S.F. State in the forefront of major
universities in removing barriers to the disabled.

The settlement, announced Thursday by the university and three disability
rights law firms, pledges an aggressive program to expand access and
provides $100,000 to be divided among disabled student Elizabeth Campos and
29 others who filed suit two years ago under the 1990 Americans With
Disabilities Act.

"Our goal in bringing this lawsuit was to make San Francisco State
University truly accessible to persons with disabilities," said Campos, the
lead plaintiff. "We are glad that this settlement will give students with
disabilities the access that they need."

The settlement represented a major step forward for people with mobility and
vision disabilities, said Guy Wallace, an attorney for the Legal Aid Society
of San Francisco and co-counsel for the plaintiffs. "It is vital that
persons with mobility impairments and persons with visual impairments have
access to basic facilities such as classrooms, laboratories and restrooms,"
Wallace said. "This settlement goes a long way toward fulfilling the ADA's
goal of equal access to higher education."

S.F. State President Robert Corrigan also hailed the settlement, which he
said "reflects our dedication to continually address the needs of persons
with disabilities on our campus. I look forward to working collaboratively
with the disabled community to achieve greater success in integrating and
supporting students and faculty with disabilities."

The settlement committed S.F. State to a full-time disability coordinator to
enforce compliance with ADA and to a construction and renovation program to
remove barriers and improve access.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in 1997, cited inaccessible
bathrooms, dangerous dropoffs and a faculty club that was accessible only by
a freight elevator used for garbage removal.

The case was due to go to trial Nov. 1.

S.F. State said it has spent $8 million in the last decade to improve access
and another $2.7 million project was in progress.

Besides the Oakland-based Disability Rights Advocates and the Legal Aid
Society / Employment Law Center in The City, the plaintiffs were represented
by Leonard, Carder, Nathan, Zuckerman, Ross, Chin & Remar of San Francisco.

The settlement was the second major victory in a week for Disability Rights
Advocates. Last week, a federal judge ordered Macy's West to improve
disability access at its flagship Union Square store, a ruling that was
expected to affect other Macy's stores throughout California and retail
stores throughout the nation.

--- end text of article that appeared physically on Page A7 of the November
5, 1999 San Francisco Examiner

Related Resources
1. Amendments to the U.S. Constitution (from FindLaw)
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data/Constitution/amendments.html

2. The Department of Justice's Americans With Disabilities Act Web Site
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm

3. The Access Board's ADA Compliance FAQ
http://www.access-board.gov/bfdg/adaagfaq.htm

4. "Applying the ADA to the Internet: A Web Accessibility Standard" by
Cynthia D. Waddell (ADA Coordinator for the City of San Jose)
http://www.rit.edu/~easi/law/weblaw1.htm

5. The Ragged Edge
http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/
----
If there is one evil in the world today for which there is no
excuse, it is the evil of stupidity.    -- Thomas Alva Edison
----
Gregory J. Rosmaita <[log in to unmask]>
Camera Obscura: http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/
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