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Accueil / Albums / Mots-clés Joe Carle
+ Atty General Thornburgh 2
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DISCLOSURE September-October 1989, Issue No. 112 the national newspaper of neighborhoods [Headline] Disabled Protest Across Country: “Accessible Transit Is a Civil Right" This story continues on 436 but is included here in its entirety for ease of reading. PHOTO by Tom Olin: A large group of people in wheelchairs, on crutches, many carrying posters, are massed in front of a MCI New Jersey bus. Joe Carle is in the middle of the group with his back to the camera and on the back of his wheelchair is a sign that reads "I can't even get on the back of the bus." Also visible (right to left) are Cassie James, Diane Coleman, Brian Shea, Mike Early from CORD, two other guys in wheelchairs, Kent Killam, Julie Nolan, a white haired blind person with a big sign, and a short woman, perhaps a child, looking to her left and holding on to the back of a wheelchair. The group is blocking the bus and the street, while others walk by on the sidewalk. Caption reads: Members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) and affiliated groups stages demonstratlon on disabled rights issues in front of buses at the federal court building, Philadelphia, May, 1989. by Mike Monti The message is clear: “We will ride,” say the members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT). From a series of demonstrations to a controversial court case, this relentless group keeps fighting for accessible transit around the country. Among its victories are a July, 1989 federal court ruling that transportation agencies no longer have a 3 percent cap in providing wheelchair lifts or paratransit. For the members of ADAPT, accessible transit is a basic civil right — and is always worth fighting for. We reported in Disclosure #l08 on ADAPT’s actions in Montreal at the annual convention of the American Public Transit Authority (APTA). APTA and other transit authorities continue to make it extremely difficult for people with disabilities to use public transit. Nevertheless, ADAPT has shown that it will confront APTA wherever it shows up. Last April, at the Western Regional Conference of APTA in Sparks, Nevada (just outside of Reno), over 125 ADAPT members staged actions at the conference, calling for public transportation that can be used by everyone — including people with disabilities. Members started off with a march from their hotel to the conference hotel. When they were about halfway there, ADAPT was met by a police blockade. Obviously, authorities already knew about ADAPT: here is a group that won’t stops until it forces permanent changes. In Sparks. the marchers were able to get around the police barriers. But when they got to APTA’s hotel, they were met by private security forces. The hotel security outnumbered the city’s police three-to-one -— and were able to chain the door shut before ADAPT entered. Forty-seven ADAPT members were arrested, and seven were sent to jail. “The Sparks police had obviously decided that we weren't going to march in the streets,” said Stephanie Thomas, an ADAPT member who lives in Austin, Texas. “But we were able to go around the car barricades. it was like water going around the rocks." The following afternoon, ADAPT staged another demonstration with many crawling across the street and around police barricades, blocking traffic until they reached the front door of the hotel. It was locked from the inside. This time, 25 were arrested. The charge: blocking a fire door which was locked. Many of the ADAPT members who were arrested went on a hunger strike. Meanwhile, ADAPT members on the outside held a press conference calling attention to the problems jail staff were having providing for several of the disabled people’s needs. A final protest was held the next day. One day later, the Sparks judge who sent the hunger strikers to prison made a deal with the protesters: he let out two protesters for the price of a $100 fine. The judge had imposed a much stiffer sentence a couple of days earlier, but changed his mind in the face of a group of arrested ADAPT members who made it clear that they would rather starve and stay in jail than pay a huge fine. Meanwhile, disability groups on the east and west coasts were raising money to help support ADAPT. On the fourth day of the hunger strike, the judge relented and the fine was reduced. By the end of the day, all arrested ADAPT members had been released — and many in the group headed to Denver, for more demonstrations. In Denver — which is the home of ADAPT — the group protested at the annual conference of the Urban Mass Transit Administration (UMTA). This time, demonstrations focused on the federal government's request for a re-hearing of the ADAPT vs. Burnley case. In February, ADAPT won a major victory from the Department of Transportation (DOT) - only to have it undercut by the government. The first of ADAPT’s arguments stated that the rule saying transportation agencies should not have to spend more than 3 percent of their budget on wheelchair lifts or paratransit was unconstitutional. Second, ADAPT held that the option allowing agencies to decide whether or not to provide new buses with wheelchair lifts was unconstitutional. DOT kept flip-flopping on the issue: first it said yes, and then it backed off, asking for a rehearing to vacate the decisions. In Denver, ADAPT confronted Michael Norton, U.S. Attorney for the Tenth District in Denver. “Why is the government working against disabled rights?” asked ADAPT. Norton eventually read a 20-page statement from Attorney General Thornburgh stressing “the need for concern, compassion, and commitment” — but also saying that the law never mandated integration. “It was a really offensive statement, ” said Stephanie Thomas. “On one hand, he was affirming the government's commitment, and on the other he’s fighting tooth and nail to stop rights for the disabled.” When the case was reheard in Philadelphia on May 15, ADAPT was ready. With help from the local chapter of Disabled in Action and the Cape Organization for Rights of the Disabled (CORD), protesters gathered at the federal court building. Four ADAPT members met with the U.S. Attorney, who listened to their concerns. Two days later, a protest was staged at Independence Hall. Dressed in revolutionary garb complete with wigs, three-cornered hats and fife and drum, the “Disability Rights Patriots” marched around the Liberty Bell. Court Decision On July 24, ADAPT won a significant victory as the original ruling striking down the 3 percent cap on wheelchair and paratransit lifts was upheld. On the local option issue, judges decided that the stipulation was legal. Now, it's back in the hands of DOT, for "clarification." Meanwhile, ADAPT will be working with lawyers to plan its next strategy in the legal arena, even though the courts have dodged the issue of equal rights for the disabled. Nevertheless, ADAPT is still ready for action. “We are not going to sit around and wait for the government to put a piece of legislation through,” said Wade Blank. What's next for ADAPT? The next APTA Conference will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, September 23-28, 1989. “The court’s decision on local option will make our demonstrations in Atlanta bigger,” says Mike Auberger, a co-director of ADAPT. Sparks Nevada, Denver, Philadelphia, Atlanta. . .ADAPT marches on for rights for people with disabilities. “Someday,” says Wade Blank, “ It will be just as appalling to see buildings without ramps as it was seeing signs that said ‘Whites Only.’ ” end of article Pictures of 2 graphic symbols: One is the ADAPT no-steps logo with American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit around the outside and a circle with a set of steps rising to the right and a bar across the circle and steps with the word ADAPT on it. The other is a power fist, with wheelchair warriors written below the arm. Caption reads: These symbols are part of ADAPT’s continuing fight. Says Wade Blank of ADAPT “Someday it will be just as appalling to see buildings without ramps as it was seeing signs that said ‘Whites Only.’”
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Different TIMES THE NEWSPAPER DEDICATED TO THE PROPOSITION THAT ALL PERSONS ARE CREATED DIFFERENT, BUT EQUAL $125 Vol. IV, No.4 April, 1990 Protesters disable capitol Photo (World Wide Photos): Three protesters in wheelchairs sit in front of the Capitiol building beside the crowd. One sits, back to the camera, Walter Hart faces the camera with a bandanna and dark glasses, and Joe Carle sits sideways. Behind them in the far distance is the dome of the Capitol and directly behind them between the dome and the group is the ADAPT flag (an American flag with the stars arranged in the access symbol.) Caption reads: About 1500 persons of disability rallied for protest outside capitol in Washington, D.C. last month. STORY 1: by Vonne Worth Protest marches last month may influence passage of a strong Americans with Disabilities Act soon. 1500 join in Washington, DC demonstrations to pass ADA in House On March 12, Americans with Disabilities for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) marched from the White House to the Capitol Building, said Mike Auberger, an organizer with ADAPT. About 1500 people from all over the country with many different disabilities took part, he said. At the White House, a spokesperson "reaffirmed President Bush's position that he wanted to see the Senate version of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed intact," Auberger said. The ADA is a civil rights act for persons of disability which prohibits discrimination in employment, transportation, public services, public accommodations, and telecommunications. It has passed the Senate and is now in the House of Representatives, where some business interests are lobbying heavily against it. ADAPT was demonstrating to work for passage of the ADA, according to Auberger. After the march to the capitol, several speakers talked to the crowd. They included Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.); Rep. Major Owens (D-N.Y.), one of the sponsors of the ADA; Justin Dart, of the Congressional Task Force on Rights and Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities; Jim Brady, former President Reagan's press secretary; Auberger, and others. Then there was a crawl up the steps of the capitol. "The reason for the crawl was to let everybody in the House know that we're not going to let any obstacle stop us from having the ADA passed," Auberger said. “It wasn't to gain sympathy or to gain votes." ADAPT protesters marched to the rotunda the following day, March 13, and took over the rotunda. 104 of them were arrested. March l4, ADAPT demonstrators went to the Sam Rayburn Building. “We took over [Rep.] Bud Schuster's (R-Pa.) office who's the minority chairman of the Transportation Committee," Auberger said. “He's been the one within the Transportation Committee who's tried to add amendments like ‘Cities under 200,000 would not have to lift-equip their vehicles." “Also he was going after inclement weather—if you had too much snow, like we have here in Denver, you wouldn't have to have lift-equipped vehicles even though we already do. We have an average of 60 inches of snow a year," Auberger related. “Most of those amendments were defeated," Auberger added. “At the same time, we met with Hamilton Fish, (R-NY) who is the minority chairman of the Judiciary Committee," Auberger said. The ADA is undergoing constant attempts to weaken the remedy section; however, Fish didn't seem aware of this, according to Auberger. But Fish sat down in his office with about 30 disabled people and "talked with us probably for about a half hour and made a commitment that he would do everything within his position as minority leader of that Committee to see that there isn't any weakening and we were also at the Judiciary Committee Offices and we were working on setting up a meeting with Attorney General Thornburgh because he was the one who had been raising the issue of weakening the remedies section," Auberger said. “They were working on that and they tried to stall so at about seven o'clock, they were closing the capitol, we all refused to leave from Bud Schuster's office and from the Judiciary Committee and there were 60 people arrested in those offices and we got out about one o'clock that night," Auberger related. He said the demonstrations seemed to work. “lt clearly had this real effect on the hill when you went up there." PHOTO (by Tom Olin): Looking from over the shoulders and head of a woman (Cassie James) on the floor sitting between the back of a power wheelchair and a desk, she is holding onto the desk with her left arm and is scrunched in. Over her head on the other side of the room 3 other people people with disabilities out of their wheelchairs (Eric von Schmeterling, Carol Marfisi and Kent Killam) are sitting on the floor. Behind them is a desk and the wall with photos on it, Congressional meomentos. Caption reads: Demonstrators sit in Rep. Bud Schuster’s (R-Pa.) office to protest his sponsorship of amendments that would have substantially weakened ADA sections dealing with transportation. All of a sudden, these representatives knew the ADA was an issue and that disabled people were here and they [the congresspersons] had that look of ‘Are you one of them that are raising all the hell?’ They had a whole different understanding of disability—that you need to see a different side of disabled people, not the side that you want to think of as poor and helpless. They clearly were educated very fast over those two days,” Auberger commented. “Now as a result of that demonstration and one in Philadelphia, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has rewritten the final regs to require all mainline systems to be lift-equipped into the future and to provide paratransit for those people who cannot get to the bus stop. These are new regs that have 90-day comment periods—the transit industry is not going" to oppose them,” he explained. Also, ADA should come to the House for a vote soon. It will be brought the the floor within 60 days and there is a lot of support for the bill, said Charles Siegal, from Speaker Foley’s press secretary’s office. ADA went through the Energy Committee without any amendments and no changes from the Senate version, Auberger indicated. “That happened while we were there and I'm sure that's why it happened that way," he said. STORY 2: by Vonne Worth A protest in Washington, D.C. by a disability group has resulted in the filing of a half-million-dollarlawsuit against the District of Columbia Court System. Americans with Disabilities for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT), many in wheelchairs, crawled up the stairs to the nation ’s capitol and took over the rotunda on March 13. They demanded to talk to Speaker of the House Tom Foley (D-Wash.) and Minority Leader of the House Robert Michel (R-Ill.) about passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). “He [Foley] was not happy to come to meet with us" said Mike Auberger, organizer with ADAPT. "He didn't seem to have met with a lot of disability groups, he didn't quite know how to respond to that many disabled people and he talked about him pushing and speeding up the process and he tried to explain ‘we don’t understand the legislative process,’ and we said, ‘of course, we do, we're not totally stupid, just disabled.” “And Michel pretty much came out with the same sentiment and we let him know that he and other Republicans could be targets of the demonstration later in the week simply because they put more and more and more weakening amendments into the ADA,” Auberger added. The talk seemed to break down and the Capitol Police were called. “They were continuing to speak, we heard enough and so we were pretty much just chanting at that point ‘ADA now, now less,"' Auberger said. “At the point where we decided people could get arrested, all went to the center of the rotunda and circled there and several of us chained ourselves together with kryptonite locks," Auberger related. Within 15 minutes, 104 people, most of them in wheelchairs, were arrested, Auberger indicated. Then the police couldn’t cut through the locks. “They tried bolt cutters, they tried two different types of bolt cutters, they didn't work, so they had to bring in a hydraulic bolt cutter and it finally did work on the first one, but it broke on the second one, so they finally tried the bolt cutters again and they went through this whole process of getting these 104 people who were chanting in the middle of the rotunda ‘ADA now’ out," Auberger said. “It took about two and a half hours to get everybody out of the building since they only used one elevator which could take only one person at a time," Auberger explained. “At 1:28 Eastern time, they had to close the capitol to the public so that they could ‘get rid of all those rowdy disabled people." “They didn't have lift-equipped vehicles, so they had to lift everybody into vans and it took four or five officers to lift each chair into a van and they drive off with two chairs to a van to the police station, and then it took four or five more officers" to get them off, Auberger said. “They took everybody to police headquarters where they booked everybody and released them the next moming about one o'clock," Auberger related. It took 12 hours for the police to book 104 people. “This was a major process, them getting everybody out there," Auberger said, “lt was just a nightmare for them." The next afternoon, they went to the Sam Rayburn Building and took over offices of the congressmen on the Transportation and Judiciary Committees. About 60 people were arrested that day. The next two days were spent in court, Auberger said. “The majority of people ended up paying $10 in court costs and suspended sentences and that was pretty much it,” Auberger said. “There were five people who were given probation in their own cities from six months to a year just for being, I would suspect, ringleaders," he said. The judge in the case was disabled. “He had an arm that he couldn’t use at all,” Auberger said. Auberger said he felt the judge wasn’t sympathetic to the case. “His position was ‘You write your congressman if you want to change things,”’ Auberger said. “We all did that, clearly. It didn’t do a damn bit of good, but he wasn’t going to hear that. He pretty much gave out fines, four of them were for $100 and ten day suspended sentences and mine was $500 and a 20 day suspended sentence plus I have the longest, a year probation in-my city.” Auberger said it was rare for courts to send probation orders back to one’s home city. “Ironically, what was so incredible was the next day, when we went to file our probation papers, the building we were supposed to file our probation papers in was inaccessible,” Auberger said. “We come back to the courthouse, we talked to our attomey; unfortunately, the judge wasn’t around.” “They [had] put us all on probation and then we couldn’t get into the building to do the probation. Well, then, they told us, ‘Do it out in the hall by the courtroom.’.No. That's unacceptable. If everybody else goes into the building, we should be able to as well.” “So we’ve now filed a half a million dollar lawsuit against the District of Columbia Court System for denying us our civil rights.” About 250 people took part in the action. Copyright 1990, Different TIMES