Courier Journal, Louisville, KY

PHOTO (staff photo by Paul Schumann): A dark paneled office with official looking pictures and places on the walls, is full of people in wheelchairs, and a couple of people standing at the back of the group. Those in wheelchairs (ranging from manual chairs to motorized ones) are facing in various directions but generally form a circle. Everyone appears to be listening. To the right of the picture a man in a white shirt and tie is standing with his arms crossed looking down at some of the people in wheelchairs. In the center of the front of the picture a man with a short pony tail (Arthur Campbell) talks to the man standing. To his left a woman in a chair (Ann ____) looks on.
Caption reads: Assistant U. S. Attorney Terry Cushing talked to members of disability-rights groups yesterday as they held a sit-in in the lobby of the U. S. attorney’s office.

[Headline] Advocates of disability rights hold sit-in in support of transit ruling

By CLARENCE MATTHEWS
Staff Writer

About a dozen members of disability-rights groups held an impromptu sit-in in the lobby of U.S. Attorney Joe Whittle’s office in Louisville in support of a federal court ruling that public transit must be accessible to disabled passengers.

The sit-in was orderly, and the group left about three hours after entering the office.

A 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 last month that lift-equipped buses are part of Congress‘ mandate to make public transportation more accessible to the disabled.

The court also ordered the U.S. Department of Transportation to rewrite regulations that let cities offer the disabled alternative services, such as van rides. It said the 24-hour reservations required for such services hinder use of mass transit.

Representatives of local disability-rights groups began demonstrating at ll:30 a.m. outside the Federal Building at Sixth and Chestnut streets. They formed a noon-hour caravan of wheelchairs for the trip to the U.S. attorney's office on the 10th floor of the Bank of Louisville building at Fifth Street and Broadway.

Demonstrators asked that the U.S. attorney call John Sununu, the White House chief of staff, to tell President Bush to instruct federal officials not to appeal the decision.

When told Whittle was ill, the demonstrators asked to meet with an assistant.

Arthur Campbell Jr., a spokesman for the group, told Assistant U.S. Attorney Terry Cushing, “This ruling; gives us the freedom that the rest of society takes for granted."

Cushing promised to pass their request on to Whittle.

"Can’t you do that now?" a demonstrator asked.

Cushing said he couldn't because someone was waiting in his office, but promised to do it later. “We’ll wait until Monday if necessary," another group member said.

They left about three hours later, after Cashing called Whittle and several members of the group spoke to him.

"He (Whittle) asked me to take some additional information from them about the case, and they left," Cushing said.

The demonstration was part of a nationwide observance sponsored by American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, a plaintiff in the federal Court case, and other disability rights groups.

Created on

Friday 12 July 2013

Posted on

Wednesday 22 July 2015

Tags

3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals, accessible transit, Arthur Campbell, Louisville, sit-in, US Attorney

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