Hello, hello!
I'm not feeling very well... but I wanted to make a quick video to talk about how
there is currently a new bill on the table, called H.R. 620 that is threatening accessibility rights
in the United States.
You might recall a video I created a few months ago called "Drive-By Lawsuits", if you are not
sure what I'm talking about, I will leave a link up here somewhere, um, and in the description.
It was a response to a 60 minutes episode in which the topic was lawyers suing businesses
that were non-compliant with ADA in mass, and those business owners being upset about...
said lawsuits.
Uh, right, the ADA, in case you didn't know is short for the Americans with Disabilities Act
which granted accessibility and anti-discrimination laws
laws as a civil right to people with disabilities in this country in the year 1990.
Um, ADA was the result of action; protests by disabled activists, including the Capitol Crawl;
where disabled activists crawled up the front steps of Capitol Hill [in protest].
Now let's get back to, uh, Drive-By Lawsuits.
Um... at first I thought the conversation
was absurd, harmless, but absurd, for a prime-time program to tell a story about how ADA lawsuits
harm business people versus the inequality disabled people face when businesses do not
comply with the law. And I really did not think I would have to ever bring up that story again
but alas, here we are.
In case you don't know, that story and this bill are related.
H.R. 620 is a bill that seeks to protect businesses from these lawsuits and in doing so threatens
the civil rights of disabled Americans.
Here is a summary of the bill from govtrack.us
which is a non-biased source.
"The bill prohibits civil actions" - meaning would deny people the right to sue...
"...based on the failure to remove an architectural barrier to access into an existing public
accommodation" - meaning the failure to comply with the ADA, making sure their public
space was accessible to people with disabilities
"...Unless: (1) the aggrieved person has provided to the owners or operators a written
notice specific enough to identify the barrier, and (2) the owners or operators fail to provide
the person with a written description outlining improvements that will be made to improve
the barrier or they fail to remove the barrier or make substantial progress after providing
such a description."
That's a long winded way of saying that PRIOR to filing a lawsuit the accountability
would be on the disabled person to create a written complaint for when they encounter
an accessibility barrier...
AND the owners/operators would have to fail to respond or make the appropriate changes.
It's not included in the summary but it's in the bill, they would have a time frame of six months.
Might not sound so bad, IF you completely ignore the fact that businesses have already
had 27 years to comply with the law and disabled people should not have to perform labors for
their civil rights since it is the law and has been for 27 years.
But there's actually more to it, the summary continues..."The aggrieved person's notice
must specify: (1) the address of the property, (2) the specific ADA sections alleged to have
been violated, (3) whether a request for assistance in removing an architectural barrier was made,
and (4) whether the barrier was permanent or temporary."
So not only is the disabled person in question accountable for the BUSINESSES' violation
but is expected to have the resources, the knowledge to every single specification of
the law, in order to create their written notice.
They're expecting all disabled people to be lawyers and be absolutely fluent with the law.
The requirements of ADA are extremely thoughtful, very specific with a purpose,
and that is the safety and effectiveness of the accessibility case in question.
This bill puts the accountability on disabled people to be well-versed on these specifications,
the accountability to confront and point out architectural barriers AFTER a business or
public location is already in motion as opposed to making businesses accountable for following
the law, on architects for prioritizing accessibility, on our cities prioritizing accessible spaces.
It's an added barrier to an already incredibly inaccessible system, it's not on disabled
people to point it out, it's not on disabled people to take the time out of their days
and perform the free labor of being ADA inspectors, it's on the owners and operators of these
public spaces to obey the law.
PS: I don't know where you've been but disabled people, when they are able,
do in fact notify people when their spaces are inaccessible. Do you know how often we see changes?
Very rarely! Because for most the part, they simply do not care if you have access to the
space or not.
Our words are generally weightless, legal action is typically the only way we see change
and this bill would make an already difficult process even moreso.
This is a little longer than I expected to go on a rant about but...
All this being said, please call, text, fax, email your representatives, implore them to
oppose this bill. And um, if any of those options are not accessible to you, um,
there is also RESIST bot, um, where you text RESIST to...
to a certain number...
and I'll put it in the description, and they will do the work for you. So until next time,
I will see you eventually, bye!
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