QUESTION: Why does the ACCESS Program have to use a federal judge?
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ANSWER: First, a brief history of accessibility. Measures to improve building accessibility have been around for more than 45 years. It started with building code and then civil rights law. It was enforced by building officials for building code and federal judges for federal civil rights law. The timeline is as follows:
1964 – Federal Civil Rights Law
1968 – Title VIII of the Federal Civil Rights Act (Fair Housing Act)
1968 – The Architectural Barriers Act (Federal government buildings)
1973 – Rehabilitation Act – voluntary compliance
1988 – Fair Housing Amendments Act
1990 – The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
2008 – The Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act
In the opinion of ACCESS, the Rehabilitation Act did not work because it was a voluntary program unless there was federal monies attached. This was corrected by Congress when in the ADA the Department of Justice (DOJ) placed enforcement authority with a federal judge. The problem, as is the case with too many laws, is Congress never gave the DOJ enough money. Today, DOJ enforcement staff amounts to a measly 100 employees–not nearly enough to handle the workload! So, it is essentially a voluntary program.
In the corporate world, building owners and businesses are all aware of the ADA and its requirements yet have no fear of ever seeing the DOJ; therefore, their decision is to NOT spend the money on ADA building compliance. They will spend the money if, and only if, they get caught. How do we know this? Because we at ACCESS have been told this by building owners many times over the past 21 years through our work as architects specializing in getting buildings ADA compliant.
A federal judge is the ONLY person who can rule on federal civil rights law.
Previously, the challenge for ACCESS was how to get [a person with disabilities who has a legitimate non-compliance claim] before a federal judge. We at ACCESS have found the answer! We have the ADA knowledge and experience.
Here’s the bottom line: a person with a disability who has experienced ADA building non-compliance has been discriminated against. To right this wrong, the individual needs to “team” together with ACCESS to get before a federal judge.
And the good news? It’s free!
The is possible because the ADA is a federal civil rights law, so an individual with “standing” (i.e., a person with a define disability who has been discriminated against) is entitled to free filing, free attorney fees, and free attorney litigation expenses. The professional work product of ACCESS is an attorney litigation expense; therefore, the services of the professional ADA architects at ACCESS are free to the person with a disability who is making the claim. This “team” approach to getting buildings ADA compliant is what we call our ACCESS Program and it really works!
Access Advocates uses our ADA architectural skills honed over the last 20+ years to help you get buildings ADA compliant, one building at a time. Our services are free to people with disabilities. We want to help you make a difference and get buildings ADA compliant.
Contact us today! Do you have a question for Hank, our ADA expert? Ask him here and he’ll send you a private, personal response.