SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION MUST ACCOMMODATE BLIND

 JUDGE RULES SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION MUST ACCOMMODATE BLIND
 BENEFICIARIES Colleagues,

 

 Below is another very important press release that absolutely should
 go
 out to all of your press release outlets immediately , ASAP!!  It should
 go out to newspapers, radio
 stations, and tv stations in your area exactly as it is written, no
 editing, no changes.  This is a huge announcement and a major ruling that
 benefits nearly all blind people in the United States and another victory
 for ACB!! I'll send it in Word to anyone who wishes it when I get it.

 

 *****

 

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

 For more information, contact:
 Julia Epstein, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, (510)
 644-2555 (x. 241), jepstein@dredf.org

 

 Wondie Russell, Heller Ehrman LLP, (415) 772-6294,
 wondie.russell@hellerehrman.com Ron Milliman, American Council of the
 Blind, rmilliman@insightbb.com

 

 JUDGE RULES SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION MUST ACCOMMODATE BLIND
 BENEFICIARIES

 

 San Francisco, CA - April 24, 2008 On Wednesday, April 23, 2008, Judge
 William Alsup of the US District Court for the Northern District of
 California ruled that the US Social Security Administration (SSA) must
 accommodate the real and legitimate needs of people with visual
 impairments who receive benefits from SSA.  The agency is required
 under the Rehabilitation Act and the due process clause, the ruling
 states, to provide communications in formats that are accessible to
 these beneficiaries.

 

 The ruling came after SSA sought to dismiss a class action filed in
 federal
 court in 2005 by the American Council of the Blind and a group of
 individuals who are blind or have visual impairments filed a class action
 lawsuit against SSA, alleging that the agency fails to provide the most
 basic accommodations to its blind and visually impaired applicants and
 beneficiaries.  To this day, the SSA communicates with blind and visually
 impaired applicants and beneficiaries in standard 12 point font print that
 they cannot read, and is unwilling to provide meaningful communication in
 alternative formats such as Braille, audio, large font or electronic text.
 "In the 21st century there is no reasonable explanation or excuse for the
 SSA to continue to ignore the needs and rights of the blind population,
 and
 we are committed to bringing about the necessary changes," explained
 Wondie
 Russell of Heller Ehrman LLP, an attorney for plaintiffs.  "This decision
 has now set us on the path to securing reasonable accommodations."

 

 Plaintiff attorneys argued successfully that the agency is subject to
 the jurisdiction of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,
 which requires bars discrimination on the basis of disability in
 federal programs, including removing communication barriers by
 providing "auxiliary aids" that allow persons with disabilities an
 equal opportunity to participate.  "The callousness of SSA's adamant
 insistence that sending notices that our clients cannot read was not
 lost on the judge," said Arlene Mayerson, Directing Attorney for
 Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), and an attorney
 for plaintiffs.  "It is amazing that something that is clear to
 anyone, that sending a standard print notice to a blind individual
 denies due process, would end up in federal court."

 

 Mitch Pomerantz, American Council of the Blind President, stated: "It
 is long past time that the Social Security Administration - which
 assists tens of thousands of blind and visually impaired persons - is
 held to account for its stubborn unwillingness to adhere to a statute
 that is 35 years old.
 There is no excuse in this day and age of easy access to printers with the
 capability for producing large type, and braille printers for SSA to
 violate the Rehabilitation Act and I applaud this ruling."

 

 Plaintiffs in the lawsuit have gone without benefits as a result of
 SSA's failure to give them effective notice of its actions.  "Imagine
 receiving a phone call from the bank that your checks are bouncing and
 fees are mounting," suggests American Council of the Blind Executive
 Director Melanie Brunson.

 

 Attorneys for the plaintiffs include the Disability Rights Education
 and Defense Fund, Heller Ehrman LLP, the Oregon Advocacy Center, and
 the National Senior Citizens Law Center.