RTD Hearing (SB20 -151) Julie Reiskin Testimony

The following is a transcript of testimony given by Julie Reiskin at the Senate Transportation & Energy Committee hearing (Part 1) on February 18, 2020.

Audio File

Julie Reiskin Transcript Testimony

Thank you, Madam Chairman, members of the committee. My name is Julie Reiskin. I represent the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition. Kristen was here. She uses Access-a-Ride and you don’t get to change your going home time, so that’s why I think she’s no longer here. I hope she’ll be able to come back on March third because she has a lot of important information to give you. 

We want to thank the sponsors and are very much in support of Senate Bill 151 in that this is a pro-RTD bill. This bill is all about making RTD sustainable, stronger and better. Those of us who have disabilities, particularly those who are not able to drive because of their disabilities, and particularly those of us who use power chairs who don’t have any other option like Uber or Lyft or cabs or anything, do rely on RTD exclusively. We don’t get to get rides with friends. We don’t get any other options, so it is very, very important to us. 

Without RTD, we don’t have jobs. We don’t have the ability to live independently. So it is really the key to our independence. But we don’t want a system just for people with disabilities. We don’t want a system who are affected by Title Six because if it’s only a system for poor folks and disenfranchised folks, it’s never gonna be a good system. We want a system that works for everyone, but we see ourselves as the canaries in the coal mine. If it works for us,  it’ll work for everyone. 

So that’s really what we wanted to say and that’s why we’ve been working very hard on this bill and why we support it. Our attorneys are here to speak. It’s not a secret, I think, that our organization has sued RTD in the past. I don’t think it’s been perpetual litigation. It’s been three times in the past thirty years. But that is necessary to be able to make changes when there is out-and-out discrimination that we can’t get solved any other way and we need to be able to do that at a lower level and literally not have to make that a federal case. We need to be able to solve it at a much lower level, and our attorneys can address that. But we want to see RTD strong for everyone, for the entire community. We want to see the train go to Boulder. 

We want to see it work the way it’s supposed to work, and those of us who do rely on RTD have really been affected by the driver shortages. I have a picture on my phone of just one day on my computer screen, just the lines I subscribe to, and my entire screen was filled up after it had been cleared, just one day, two hours, and so, I had to sleep at DIA because I couldn’t rely on the A-line. It really is affecting us. Paratransit has been dealing with this problem for many years, so we do need the legislature to step in and help us make it right. 

Thank you for your time.

Denver Police Apparently Don’t Think Accessible Parking Laws Apply to Them

On February 24, 2020, at the office building of the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition (“CCDC), Colorado’s only statewide organization run by and for people with disabilities, including its Civil Rights Legal Program, a Denver Police Department vehicle parked illegally in an access aisle. CCDC is located at Empire Park at 1385 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, Colorado. Kevin Williams who is an attorney and who uses a wheelchair and drives the blue van with a side-loading wheelchair ramp that is pictured above has practiced in the area of civil rights law for people with disabilities for 22 years.

The Current Cases and Past Cases that have been brought by the Civil Rights Legal Program during this time can be found on CCDC’s website. He and his legal team have brought numerous civil rights cases against government entities, private businesses of all kinds such as restaurants, sports venues, shopping malls and many more, housing providers and other entities covered by civil rights laws to help enforce the law for people with disabilities who cannot afford attorneys.

Many of these cases have been brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The Legal Program has been involved in and remains involved in numerous civil rights investigations on behalf of its members throughout Colorado and works with attorneys both in the state and nationwide to end discrimination against people with disabilities. The Legal Program has received numerous awards for its work helping people with disabilities achieve the objectives of the ADA which is now almost 30 years old.

See Full Press Release: Denver Police Apparently Don’t Think Accessible Parking Laws Apply to Them

Media Update on 3/5/2020 at 10:12.

Fox 31 KDVR:

The Denver Police Department has issued an apology after an officer was photographed parking in a handicap spot during an emergency call.

That handicap-accessible spot happened to be in front of the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, which specializes in advocating for those with disabilities.

Photos show the officer taking up a portion of the handicap spot as well as the majority of the “access aisle,” used by many at the building to get in and out of vehicles.

“The law says you can’t stop, stand, or park in the access aisle,” said Legal Program Director Kevin Williams. “Nevertheless, the Denver police vehicle was parked in that access aisle.”

Williams says he frequently receives complaints regarding police vehicles parking in accessible spots.

His van, parked next to the police vehicle shown in the photo, is specially equipped with a ramp to get in and out of the passenger door.

Read the entire article and watch the video here:

Denver officer photographed blocking handicap spot at disability advocates’ headquarters

Testimony of Amy F. Robertson, Co-Executive Director, in Support of SB20-151

Senate Transportation & Energy Committee, March 3, 2020

Amy F. Robertson, Co-Executive Director

“Thank you Madame Chair and members of the committee. My name is Amy Robertson and I am an attorney and the Co-Executive Director of the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center (“CREEC”), Denver-based civil rights nonprofit.

CREEC strongly supports SB20-151. I am authorized to state that the ACLU of Colorado also strongly supports SB20-151.

I will address Section 2 of the bill, which provides a state court remedy for violations by RTD of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) [i] and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“Title II”).[ii]

For the past 25 years, both at CREEC and our earlier private law firm, I have conducted education and training as well as individual and impact litigation under federal and state civil rights laws. I am very familiar with Title VI and Title II and their regulations. In addition, we have been involved in two of the three impact ADA cases against RTD: one brought in 2000 and settled in 2001; and the most recent, remedying noncompliant light rail cars, which resolved in 2017 with retrofitted and new light rail cars.

I want to make two crucial points about Section 2:

1. 1. It imposes no new substantive requirements; and
2. 2. It provides a more efficient, less risky remedy for violations of these existing requirements.

Section 2 of the pending bill incorporates Title VI and Title II as well as
the respective regulations enforcing each of those statutes. These
regulations have been in force since 1970 (in the case of Title VI) [iii] and 1992 (in the case of Title II). [iv] Both sets of regulations have always prohibited – and prohibit to this day – actions that “have the effect of” discriminating against protected individuals,[v] otherwise known as “disparate impact” discrimination.

Let me say that again: disparate impact discrimination on the basis of race in providing federally-funded transportation services has been illegal since 1970 and remains so today. A Supreme Court decision in 2001 made it impossible to enforce in court a claim for disparate impact race discrimination under Title VI. The prohibition remains in the regulations, RTD remains bound by these regulations, and these regulations can still be enforced by the United States Department of Transportation.

Furthermore, if the Department of Transportation finds a violation of the Title VI regulations that it cannot resolve informally, “compliance… may be affected by the suspension or termination of or refusal to grant or to continue Federal financial assistance.”[vi] So the only current enforcement mechanism for disparate impact race discrimination has the potential for dire consequences, including withdrawal of federal dollars from RTD.

Title II of the ADA and its regulations remain enforceable in federal court; however, as RTD has experienced, this process can be time-consuming and expensive for everyone involved: for riders who want to ensure compliance with the law; and for RTD itself.

Section 2 of SB 151 would permit both Title VI and Title II claims to be brought in Colorado state court, a more efficient, less expensive, and – for RTD – a less risky forum than either federal court or the regulatory agency that has the power to cut the purse strings.

Public transportation is essential for disabled people and communities of color. Members of these communities should be able to secure equal treatment without the expense of a federal lawsuit or the systemic risk to RTD that an administrative complaint presents.

[i] 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.
[ii] 42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq.
[iii] 42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq.  35 Fed. Reg. 10080 (June 18, 1970).
[iv]  56 Fed. Reg. 35716 (July 26, 1991).
[v]  49 C.F.R. § 21.5(b)(2) (Title VI); 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(4) (Title II).
[vi]  49 C.F.R. § 21.13(a).

HB20-1332: Prohibit Housing Discrimination Source Of Income

Concerning prohibitions on discrimination in housing based on the source of income.

SESSION: 2020 Regular Session
SUBJECT: Housing
HB20-1332: Prohibit Housing Discrimination Source Of Income

PASSED: SENT TO THE GOVERNOR FOR SIGNATURE ON 6/19

BILL SUMMARY:

The bill adds discrimination based on the source of income as a type of unfair housing practice. “Source of income” is defined to include any source of money paid directly, indirectly, or on behalf of a person, including income from any lawful profession or from any government or private assistance, grant, or loan program.

A person is prohibited from refusing to rent, lease, show for rent or lease, or transmit an offer to rent or lease housing based on a person’s source of income. In addition, a person cannot discriminate in the terms or conditions of a rental agreement against another person based on the source of income, or based upon the person’s participation in a 3rd-party contract required as a condition of receiving public housing assistance. A person cannot include in any advertisement for the rent or lease of housing any limitation or preference based on the source of income, or to use representations related to a person’s source of income to induce another person to rent or lease property. The restrictions do not apply to a landlord with 3 or fewer rental units.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Bill History
02/25/2020:  Introduced In House – Assigned to Judiciary
Upcoming Schedule: MAR 17, Tuesday, House Judiciary
1:30 pm | HCR 0112

Legislation geared toward people who register fake emotional support animals not likely to be introduced this year

Posted: 8:29 PM, Feb 27, 2020   Updated: 12:29 PM, Feb 28, 2020
By: Eric Ross

Read the original story here.

COLORADO — We’ve shown you the stories of people trying to pass off untrained pets as emotional support animals.

Disability advocates say as time goes on, the problem is getting worse.

State Rep. Larry Liston (R-Colorado Springs) drafted legislation as a result of a News 5 investigation we aired last Spring, but we discovered the bill is unlikely to be introduced this year. The goal of the bill would have defined the process of how people can obtain letters “certifying” their pet as an emotional support animal. Continue reading “Legislation geared toward people who register fake emotional support animals not likely to be introduced this year”

Behavioral Health Task Force Public Testimony at Division of Insurance on 3/6/20

The Division of Insurance (DOI) is pleased to host a public testimony opportunity in partnership with the Behavioral Health Task Force on Friday, March 6, 2020, from 2-5 PM. We invite Colorado community members, providers, caretakers, and advocates to share their stories about their experiences interacting with the behavioral health care system. We want to know what you love, what you hate, and/or what we need as a state to ensure every single person has the opportunity to be healthy and well. Your story does not need to be related to commercial insurance. Continue reading “Behavioral Health Task Force Public Testimony at Division of Insurance on 3/6/20”

The Public Charge Rule Is Now in Effect Nationwide— What Does that Mean and What Can You Do?

Update: February 24, 2020 
From the Center for Public Representation

Today, the Department of Homeland Security’s discriminatory public charge rule goes into effect. The rule puts in place a new test for people who are applying for visas or green cards. It looks at people’s health, including whether they have a disability, and whether they have used or might one day use public benefits, including Medicaid-funded home and community-based services on which many people with disabilities rely because they are not covered by private insurance. This rule will have a disproportionate impact on people with disabilities and will discourage people already in the US from using critical public benefits to which they are legally entitled. Continue reading “The Public Charge Rule Is Now in Effect Nationwide— What Does that Mean and What Can You Do?”

Making This a More Perfect Union: Remembering Bloody Sunday

55 years ago on March 7, 1965, an estimated 525 to 600 champions of civil rights began the first of several nonviolent marches and risked their lives and limbs literally and attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge to make this country a more perfect nation. So many people crossed the bridge from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama for the simple purpose of attempting to register Black Americans to vote. Their mission and their purpose were to force this country to live up to its many principles, statements of morality, creeds and founding documents. Representative John Lewis (D. Ga.), a member and later

one of the youngest leaders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was one of the leaders of the marches.

I think it is important to use this anniversary to make a distinction between the words and writings of those who created the country in which we now live and the events that occurred on that day. The Declaration of Independence, First Continental Congress, July 4, 1776, the following paragraph was included:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

The author of this blog, a somewhat increasingly-jaded attorney who writes to you now about this event that became known as “Bloody Sunday,” has read the words in the Declaration of Independence as well as the other founding documents of our country many times and has become growing late disconcerted by the contradiction between their meaning and reality. I have also spent a great deal of time studying the law of civil rights and about the civil rights movements in this country in particular and other countries as well. But all I am is a simple civil rights lawyer for people with disabilities who works for a nonprofit organization in Denver, Colorado. So why am I writing about this?

Because I care about making this country in which we live a more perfect union so that all human beings regardless of race, religion, gender, disability or ability, and all other human beings obtain and receive the same respect and are entitled to belong just as much as any other human being. There is no superiority of any one of these groups, and there is no meaningful type of “nationalism” which is just another word for shutting out other human beings that are different. The civil rights movement that led to my ability to be able to practice law for people with disabilities, although created by my brothers and sisters with disabilities who came before me, was also built on the broken skull of John Lewis. When I view these photos, tears wells up in my eyes no matter how jaded the process of practicing disability rights law and reading American history has made me become. I do remember reading one of my favorite books, Parting the Waters, by Taylor Branch and calling my good friend, colleague and mentor, Amy Robertson, and saying something like, “I guess disability civil rights lawyers have one advantage over those who represented the great civil rights leaders of the South and others throughout our country and around the world. At least no one is bombing our houses.” Don’t get me wrong, we certainly get our share of slurs throughout the wonders of social media, newspapers and other outlets of incivility. Usually, it comes from the other side (meaning those who oppose our equality, belonging and humanity), often it comes from people who are simply ignorant about the issues, but it sometimes even comes from within our own community. I could certainly cite to many words written and spoken by the “Founding Fathers” of our country that lead me to reach the inevitable conclusion that the entire country was built on a series of lies. First of all, I, like many of you, was taught that Christopher Columbus “discovered” America. I find it extremely difficult to understand how an individual came to discover a land that was already inhabited by a large number of people who, as far as most of us now, were perfectly content with their way of life. They were definitely human beings, and they were here first, living and existing in a way that worked for them until those who came before and after Columbus destroyed their culture, most of their population (through the spread of disease and outright murder) and all of their way of life because our ancestors* thought we knew what was best for the natives of this country now known as the United States of America.

The second major lie in existence when the words quoted above were drafted (often called “Original sin”) committed by those who “founded” this country was the bringing of in innumerable number of human beings from Africa, a continent almost as far away as it could be, to come in shackles on boats and conditions almost certain to cause most of them to die to this country for the sole purpose of being the property and working for our ancestors. Now, as a result of the great works of people like John Lewis, Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, and so many others, the same year that the dogs took bites out of those who crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the same people who were gassed, knocked down by fire hoses, beaten with billy clubs shot, and arrested, our federal government under President Lyndon B. Johnson, sent troops to assist those who are not permitted to vote to be able to do so and passed The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (The Civil Rights Act of 1964 somehow managed to exclude this most important alleged inalienable right of all Americans who were in the words of the First Congressional Congress “created equal” and endowed with exactly the same rights; also interesting is the fact that it took until 1920 for women to have the right to vote; I guess the “Founding Fathers” really meant it when they said “all men are created equal”).

When reviewing that paragraph from the Declaration of Independence, it is difficult to say at what point in history (according to our “Founding Fathers, ” human beings in our society should determine when the government is destructive of the ends set forth in that document, when we as a society have stopped securing the Safety and happiness of our people (coming Social Security benefits and the possibility of attaining healthcare if you have a pre-existing condition, denying any form of long-term care and lying about it in front of TV cameras while having the United States Justice Department argue the exact opposite in federal court), whether the actions taken by our current government are light and transient causes (it is hard to imagine how 400 years of slavery coupled with the continued income inequality based on things like race or disability, The routine murdering of people of color by law enforcement with absolute immunity, the ruining of an entire society and culture leaving only a few to rise up, resisting compliance with the law or changes in the law that will allow the equality that apparently all human beings in this country are supposed to have — “the repeated tyrannies and usurpations”), whether these and other evils have risen to the level of being so insufferable as to require the change or abolishment of government in comparison to the reasons taken by the “Founding Fathers.” And who in the world (literally) did they think they were kidding when they said, “To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world[?]”

Nevertheless, as President Barack Obama reminded us during the 50th anniversary of this same series of marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, change has occurred. It has occurred because we have made it occur. It is just that so much more needs to be done. Lawyers are limited by what laws allow us to do. Legislators are motivated by monetary interests and paid lobbyists against whom we have severe inequality.

I am extremely indebted to and thankful for my colleagues, friends and those who came before me whom I never met, all who have disabilities and their colleagues, who made it possible for me to assist in enforcing the civil rights of human beings — people with disabilities. It certainly seems a shame 30 years after the law was written that our society has not come into compliance, and that entities resist with such vigor, that people who would rather die than be disabled and yet they take advantage of those simple modifications that people with disabilities need enable to live equally with nondisabled people (like the example of the police car that parked in the access aisle next to my van at our office), but I can only imagine what those who survived Bloody Sunday must feel regarding the treatment of a population of people who were brought to this country four hundred years ago to do the work and be the property of white people who now hate and despise this population in such a way as that they are incarcerated them in enormously greater proportions than whites, the income inequities between Blacks and whites are extraordinary, and no one can really say with a straight face that equal treatment has been achieved throughout the country.

So in an attempt to return the bright side. I still continue to believe that we are trying to build a “more perfect union.” At least enough of us are, and there is no doubt that great changes have been made. It seems as though it is a never ending fight. And it seems as though we will never “win.” I can’t see it happening in my lifetime, so you Millennials better take it over. You are all humans too. The only tools we seem to have in our European white system of governing and thinking of the creation of laws and enforcement of them. It seems unfortunate that that even though what is required to bring about equality and belonging is often ignored, forgotten or aggressively opposed; we should continue to strive to come up with a better way. By writing this blog, I ask that we will focus on that day, Bloody Sunday. In addition, as we consider during this presidential voting season filled as it is with vitriol and concerns about whether we are actually getting accurate information about candidates and viruses and just about anything else that we must think about in order to improve ourselves and our country that we do the following: Consider where we have come from, what it will take to get to where we are going, to remember always what our fellow human beings have endured before us in order to get to where we are today and to always, always work towards ensuring the existence of the innate equality and belonging of all human beings and building that more perfect union.

Hanging on my wall just to the side of the front door of my house is a very large framed poster of Thurgood Marshall with a quote from him: “in recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” I put it there is you can’t leave my house without seeing it. What more can be said then that if we are going to create equality, belonging any more perfect union?

* I use the word “our” to refer to mostly white Europeans who settled in this country. Certainly those whose ancestors who were brought against their will and those who this country has tried to ban, remove and prevent from entering cannot be included.

Making This a More Perfect Union: Remembering Bloody Sunday

55 years ago on March 7, 1965, an estimated 525 to 600 champions of civil rights began the first of several nonviolent marches and risked their lives and limbs literally and attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge to make this country a more perfect nation. So many people crossed the bridge from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama for the simple purpose of attempting to register Black Americans to vote. Their mission and their purpose were to force this country to live up to its many principles, statements of morality, creeds and founding documents. Representative John Lewis (D. Ga.), a member and later

one of the youngest leaders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was one of the leaders of the marches.

I think it is important to use this anniversary to make a distinction between the words and writings of those who created the country in which we now live and the events that occurred on that day. The Declaration of Independence, First Continental Congress, July 4, 1776, the following paragraph was included:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

The author of this blog, a somewhat increasingly-jaded attorney who writes to you now about this event that became known as “Bloody Sunday,” has read the words in the Declaration of Independence as well as the other founding documents of our country many times and has become growing late disconcerted by the contradiction between their meaning and reality. I have also spent a great deal of time studying the law of civil rights and about the civil rights movements in this country in particular and other countries as well. But all I am is a simple civil rights lawyer for people with disabilities who works for a nonprofit organization in Denver, Colorado. So why am I writing about this?

Because I care about making this country in which we live a more perfect union so that all human beings regardless of race, religion, gender, disability or ability, and all other human beings obtain and receive the same respect and are entitled to belong just as much as any other human being. There is no superiority of any one of these groups, and there is no meaningful type of “nationalism” which is just another word for shutting out other human beings that are different. The civil rights movement that led to my ability to be able to practice law for people with disabilities, although created by my brothers and sisters with disabilities who came before me, was also built on the broken skull of John Lewis. When I view these photos, tears wells up in my eyes no matter how jaded the process of practicing disability rights law and reading American history has made me become. I do remember reading one of my favorite books, Parting the Waters, by Taylor Branch and calling my good friend, colleague and mentor, Amy Robertson, and saying something like, “I guess disability civil rights lawyers have one advantage over those who represented the great civil rights leaders of the South and others throughout our country and around the world. At least no one is bombing our houses.” Don’t get me wrong, we certainly get our share of slurs throughout the wonders of social media, newspapers and other outlets of incivility. Usually, it comes from the other side (meaning those who oppose our equality, belonging and humanity), often it comes from people who are simply ignorant about the issues, but it sometimes even comes from within our own community. I could certainly cite to many words written and spoken by the “Founding Fathers” of our country that lead me to reach the inevitable conclusion that the entire country was built on a series of lies. First of all, I, like many of you, was taught that Christopher Columbus “discovered” America. I find it extremely difficult to understand how an individual came to discover a land that was already inhabited by a large number of people who, as far as most of us now, were perfectly content with their way of life. They were definitely human beings, and they were here first, living and existing in a way that worked for them until those who came before and after Columbus destroyed their culture, most of their population (through the spread of disease and outright murder) and all of their way of life because our ancestors* thought we knew what was best for the natives of this country now known as the United States of America.

The second major lie in existence when the words quoted above were drafted (often called “Original sin”) committed by those who “founded” this country was the bringing of in innumerable number of human beings from Africa, a continent almost as far away as it could be, to come in shackles on boats and conditions almost certain to cause most of them to die to this country for the sole purpose of being the property and working for our ancestors. Now, as a result of the great works of people like John Lewis, Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, and so many others, the same year that the dogs took bites out of those who crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the same people who were gassed, knocked down by fire hoses, beaten with billy clubs shot, and arrested, our federal government under President Lyndon B. Johnson, sent troops to assist those who are not permitted to vote to be able to do so and passed The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (The Civil Rights Act of 1964 somehow managed to exclude this most important alleged inalienable right of all Americans who were in the words of the First Congressional Congress “created equal” and endowed with exactly the same rights; also interesting is the fact that it took until 1920 for women to have the right to vote; I guess the “Founding Fathers” really meant it when they said “all men are created equal”).

When reviewing that paragraph from the Declaration of Independence, it is difficult to say at what point in history (according to our “Founding Fathers, ” human beings in our society should determine when the government is destructive of the ends set forth in that document, when we as a society have stopped securing the Safety and happiness of our people (coming Social Security benefits and the possibility of attaining healthcare if you have a pre-existing condition, denying any form of long-term care and lying about it in front of TV cameras while having the United States Justice Department argue the exact opposite in federal court), whether the actions taken by our current government are light and transient causes (it is hard to imagine how 400 years of slavery coupled with the continued income inequality based on things like race or disability, The routine murdering of people of color by law enforcement with absolute immunity, the ruining of an entire society and culture leaving only a few to rise up, resisting compliance with the law or changes in the law that will allow the equality that apparently all human beings in this country are supposed to have — “the repeated tyrannies and usurpations”), whether these and other evils have risen to the level of being so insufferable as to require the change or abolishment of government in comparison to the reasons taken by the “Founding Fathers.” And who in the world (literally) did they think they were kidding when they said, “To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world[?]”

Nevertheless, as President Barack Obama reminded us during the 50th anniversary of this same series of marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, change has occurred. It has occurred because we have made it occur. It is just that so much more needs to be done. Lawyers are limited by what laws allow us to do. Legislators are motivated by monetary interests and paid lobbyists against whom we have severe inequality.

I am extremely indebted to and thankful for my colleagues, friends and those who came before me whom I never met, all who have disabilities and their colleagues, who made it possible for me to assist in enforcing the civil rights of human beings — people with disabilities. It certainly seems a shame 30 years after the law was written that our society has not come into compliance, and that entities resist with such vigor, that people who would rather die than be disabled and yet they take advantage of those simple modifications that people with disabilities need enable to live equally with nondisabled people (like the example of the police car that parked in the access aisle next to my van at our office), but I can only imagine what those who survived Bloody Sunday must feel regarding the treatment of a population of people who were brought to this country four hundred years ago to do the work and be the property of white people who now hate and despise this population in such a way as that they are incarcerated them in enormously greater proportions than whites, the income inequities between Blacks and whites are extraordinary, and no one can really say with a straight face that equal treatment has been achieved throughout the country.

So in an attempt to return the bright side. I still continue to believe that we are trying to build a “more perfect union.” At least enough of us are, and there is no doubt that great changes have been made. It seems as though it is a never ending fight. And it seems as though we will never “win.” I can’t see it happening in my lifetime, so you Millennials better take it over. You are all humans too. The only tools we seem to have in our European white system of governing and thinking of the creation of laws and enforcement of them. It seems unfortunate that that even though what is required to bring about equality and belonging is often ignored, forgotten or aggressively opposed; we should continue to strive to come up with a better way. By writing this blog, I ask that we will focus on that day, Bloody Sunday. In addition, as we consider during this presidential voting season filled as it is with vitriol and concerns about whether we are actually getting accurate information about candidates and viruses and just about anything else that we must think about in order to improve ourselves and our country that we do the following: Consider where we have come from, what it will take to get to where we are going, to remember always what our fellow human beings have endured before us in order to get to where we are today and to always, always work towards ensuring the existence of the innate equality and belonging of all human beings and building that more perfect union.

Hanging on my wall just to the side of the front door of my house is a very large framed poster of Thurgood Marshall with a quote from him: “in recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” I put it there is you can’t leave my house without seeing it. What more can be said then that if we are going to create equality, belonging any more perfect union?

* I use the word “our” to refer to mostly white Europeans who settled in this country. Certainly those whose ancestors who were brought against their will and those who this country has tried to ban, remove and prevent from entering cannot be included.