Legal Rights: An Important Update

Abstract

In 1977, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) hired its first lawyer with the express purpose of litigating cases. Marc Charmatz directed the Law and Advocacy Center for more than 25 years and is now a senior attorney advising a new generation of NAD lawyers. The NAD now fields approximately 2,000 re-quests per year for information about the legal rights of indivi-duals who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). In selected instances, the NAD will provide legal representation to bring about systemic change that results in greater access for all deaf people, not just the individual complainant. As Mr Charmatz approaches 40 years at the NAD, the NAD's Legal Rights: The Guide for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People serves both as a compen-dium of the legal principles that the NAD has successfully es-tablished and a reminder that the need for advocacy is as pressing as ever. The sixth edition of the handbook is a much-needed update, coming 15 years after the previous edition. During this time period, Congress amended the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 to broaden the definition of disability and enacted the Communications Video Accessibility Act of 2010 to require content previously displayed on television with captioning to be captioned when made available online. The Department of Justice promulgated new regulations in 2010 pro-viding additional guidance on the Americans with Disabilities Act, including new rules governing the use of video remote in-terpreting services. This new edition by the NAD covers these developments in the statutory and regulatory case law and pro-vides updates on important cases such as Argenyi v. Creighton University, which held that medical schools may not discrimi-nate against deaf students. The book is organized thematically, opening with chapters on auxiliary aids and services (accommodations) that DHH peo-ple use and an overview of the two major federal disability anti-discrimination laws—the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The book then marches through the laws as they apply to different parts of society: pri-mary and secondary education; higher education; health care and social services; employment; housing, the legal system; video media; and telecommunications services (including relay services). This book provides tips for how to file administrative com-plaints, explaining for instance how to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission when there is no caption-ing on a television show or with the United States Department of Justice when a municipality or county government refuses to provide a sign language interpreter. While useful, these tips are not a substitute for legal advice in employment discrimination matters or if considering litigation in federal or state court. Individuals who need legal assistance can contact the NAD or the growing number of lawyers, including deaf lawyers, who specialize in disability discrimination cases. This is a particularly good book for college courses, such as disability law, because it provides a good foundation for encountering the actual language of the statutes, regulations, and judicial opinions. It reads clearly, explaining legal concepts in lay terms. . At the end of each chapter, there are citations to these sources of law for follow-up reading. This should not be the last edition of Legal Rights: The Guide for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People. The law does not yet truly provide for full and equal access for DHH people. For instance, the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted in 1990, before the Internet became a household word, and courts are divided whether the law applies to websites. In our schools, language deprivation remains as serious an issue as ever. This book is both a celebration of how far deaf people have come over the last 40 years and a reminder of how much work yet remains to be done.