Daniel Rubin: For disabled, 'a major step backward'

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, June, 2008 | by Daniel Rubin Inquirer Columnist

You might not want to slog through the 1,000 pages of regulations, cost estimates, commentaries and impact statements the government released last week in proposing revisions to the Americans With Disabilities Act. Let Steve Gold, the public-interest lawyer who forced Philadelphia to cut curbs into sidewalks, break it down for you: "A major step backward," he said.

He was referring to the part where the Department of Justice addresses what small businesses need do to make themselves accessible to those with disabilities. Or need not do. The 1990 law already included a compromise that works against those denied access. If a restaurant, for instance, had a single step that barred those in wheelchairs or on crutches, the only way a patron could make the establishment follow...