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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3 face=Garamond><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Garamond'> <br>
<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>CONTACT: <br>
<br>
</span></b>Chris Danielsen, National Federation of the Blind, (410) 659-9314,
ext. 2330 <br>
<br>
Scott LaBarre, LaBarre Law Offices, P.C., (303) 504-5979 <br>
<br>
Daniel Goldstein, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP, (410) 962-1030 <br>
<br>
Anna Levine, Disability Rights Advocates, (510) 665-8644 <br>
<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'> <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;text-align:center'><b><font
size=3 face=Garamond><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Garamond;
font-weight:bold'>Federal Judge Orders the National Conference of Bar Examiners
<br>
to Provide Individualized Testing Accommodations <br>
<br>
to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Blind</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Law</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">School</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
Graduate</span></font></b><font face=Garamond><span style='font-family:Garamond'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3 face=Garamond><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Garamond'> <br>
<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>San Francisco, California (February 5, 2010):</span></b>
A federal court has ruled that the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE)
will cause a blind law school graduate irreparable harm unless it provides her
the technology-based testing accommodations she needs to take two exams
required to become a member of the State Bar of California. The court
issued its ruling in an order granting the law school graduates motion for
preliminary injunction on Thursday, February 4, 2010. The courts
ruling allows the plaintiff, Stephanie Enyart, to take the February 2010 Multistate
Bar Examination (MBE) and March 2010 Multistate Professional Responsibility
Examination (MPRE) on a laptop computer equipped with the assistive technology
software Ms. Enyart relies upon for screen reading (JAWS) and screen
magnification (ZoomText). <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<a name="OLE_LINK2"></a>Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation
of the Blind, said: The National Federation of the Blind is extremely
pleased with the ruling in this case. Law and equity simply do not permit
the NCBE to dictate a one-size-fits-all solution for all bar candidates with
disabilities. We hope that this ruling will cause the NCBE to think long
and hard before it denies the requested accommodations of applicants to take
its examinations. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The plaintiff, Stephanie Enyart, said: A little over a year ago I sent my
first request for accommodations on the March 2009 MPRE, and tonight I can go
to sleep knowing when and how I can effectively take the exams to fulfill my
dreams. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Anna Levine of Disability Rights Advocates, an attorney representing the
plaintiff, said: "I hope that our hard-fought victory here will send a
message to testing organizations that they need to comply with the ADA and
provide each individual test taker with a disability the accommodations that he
or she needs to demonstrate his or her actual knowledge, skills, and
abilities." <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The suit was filed on November 3, 2009, due to the NCBEs refusal, on
multiple occasions during the past year, to allow Ms. Enyart to use the same
technology on the MBE and MPRE that she has used on university and law school
exams and in various jobs and internships. The suit charged that the NCBE
violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Californias Unruh
Civil Rights Act by denying accommodations on the MBE and the MPRE. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
NCBE had argued that it fulfilled its legal obligations to Ms. Enyart by
offering alternative accommodations, such as a human reader, notwithstanding
evidence that these alternatives did not, in fact, accommodate Ms. Enyarts
disability. In rejecting NCBEs argument, the courts ruling
paves the way for other individuals prevented from pursuing their professional
dreams by high stakes testing providers who take a rigid approach to disability
accommodations. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
The plaintiff is represented with the support of the National Federation of the
Blind by LaBarre Law Offices, P.C., in Denver, Colorado, and by Brown,
Goldstein & Levy, LLP, in Baltimore, Maryland. The plaintiff is
further represented by Disability Rights Advocates, a nonprofit law center that
specializes in civil rights cases on behalf of persons with disabilities, based
in Berkeley, California. <br>
<br>
</span></font> <br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:12.0pt;text-align:center'><b><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>###</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <br>
<br>
</span></font><b><font face=Garamond><span style='font-family:Garamond;
font-weight:bold'>About the National Federation of the Blind<br>
<br>
</span></font></b><font face=Garamond><span style='font-family:Garamond'> <br>
<br>
With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is
the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the
United States. The NFB improves blind peoples lives through
advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging
independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force in the
blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. In January
2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute,
the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led
by the blind. <br>
</span></font> <br>
<br>
<br>
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