ADAWatch.org Newswire and Action Alert Network  – Regular disability rights news and timely Action Alerts are distributed to thousands of  advocates, leaders, organizations, members of the disability and mainstream media,  as well as the general public. Our alerts have regularly mobilized the disability community to take action including contacting Congress, the White House, the Media and others regarding issues impacting the human rights of children and adults with physical, mental, developmental and cognitive disabilities.     

Disability Rights Media Campaign – ADA Watch/NCDR works to educate the general public and promote disability rights by regular placement of opinion columns in national, state and local media. Opinion columns, as well articles including our campaigns and quotes from leadership, have run in the Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Detroit Free Press, Los Angeles Times, and more.  

Congressional Fixes: ADA Restoration Act, Fairness: The Civil Rights Act of 2004 - Responding to recent court decisions that have weakened the ADA, we have led an ongoing campaign to build Congressional and grassroots support for an ADA Restoration Act. Last year we facilitated several sessions of working groups with some of our community's best legal experts who worked together on legal approaches to a Congressional fix of the ADA. We are working toward introduction of an ADA Restoration Act in this session of Congress.  

A recent ADA Watch poll -- with more than 3,000 responses from community members -- indicates 96% of respondents supporting a Congressional fix to restore the ADA.

Coalition legal experts also contributed disability-specific fixes to Fairness: The Civil Rights Act of 2004 and ADA Watch/NCDR will work aggressively this year toward passage of this important response to the chipping away of civil rights in the courts.  

ADA Before the Supreme Court – ADA Watch/NCDR closely monitors the “New Federalism” movement and the rolling back of civil rights protections in the courts. Our homepage at www.adawatch.org includes an overview of our recent work on the Tennessee v. Lane case before the Supreme Court. It is yet another "States' Rights" case – this time dealing with accessible courthouses. The Memphis Commercial Appeal published our attached op-ed column entitled, "Tennessee as ADA Spoiler." Additionally, we organized press events and a Supreme Court “crawl” that received national attention.  

Arguing for the respondents in the case, William J. Brown disputed Tennessee's position that Congress does not have the authority to make states comply with the ADA, stating simply: 

"Surely today, in the year 2004, Congress has the power to ensure that we, as individuals, have all the rights of citizenship."  

Campaign for Fair Judges: Judicial Nominations - We continue to be actively involved in assessing and advising our coalition members, Congress, and the general public on the disability rights and civil rights records of nominees to the federal courts. Individually, and in partnership with our member organizations including LCCR, PFAW, and AFJ, we have sponsored press conferences, had op-ed columns published, and held events to bring attention to the "New Federalism" movement and the impact on disability rights. ADA Watch/NCDR has led the disability community’s organized opposition to nominees such as Jeffrey Sutton, Charles Pickering, William Pryor, William Myers and others.   

2004 - 2005 Disability Rights Concert Series and Bus Tour - In partnership with a nonprofit production company, Active Music (www.activemusic.org), ADA Watch/NCDR is sponsoring the 2004-2005 Campaign for the Human Rights of People with Disabilities. Our goals are to heighten public awareness and sensitivity, develop new initiatives and build stronger alliances between local, state and the national disability community, the general public and the corporate sector. 

Active Music raises sustainable funding, awareness and community support for critical issues and nonprofit organizations through the power of music.  

Active Music management has been involved in major events such as the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope Tour and they work with artists such as Dave Matthews, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Alanis Morissette, and many others. Active Music believes in the power of artists to accelerate positive change. 

Initial plans are to have anchor events in LA, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, New York, and concluding in Washington, DC in 2005 on the 15th anniversary of the ADA. We hope these events, which will also feature the work of disability rights photographer Tom Olin, will bring attention to the disability rights movement as well as raise needed funds to support our efforts. Olin’s photographs, which have been displayed at the Smithsonian, provide a powerful visual history of the disability community’s struggle for human rights.