From: David Andrews 
Subject: Hawaii Press Release: Settlement on Quarantine Exemption! (fwd)
>X-From: From owner-blind-etc@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU Thu Jan 29 19:00 CST 1998
>Posted-Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 19:00:12 -0600 (CST)
>Date:         Thu, 29 Jan 1998 16:52:33 +0800
>Reply-To: Blind-ETC  Your everything else list for the blind and visually
>              impaired 
>Sender: Blind-ETC  Your everything else list for the blind and visually
>              impaired 
>From: "Tom D. Baccanti" 
>Organization: Magical Mist Creations http://www.wwwebit.com/magical-mist
>Subject:      Hawaii Press Release: Settlement on Quarantine Exemption! 
fwd)
>To: BLIND-ETC@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
>
>-------- Forwarded message --------
>Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 12:13:23 -0500
>From: Jenine Stanley 
>To: GUIDE-DOG-POL@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
>Subject: Hawaii Press Release: Settlement on Quarantine Exemption!
>
>Please distribute the following far and wide. Thanks to all who have
>supported this effort through the years.
>
>Jenine Stanley
>"A small, thoughtful, committed group of people can change the world.
>Indeed, it is the only thing that can."
>     Margaret Mead
>President, Guide Dog Users Inc. (GDUI)
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 1998
>
>        JOINT PRESS RELEASE OF STATE AND CLASS PLAINTIFFS
>
>        QUARANTINE LITIGATION SETTLED
>
>A class action lawsuit, filed in 1993 by blind guide dog users residing in
>Hawaii and on the mainland of the United States against Hawaii's Animal
>Quarantine ("Quarantine"), has been preliminarily settled.
>
>The trial, which was scheduled for December, was continued to April 1998 to
>allow the State Department of Agriculture time to go through the rule-making
>process, including public hearings, to adopt new proposed rules.  The
proposed
>rules, which were worked out in settlement discussions and which are 
xpected
>to be implemented this spring, will allow guide dog users to visit Hawaii
free
>of Quarantine so long as they comply with certain vaccination, antibody and
>microchip requirements.  Provided the rules are adopted without substantive
>changes, the class action lawsuit will be dismissed.
>
>As part of its rabies-prevention program, Hawaii historically subjected 
uide
>dog users to the same Quarantine requirements with which all travelers to
>Hawaii had to comply.  However, in 1996, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
>held that Quarantine violated the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") 
nd
>ordered the Hawaii District Court to hold a trial on whether Plaintiffs'
>proposed modifications to Quarantine were reasonable.  The Civil Rights
>Division of the Department of Justice intervened in the case in support of
the
>Plaintiffs.
>
>The State of Hawaii has a responsibility to protect the public health and
>safety of the people of Hawaii and to maintain Haw aii's rabies-free status.
>The Class Plaintiffs have asserted a right to meaningful access to the State
>and its services, pro grams or activities under the ADA.  The preliminary
>settlement balances these competing interests.
>
>"The vaccination and serologic testing requirements in the proposed rules 
re
>critical components in any system for keeping Hawaii rabies-free," said Dr.
>Calvin Lum, State Veterinarian and Administrator of the State of Hawaii
>Department of Agriculture's Animal Industry Division.  "We are pleased that
>guide dog users will be able to travel to and from Hawaii more conveniently
>with these safeguards in place."
>
>Michael A. Lilly, attorney for the Class Plaintiffs, stated, "Quarantine has
>been a 'Berlin Wall' for blind citizens.  Unlike sighted travelers, blind
>Americans have been precluded from visiting or leaving Hawaii with their
guide
>dogs.  By this settlement, blind guide dog users will finally be allowed to
>travel to Hawaii without going through Quarantine.  I thank both the State 
f
>Hawaii and the Department of Justice in coming together to achieve such an
>outstanding and scientifically-sound result for blind guide dog users and 
he
>citizens of Hawaii."
>
>Jenine Stanley, a mainland Class Plaintiff and President of Guide Dog Users,
>Inc., stated, "Guide Dog Users, Inc., has worked tirelessly to make our 
ight
>to travel to Hawaii a reality.  And we are pleased to have worked out this
>resolution with the State of Hawaii and the Department of Justice.  My
husband
>and I now look forward to being able to take our long-delayed honeymoon in
>Hawaii."
>
>Vernon Crowder, a mainland Class Plaintiff, stated, "I am very excited about
>the progress that has been made and the opportunity after all this time
for me
>to travel to Hawaii on pleasure or business with my guide dog, Aggie.  I
>recognize this will still be a cumbersome process, but it is certainly a big
>step in the right direction."
>
>Pat Blum, a Hawaii Class Plaintiff, stated, "Hurray.  Finally, I will be 
ble
>to take my dog, Sultan, to the mainland and return without going through
>Quarantine."
>
>Points of Contact:
>
>Plaintiffs:
>
>Michael A. Lilly, Esq., 808-528-1100
>Kent and Jenine Stanley, 614-766-5524
>Pat Blum, 808-988-6642
>Vernon Crowder 209-445-2812
>
>State of Hawaii:
>
>Dr. Calvin Lum, 483-7111
>Heidi Rian, Esq. 587-3050
>
>
		
	
	
David Andrews, dandrews@visi.com or
Telnet to nfbnet.org, or call
(612) 696-1975	
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