Blankthe charges were dropped
timelord09@xxxxxxxxxxx
There Are None So Blind As Those Who Will Not See
William and Leader Dog Lynerd
From: Steve
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2016 13:28
To: msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [msb-alumni] Trial Begins for Blind Protester
Sorry, this is a week late now...
Trial begins for blind protester arrested at Capitol Paul Egan, Detroit Free
Press MASON -'A blind activist who was arrested while demonstrating outside
the state Capitol in Lansing last year is scheduled to stand trial today in
Ingham County Circuit Court. Paul Joseph (Joe) Harcz, 63, of Mt. Morris, is
charged with resisting and obstructing police, a two-year felony. Harcz was
arrested on Sept. 17 when he tried to cross a police barricade to enter a 25th
anniversary celebration of the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, taking
place on the Capitol lawn, after police identified him as a protester they
believed was intent on disrupting the event. Harcz was protesting the fact
organizers chose the Capitol as the site for the event, when the historic
building
lacked Braille signage and other features to make it fully ADA-compliant. He
was also protesting the fact that some of the organizers of the event, as
permitted by federal law, paid sub-minimum wages to some disabled workers.
Harcz, who said Sunday he has rejected offers to plead to a lesser charge,
maintains
that blocking him from the event was a violation of his constitutional rights.
Organizers have confirmed that he was a member of one of the committees
that planned the ADA celebration. The 25-year-old ADA is landmark federal
legislation that prohibits discrimination based on disability, imposes
accessibility
requirements on public facilities and requires covered employers to reasonably
accommodate employees with disabilities. Lansing District Judge Hugh Clarke,
Jr. bound Harcz over for trial last October after hearing testimony from one
police witness and viewing two videos shot by police body cameras. Clarke
said Harcz failed to comply with a lawful command from police not to cross a
barricade and that is sufficient probable cause to support a charge of resisting
or obstructing police. Clarke said it was reasonable for police to establish a
buffer between ADA celebrants and protesters, and Harcz was never told to
leave the Capitol grounds, only to stay in a certain area of the Capitol a
distance from the ADA celebration. Terry Eagle, a member and former board member
of the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan, and an advocate for people
with disabilities, said it's ironic that the Ingham County courthouse in
Mason, where Harcz is to stand trial before Judge William Collette, is also not
fully ADA-accessible, partly because it isn't served by public transit.
"This causes an unnecessary financial and other hardship for those persons with
disabilities scheduled to testify at the Harcz trial," Eagle said Sunday.