Shame on Judge Spatt

Steve wrote about this last month in The Perils of Single Issue Politics and today Buckblog informs us of the latest news on this front:

"A deaf Westbury teenager was distraught Tuesday after a judge ruled that his service dog, Simba, must stay home when the boy goes to school."

Buckblog has summarized this nicely for us so I won't repeat it here.  Can you believe this though?  STILL? In this day and age?

In his post Buckblog mentions his wife, an experienced guide dog user, and the fact that she and her dog "Fancy" were well received where ever they went, except for one minor incident.  As a former guide dog trainer/instructor and wife of a guide dog user I'm very pleased, yet surprised to hear that. 

Steve hasn't been so fortunate although I will say that he hasn't had much trouble here in the mid-west.  Let's see, once, when we were on our way to Mayor Rudy Giuliani's mansion in NYC for a fund raiser we were denied access to a taxicab.  Actually, that happened a lot in NYC.  Then there was the time we were on our way to tape an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show.  (Steve had been invited as a guest shortly after Planet of the Blind was published.)  We were initially refused access onto a bus we had to take to LaGuardia Airport to catch a plane.  Steve has yet to sue anyone but had we in the end been refused that bus ride, I wouldn't have put it past him.  Taxi's, buses, restaurants, museums, hotels...we've seen it all.  And I can assure you, neither of Steve's guide dogs have ever been "disruptive".  Fortunately, in most situations, when Steve suggests that he could call the police in to discuss the matter further, all is dropped.  Access is permitted, but then it's followed up by the stares and the glares...

I am very sorry to hear of this young man's predicament.  His rights have been violated, of that there is no doubt.  Ultimately he should get what he wants - what he needs - but not with out paying a heavy emotional price tag as this is played out through the judicial system.  He'll learn a lot won't he?  Let's hope Judge Arthur Spatt does too.

~ Connie

Read more:

Actions Speak Louder than Woofs

ADA: Service Animals

Comments

[Georgia Whitney]

I look forward to the day when I get to sit next to someone on a plane/train/bus who has a service dog. I'd welcome them with open paws -- and give nine kinds of grief to anyone who didn't.

Georgia