[Tn-talk] FW: RECENT UPDATES FROM THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

[Seay, Michael]

-----Original Message-----
From: Cantos, Ollie (CRT) [mailto:Ollie.Cantos at usdoj.gov] 
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2007 12:19 AM
To: Seay, Michael
Subject: FW: RECENT UPDATES FROM THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Hi, , Mike.  If you have seen the following before, please disregard.  But, we have had some trouble with our system over the past little while, so I wanted to re-send you the following, which was originally issued earlier this week on Tuesday, September 4.  Also, as an FYI, I will be on extensive business travel over the next several weeks but will continue to take phone calls and will reply to email as best as I can.  In effect, I am taking my office on the road!  I will be returning phone calls and responding to email between speaking engagements and meeting with leaders in various states.

Thanks much, and I hope all has been going well.

--Ollie

Olegario D. Cantos VII, Esq.
Special Counsel to the Acting Assistant Attorney General
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Room 5539
Washington, DC   20530
(202) 514-8191 (Voice)
(202) 514-0716 (TTY)
(202) 307-2839 (Fax)
Ollie.Cantos at usdoj.gov 

----------Original Message----------
From: Cantos, Ollie (CRT)
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 11:52 PM
To:  Seay, Michael
Subject: RECENT UPDATES FROM THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT


TO:
Michael Seay
President
National Federation of the Blind of Tennessee

FR:
Olegario "Ollie" D. Cantos VII, Esq.
Special Counsel to the Acting Assistant Attorney General
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice

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Warm greetings to you, Mike, as I return from my vacation which spanned from the late afternoon of Friday, August 17 through yesterday, September 3.  That R&R entailed much-needed visits with family and long-time friends in California whom I missed so much, fondly interrupted only by an eight-day trip to Hawaii, where I (along with nine other family members) gain new memories while on the Island of Oahu!  Personal highlights include swimming with three dolphins, taking a submarine voyage to the floor of the Pacific Ocean, relaxing on a sailboat on the open sea, kayaking from Oahu to a nearby island and jumping into a remote tide pool with waves crashing into the salt water pool that nature created over millions of years, and experiencing seven cultures at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  Now that I am back, one of my first large orders of business is to bring you up to date on developments that have taken place while I was away.  Needless to say, much has happened since I have been gone:

     1.  ATTORNEY GENERAL ALBERTO R. GONZALES ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION

     2.  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT'S CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP

     3.  UNITED STATES FILES SUIT AGAINST LONG ISLAND HOUSING DEVELOPMENT COMPANY AND ARCHITECT FOR VIOLATING
         FAIR HOUSING ACT REQUIREMENTS

     4.  COURT APPROVAL SOUGHT TO DISTRIBUTE OVER $1 MILLION IN DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AGAINST
          BALTIMORE HOUSING AUTHORITY

Details are below.  Thanks, and best wishes.  

--Ollie

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1.  ATTORNEY GENERAL ALBERTO R. GONZALES ANNOUNCES HIS RESIGNATION

As I am sure you know by now, Mike, the time in public service of the 80th Attorney General of the United States is to conclude on September 17, 2007.  For your reference, here is the full text of the statement he issued on the day of his announcement.

---

Thirteen years ago, I entered public service to make a positive difference in the lives of others. During this time, I have traveled a remarkable journey from my home state of Texas to Washington, D.C., supported by the unwavering love and encouragement of my wife Rebecca and our sons Jared, Graham, and Gabriel. Yesterday, I met with President Bush and informed him of my decision to conclude my government service as Attorney General of the United States, effective as of September 17, 2007. 
Let me say that it has been one of my greatest privileges to lead the Department of Justice. I have great admiration and respect for the men and women who work here. I have made a point as Attorney General to personally meet as many of them as possible and today I want to again thank them for their service to our nation. It is through their continued work that our country and our communities remain safe, that the rights and civil liberties of our citizens are protected and the hopes and dreams of all of our children are secured. 

I often remind our fellow citizens that we live in the greatest country in the world and that I have lived the American dream. Even my worst days as Attorney General have been better than my father's best days. Public service is honorable and noble, and I am profoundly grateful to President Bush for his friendship and for the many opportunities he has given me to serve the American people.

---

*****

2.  JUSTICE DEPARTMENT'S CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION NOW UNDER NEW LEADERSHIP

On Thursday, August 23, 2007, Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim announced his resignation.  Here is the full text of the statement of the Attorney General.

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2007
WWW.USDOJ.GOVCRT
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

Statement of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on the Resignation of Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim

WASHINGTON - Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, today announced his resignation, effective at the end of this month. President Bush nominated Mr. Kim to the position on June 16, 2005, and the Senate unanimously confirmed his appointment on November 4, 2005. Mr. Kim, whose career in the Department of Justice has spanned more than a decade, started in the Department of Justice Honors Program as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division, and later served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia.

"For over a decade now, Wan Kim has served the Department of Justice and the American people with distinction and honor," said Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. "Starting as a young attorney in the Honors Program, Wan has worked his way up through the Department, and I will miss his honest opinions and valuable contributions as an advisor to me."

During Mr. Kim's tenure, the Civil Rights Division set record levels of enforcement in a broad range of areas, which included obtaining the highest number of criminal convictions in a single year in the past two decades; filing more than twice the average number of voting rights lawsuits in one year than were filed annually over the past 30 years; and filing as many lawsuits to challenge a pattern or practice of employment discrimination in one year as during the last three years of the previous Administration combined. Mr. Kim also supervised major initiatives in the areas of human trafficking prosecutions, housing discrimination, religious liberties and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Other notable accomplishments include the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2006; lawsuits against several financial institutions for discrimination in lending; the investigation and prosecution of cold cases from the Civil Rights Era; and numerous cases to protect the rights of persons in institutional facilities.

###

07-652

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As of today, September 4, 2007, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Rena J. Comisac has begun service as Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.  I can tell you from my exceptional working relationship with Rena that she is a dedicated visionary who enjoys a great degree of respect from DOJ's political leaders and career staff alike.  Since the time I have known her within this Department, she has been a staunch enforcer of civil rights for people with disabilities, having had direct supervisorial responsibilities over the Civil Rights Division's disability portfolio.  She was instrumental in leading in the assembly of DOJ's Five-Year report on Americans with Disabilities Act enforcement (which was released last October), continuing to advance the efforts of the Division's Project Civic Access Program designed to facilitate greater physical and programmatic accessibility of cities and towns, actively pushing forward in DOJ's regulatory work on disability issues, serving as the primary contact on disability matters within DOJ for the White House from April 2006 through March 2007, authorizing our Division's expansion of work to serve crime victims with disabilities, supporting efforts on coordinated human service transportation in conjunction with other federal agencies, and strongly backing greater emergency preparedness for people with disabilities.  She has a deep personal commitment to disability rights enforcement and has consistently worked hard for the disability community.  I think the world of her as a person and respect her highly for her work.   

By way of background, prior to Rena's new post, she served in a deputy capacity in the Civil Rights Division since October 2005.  Having originally joined the Department through the Attorney General's Honors Program in 1993, she served as Trial Attorney within the Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section in the Criminal Division, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, and Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General over the Criminal Division.  Outside the Department, she was Deputy Chief Counsel for Nominations in the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate, Deputy Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, Law Clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and Law Clerk for the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas.  She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree Summa Cum Laude from Birmingham Southern College and earned her law degree from Georgetown University here in Washington, DC.

Please join me in congratulating Acting Assistant Attorney General Rena J. Comisac as she continues the worthy work begun by her predecessors and as she builds upon her solid direct experience in serving the disability community.  I am honored to serve at her side.

*****

3.  UNITED STATES FILES SUIT AGAINST LONG ISLAND HOUSING DEVELOPMENT COMPANY AND ARCHITECT FOR VIOLATING FAIR HOUSING ACT REQUIREMENTS

[The following press release was the last one issued under now former Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim's tenure within a disability rights context.  It was issued early last week.]


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2007
WWW.USDOJ.GOVCRT
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

United States Files Suit Against Long Island Housing Development Company and Architect for Violating Fair Housing Act Requirements

WASHINGTON - Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division and Roslynn R. Mauskopf, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, today announced the filing of a federal complaint against Sayville Development Group LLC and Stephen Ray Fellman for violations of the Fair Housing Act. Sayville is the developer of a multifamily housing complex in Long Island, N.Y. called Sayville Commons, which is a rental community for residents aged 55 and older located at 400 Adams Way in Sayville, N.Y. Fellman is an architect who provided architectural and engineering services for the construction of Sayville Commons. The complaint also names the current owner of Sayville Commons, Home Properties Sayville LLC as a defendant.

According to the government's complaint, Sayville Commons, a 342 unit complex with 171 ground floor units, violates the Fair Housing Act because it does not provide appropriate access to persons with disabilities. In particular, the complaint alleges that the common and public areas of Sayville Commons are not readily accessible to persons with disabilities; the doors in ground floor units are not wide enough to allow passage by persons who use wheelchairs, and the ground floor units lack accessible routes into and through the units. The complaint further alleges that ground floor units do not have usable kitchens and bathrooms for people who use wheelchairs. The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief requiring Sayville Commons to be brought into compliance with the Fair Housing Act, damages to compensate all persons harmed by defendants' discriminatory practices, and civil penalties to vindicate the public interest.

"This lawsuit seeks to ensure that people with disabilities are not denied equal access to fair housing," said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Justice Department will continue its vigorous enforcement of all the fair housing laws."

"Persons with disabilities and those who use wheelchairs are entitled to the protections of the Fair Housing Act, including readily accessible common and public areas, access into and through their units and usable facilities," stated United States Attorney Mauskopf. "Developers and architects will be held accountable for failing to extend these basic protections to our older, disabled citizens who need them most."

The government's case is being litigated by Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise McGinn and Trial Attorney Joseph Gaeta from the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

Fighting illegal housing discrimination is a top priority of the Justice Department. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced Operation Home Sweet Home, a concentrated initiative to expose and eliminate housing discrimination in America. More information about Operation Home Sweet Home is available at the Justice Department website at http://www.usdoj.gov/fairhousing. Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of housing discrimination can call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, email the Justice Department at fairhousing at usdoj.gov, or contact the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at 1-800-669-9777.

Since Jan. 1, 2001, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has filed 230 cases to enforce the Fair Housing Act, 105 of which have alleged discrimination based on disability.

###

07-668

*****

4.  COURT APPROVAL SOUGHT TO DISTRIBUTE OVER $1 MILLION IN DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AGAINST BALTIMORE HOUSING AUTHORITY

[Those who have been a part of my network for a long time will remember this lawsuit from several years ago.  Below is an update on the latest efforts in this case.]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2007
WWW.USDOJ.GOVCRT
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

Court Approval Sought to Distribute Over $1 Million in Disability Discrimination Lawsuit Against Baltimore Housing Authority

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department today announced that it will seek court approval for the pro rata distribution of over $1 million in monetary damages among 756 individuals who were identified through a claims process as part of the resolution of a 2004 lawsuit by the United States that alleged a pattern or practice of discrimination by Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) against persons with disabilities.

The Justice Department's complaint alleged that HABC violated the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Fair Housing Act by refusing to admit non-elderly persons with disabilities; failing to make its public housing units, common areas, and administrative offices accessible; and failing to provide sufficient assistance to persons with physical or mental disabilities who sought to rent private units through HABC's Section 8 Housing subsidy program. The Justice Department's lawsuit was resolved together with a lawsuit filed by three individuals with disabilities who were represented by the Maryland Disability Law Center. On Dec. 20, 2004, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland entered a consent order that settled the matter and required HABC to establish a $1 million victims compensation fund and implement changes to its housing facilities, programs, policies and practices.

"Federal law guarantees that Americans with disabilities have the right to seek fair and accessible housing within their communities," said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Justice Department will continue its vigorous enforcement of all the fair housing laws."

Fighting illegal housing discrimination is a top priority of the Justice Department. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced Operation Home Sweet Home, a concentrated initiative to expose and eliminate housing discrimination in America. This initiative was inspired by the plight of displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina who were suddenly forced to find new places to live. Operation Home Sweet Home is not limited to the areas hit by Hurricane Katrina and targets housing discrimination all over the country.

More information about Operation Home Sweet Home is available at the Justice Department Web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/fairhousing. Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of housing discrimination can call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, email the Justice Department at fairhousing at usdoj.gov, or contact the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at 1-800-669-9777. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability and familial status. Since Jan. 1, 2001, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has filed 230 cases to enforce the Fair Housing Act, 105 of which have alleged discrimination based on disability. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt.

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07-632

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Olegario D. Cantos VII, Esq.
Special Counsel to the Acting Assistant Attorney General Civil Rights Division U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Room 5539 Washington, DC   20530
(202) 514-8191 (Voice)
(202) 514-0716 (TTY)
(202) 307-2839 (Fax)
Ollie.Cantos at usdoj.gov