Court Rules Legally Blind Law-Grad Can Use Device For Bar Exam
A federal district court judge ruled that a legally blind law-school grad who sued the National Conference of Bar Examiners can use adaptive technology when she takes the February 2010 California Bar Exam.
Stephanie Enyart, who was diagnosed with macular degeneration and lost much of her vision at 15, wanted to use ZoomText technology that would help her take the exam, but the NCBE refused, saying it would create security issues.
On November 3, 2009 Stephanie Enyart filed a suit alleging that NCBE discriminates against blind and low vision bar applicants. The suit states that the NCBE violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and California’s civil rights law by denying accommodations on the Multistate Bar Exam and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam.
Prior to law school, Enyart sought accommodation for the required Law School Admissions Test. UCLA, the school she was testing into, hired a human reader to read the test questions for her. Enyart says that the man hired was so sick that he continued to leave to get tea and blow his nose. Further she says she had a hard time understanding him through his nasally congestion. Although she passed and was accepted to law school, she believes her score suffered because she was denied the use of a computer software program that would provide visual and auditory assistance.
Enyart, 32, was represented with support from the National Federation of the Blind by Labarre Law Offices in Denver and by Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP in Baltimore. Enyart was also represented by Disability Rights Advocates, a non-profit law center specializing in civil rights cases involving disabled individuals.
Her attorney’s pointed out that the NCBE provided laptops with audio reader software for blind applicants in a successful pilot program last year but refused to provide a similar accommodation for Enyart, even though she offered to pay $400 for the software she requires. Enyart said she needs the combination of the visual and auditory assistance because she grew up learning to read visually and has not learned how to rely solely on her hearing to process information.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said, “In this case, the just thing to do is to grant the injunction.” ”A disability should not prevent an individual from pursuing their dream, if that’s what it is of practicing law,” added Breyer.
Breyer said he believs the security concerns can be met if the committee sends the laptop and CD to be used directly to the testing center. He ordered lawyers on both sides to meet next week to work out details of the plan and said he will then issue a written order.
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