National Federation of the Blind, et al v. Arizona Board of Regents, et al

Filing 4

MOTION for Hearing or Conference re: Pre Trial Conference by National Federation of the Blind, American Council of the Blind, Darrell Shandrow. (Friedman, Andrew)

BONNETT, FAIRBOURN, FRIEDMAN
& BALINT, P.C.
Andrew S. Friedman (AZ Bar. 005425)
Guy A. Hansen (AZ Bar. 013549)
2901 North Central Avenue, Suite 1000
Phoenix, Arizona 85012
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Daniel F. Goldstein
Mehgan Sidhu
BROWN, GOLDSTEIN & LEVY, LLP
120 E. Baltimore St., Suite 1700
Baltimore, MD 21202
[phone]
[phone] (fax)
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Counsel for Plaintiffs
[Additional Counsel Appear on Signature Page]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
The NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE
BLIND, The AMERICAN COUNCIL OF
THE BLIND, and DARRELL SHANDROW,
Plaintiffs,
vs.

Case No: 2:09-cv-01359-MHM
REQUEST FOR PRETRIAL
CONFERENCE

The ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS and
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY,
Defendants

Pursuant to Rule 16, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiffs National
Federation of the Blind (“NFB”), American Council of the Blind ("ACB") and Darrell
Shandrow request that the Court schedule a Pretrial Conference at the earliest possible

date in order to expedite the disposition of this action. The nature of this action
necessitates the Court’s early involvement and management of this litigation.
Plaintiffs have filed a complaint seeking to preliminarily enjoin Defendant
Arizona State University (“ASU”) and the Arizona Board of Regents (“Regents”) from
implementing an electronic textbook program during its fall 2009 semester (which begins
August 24, 2009). The program involves the distribution of the Kindle DX electronic
book readers to students taking The Human Event course in ASU’s Barrett Honors
College and other courses to be selected. As alleged in the Complaint and explained in
the Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Memorandum in Support, ASU’s program
violates federal law because students who are blind cannot navigate the menus and
operational features of the Kindle DX, making it inaccessible to them.
Upon learning of ASU’s electronic textbook program in May 2009, a
representative of the Reading Rights Coalition, which includes Plaintiffs NFB and ACB,
wrote ASU that the use of Kindle DX violates the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans
with Disabilities Act, and asked that ASU postpone the program until Amazon makes a
Kindle DX that is accessible to blind students. After further discussions with a
representative of the organizational plaintiffs, ASU elected to proceed with the program
as scheduled for the fall 2009 semester.
Plaintiffs request that the Court schedule a Pretrial Conference for the following
purposes:
(1)

To implement an expedited discovery schedule;1

1

Plaintiffs are filing a Motion for Expedited Discovery concurrently with this Request
for Expedited Pretrial Conference and have sent Defendants a list of Plaintiffs’
anticipated witnesses at the hearing with a short description of the subject matter of the
testimony of each.
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(2)

To implement a briefing schedule on the Motion for Preliminary Injunction

by the parties; and
(3)

To schedule an evidentiary hearing on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary

Injunction.
Given the nature of the requested injunctive relief and the timing issues, all parties
will benefit from the Court’s early involvement in the proceedings. Accordingly,
Plaintiffs request that the Court schedule a Rule 16 Pretrial Conference on an expedited
basis.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this 25th day of June, 2009.
BONNETT,FAIRBOURN, FRIEDMAN
& BALINT, P.C.
/s/Andrew S. Friedman
Andrew S. Friedman (AZ Bar. 005425)
Guy A. Hanson (AZ Bar. 013549)
2901 North Central Avenue, Suite 1000
Phoenix, AZ 85012-3311
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
OF COUNSEL, Pro Hac Vice Admission
Pending:
Daniel F. Goldstein
Mehgan Sidhu
BROWN, GOLDSTEIN & LEVY, LLP
120 E. Baltimore St., Suite 1700
Baltimore, MD 21202
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Amy Robertson
FOX & ROBERTSON, P.C.
104 Broadway, Suite 400
-3-

Denver, CO 80203
TTY: (877) -595-9706
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: (303).595.9705
[e-mail]
Eve Hill
1667 K St. NW, Suite 640
Washington, DC 20006
[e-mail]
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
COPYth the foregoing hand-delivered
of
this 25 day of June, 2009 to:
Terry Goddard
Office of the Attorney General
1275 West Washington Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
/s/Nancy Varner
Nancy Varner

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