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)

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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 afriedman@bffb.com ghanson@bffb.com Telephone: (602) 274-1100 Facsimile: (602) 274-1199 Daniel F. Goldstein Mehgan Sidhu BROWN, GOLDSTEIN & LEVY, LLP 120 E. Baltimore St., Suite 1700 Baltimore, MD 21202 (410)962-1030 (410)385-0869 (fax) dfg@browngold.com ms@browngold.com 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. -2- (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 afriedman@bffb.com ghanson@bffb.com Telephone: (602) 274-1100 Facsimile: (602) 274-1199 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: (410) 962-1030 Facsimile: (410) 385-0869 dfg@browngold.com ms@browngold.com Amy Robertson FOX & ROBERTSON, P.C. 104 Broadway, Suite 400 -3- Denver, CO 80203 TTY: (877) -595-9706 Telephone: (303) 595-9700 Facsimile: (303).595.9705 ARob@foxrob.com Eve Hill 1667 K St. NW, Suite 640 Washington, DC 20006 ehill@law.syr.edu Telephone: (202) 296-2044 Facsimile: (202) 296-2047 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 -4-

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