ADA Title II: State and Local Governments
The ADA protects the rights of people who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits their ability to perform one or more major life activities, such as breathing, walking, reading, thinking, seeing, hearing, or working. It does not apply to people whose impairment is unsubstantial, such as someone who is slightly nearsighted or someone who is mildly allergic to pollen. However, it does apply to people whose disability is substantial but can be moderated or mitigated, and it also applies to people who have a record of having a substantial impairment (e.g., a person with cancer that is in remission) or are regarded as having such an impairment (e.g., a person who has scars from a severe burn).
Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in all programs, activities, and services of public entities. It applies to all state and local governments, their departments and agencies, and any other instrumentalities or special purpose districts of state or local governments.
A state or local government must eliminate any eligibility criteria for participation in programs, activities, and services that screen out or tend to screen out persons with disabilities, unless it can establish that the requirements are necessary for the provision of the service, program, or activity. The state or local government may, however, adopt legitimate safety requirements necessary for safe operation if they are based on real risks, not on stereotypes or generalizations about individuals with disabilities. A public entity shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford qualified individuals with disabilities, including applicants, participants, companions, and members of the public, an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, a service, program, or activity of a public entity. Finally, a public entity must reasonably modify its policies, practices, or procedures to avoid discrimination. If the public entity can demonstrate that a particular modification would fundamentally alter the nature of its service, program, or activity, it is not required to make that modification.
A public entity must ensure that individuals with disabilities are not excluded from services, programs, and activities because existing buildings are inaccessible. A state or local government’s programs, when viewed in their entirety, must be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. This standard, known as “program accessibility”, applies to facilities of a public entity that existed on January 26, 1992. Public entities do not necessarily have to make each of their existing facilities accessible. They may provide program accessibility by a number of methods including alteration of existing facilities, acquisition or construction of additional facilities, relocation of a service or program to an accessible facility, or provision of services at alternate accessible sites.
The New Mexico courts are committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities have equal and full access to the New Mexico judicial system. Access can mean physical access to enter or move about in judicial buildings or the ability to participate fully in all programs and services. Any person who, has a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activity, has a record of such an impairment or is regarded as having such an impairment may request an accommodation.
Although you can request an accommodation in any written form or orally, it is preferred that the request be made by completing a Request for Accommodations Form. Please mail the form to the court where the hearing is going to take place as soon as possible. Upon request, the form can be available in an alternative format.
The accommodation request must include the full name, address and contact information of the person making the request. If known, the request should state the date of the proceeding, the docket number and whether it is a civil or criminal matter. The request should state the nature of the disability that makes an accommodation necessary and include a suggestion as to what would be a reasonable accommodation for the disability.
Public entities are required to give primary consideration to the type of auxiliary aid or service requested by the person with the disability. They must honor that choice, unless they can demonstrate that another equally effective means of communication is available or that the aid or service requested would fundamentally alter the nature of the program, service, or activity or would result in undue financial and administrative burdens.
Although the New Mexico Judiciary is committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities have equal and full access to the New Mexico courts, some requests for an accommodation may be denied. The ADA does not require that an accommodation be provided to someone who is not a “qualified” individual with a disability. The courts are also not required to take actions that would cause a “fundamental alteration of a program or service” or would present an “undue financial or administrative burden.” In addition, the ADA does not require the courts to provide services or devices of a personal nature, such as wheelchairs or other mobility devices, or legal representation, secretarial services and transportation.
The ADA requires public entities to make “reasonable modifications” in their usual ways of doing things when necessary to accommodate people who have disabilities. Any modification that would result in a “fundamental alteration” — a change in the essential nature of the entity’s programs or services — is not required.
Communicating successfully is an essential part of providing service to the public. The ADA requires public entities to take the steps necessary to communicate effectively with people who have disabilities, and uses the term “auxiliary aids and services” to refer to readers, notetakers, sign language interpreters, assistive listening systems and devices, open and closed captioning, text telephones (TTYs), videophones, information provided in large print, Braille, audible, or electronic formats, and other tools for people who have communication disabilities. In addition, the regulations permit the use of newer technologies including real-time captioning (also known as computer-assisted real-time transcription, or CART) in which a transcriber types what is being said at a meeting or event into a computer that projects the words onto a screen; remote CART (which requires an audible feed and a data feed to an off-site transcriber); and video remote interpreting (VRI), a fee-based service that allows public entities that have video conferencing equipment to access a sign language interpreter off-site.
Because the nature of communications differs from program to program, the rules allow for flexibility in determining effective communication solutions. The goal is to find a practical solution that fits the circumstances, taking into consideration the nature, length, and complexity of the communication as well as the person’s normal method(s) of communication.
Appropriate auxiliary aids and services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing may include services and devices such as qualified interpreters on-site or through video remote interpreting (VRI) services; note takers; real-time computer-aided transcription services; written materials; exchange of written notes; telephone handset amplifiers; assistive listening devices; assistive listening systems; telephones compatible with hearing aids; closed caption decoders; open and closed captioning, including real-time captioning; voice, text, and video-based telecommunications products and systems, including text telephones (TTYs), videophones, and captioned telephones, or equally effective telecommunications devices; videotext displays; accessible electronic and information technology; or other effective methods of making aurally delivered information available to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.