COLUMBIA, South Carolina --- Sunday, July 26, 2020, marked the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA), a critical civil rights law that aims to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina is proud to play a critical role in the Justice Department’s enforcement efforts under the ADA, which was signed into law on July 26, 1990, and is the nation’s preeminent civil rights law for providing access and equal opportunity for people with disabilities.
“This office plays a vital role in ensuring equal access to all," said U.S. Attorney Peter M. McCoy, Jr. “We are fully committed to ADA enforcement."
The promise of the ADA is its wide-ranging efforts to eliminate disability discrimination across the range of services, programs, and activities that most Americans take for granted, but were largely inaccessible to individuals with disabilities prior to the law’s enactment. Whether in employment, areas of civic life, or in the day-to-day activities and access to goods and services that we all enjoy - the ADA ensures that individuals with disabilities enjoy the same opportunities as all Americans to participate in everything this nation has to offer.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina has evaluated and investigated hundreds of ADA-related matters since 1990. Its enforcement matters involve core issues including accessible voting, access to places of public accommodation, and addressing discriminatory policies, practices, and procedures.
Over the past 30 years, the United States has undertaken the challenge of changing perceptions about disability, tearing down barriers to equality, and altering the systems that have historically excluded people with disabilities. Today, the Justice Department commemorates the many ways that the ADA has transformed society-by replacing exclusion with access, segregation with integration, and limitations with self-determination.
For more information about the 30th Anniversary of the ADA, please visit www.ada.gov. To file a complaint with the Department, please visit the Civil Rights Division’s portal at https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/. To contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina regarding ADA issues, email the office at USASC.CivilRights@usdoj.gov. For more information about the ADA, call the Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TTY). ##
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
