Greg Abbott pushes to block disabled Texans’ lawsuits against state

[TexasTowelie]

Mona Reeder/Staff Photographer
Greg Abbott has used a wheelchair since a tree fell on him and crushed his spine almost 30 years ago. Since passage of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, most buildings have ramps and doors wide enough for his wheelchair.

AUSTIN — Attorney General Greg Abbott, who has said he supports the Americans with Disabilities Act, has tenaciously battled to block the courthouse door to disabled Texans who sue the state.

In a series of legal cases in his three terms, Abbott’s office has fought a blind pharmacy professor in Amarillo who wanted reflective tape on the stairs to her office; two deaf defendants in Laredo who asked for a qualified sign language interpreter in their courtroom; and a woman with an amputated leg. In that case, the state argued she was not disabled because she had a prosthetic limb.

Abbott, who has used a wheelchair since a tree fell on him while he was jogging and crushed his spine almost 30 years ago, applauds the 1990 federal law. It has helped provide the ramps, wide doors and access that allow him to give speeches and meet with constituents.

While Abbott, the leading Republican contender for governor, benefits from the ADA mandates that guide businesses, builders and cities, he believes it is unconstitutional to force the state to comply. He has argued that his duty is to protect the state’s autonomy and its taxpayers by using all legal tools available to him — including the argument that the state is immune from disability lawsuits brought under the ADA.

More at http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20140215-greg-abbott-pushes-to-block-disabled-texans-lawsuits-against-state.ece .

[Ilsa]

1. What a piece of crap he is. nt

[Gothmog]

2. Greg is a nasty person

[hobbit709]

3. He got his and screw you is his attitude.

As JuanitaJean said "He's Rick Perry without the intelligence and charm"

[PDittie]

4. Reprehensible

This is the deepest, most disturbed, most profound cognitive dissonance on public display I can say I have ever witnessed. You couldn't craft a villain with these characteristics in a novel or a script and sell it to a publishing house or a studio. They'd say it was not believable.

Greg Abbott is so unspeakably hideous that people with a functioning conscience can't really comprehend him. Which naturally excludes the vast majority of Texas Republican primary voters. But that's not even the worst part.

You want to know what the worst part is? It's hard to predict how truly hideous a governor Greg Abbott is capable of being in the wake of fourteen years of Rick Perry... but Texans are very likely to find out.