WHEREAS, Maryland is Maryland; and
Article 30, the primary Section 33, of the Annotated Code of Civil Rights Law for the blind of
WHEREAS, Governor Schaefer has appointed a task force to study the White Cane Law and to recommend changes to strengthen its provisions; and
WHEREAS, if this law is to realize its potential, enforcement and penalty provisions must be strengthened specifically:
- The law should be amended expressly to permit private suits by or on behalf of blind persons protected by this law;
- The law should be amended to permit damage awards for the amount of actual damages up to $5,000.00 per offense for punitive damages;
- The law should be amended to include specific statutory authority for awarding attorney's fees to individuals with valid claims brought under the White Cane Law;
- The law should be amended so that all employers, regardless of their funding source, are covered by its non discrimination provisions;
Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland in Convention assembled this fourth day of October, 1987, in the City of Frostburg, Maryland, that this organization calls upon the task force to recommend, and the legislature to adopt provisions guaranteeing private right of action, payment of attorney's fees, coverage of private employers, and damage awards to victims of discrimination.