ADA vs. TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT: Court hearing in Santa Fe

ADA vs. TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT: Court hearing in Santa Fe

To All,

On Tuesday, October 1, 2013, at 9:00 a.m., I will argue in the First
Judicial District Court in Santa Fe that the Telecommunications Act of
1996 does not override the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This
court hearing will be open to the public.  It will be in the new county
courthouse (corner of Montezuma and Sandoval), in Judge Sarah M.
Singleton's court on the third floor.

I filed this case against the City of Santa Fe and AT&T almost three
years ago.  I argued that people with electrical sensitivity are
protected by the ADA and the Fourteenth Amendment, and that the City of
Santa Fe is therefore required to regulate radio frequency radiation in
spite of the Telecommunications Act.  In January 2011 AT&T transferred
the case to federal court, and federal District Judge James A. Parker
ruled that the Telecommunications Act "preempts" the ADA.  I appealed
that decision, and attorney Lindsay Lovejoy argued the case before the
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

On October 9, 2012 the Court of Appeals handed us a partial victory.  It
ruled that the case should never have been transferred to federal court.
 It reversed Judge Parker and sent the case back to the State of New
Mexico to be argued and decided all over again.  I am representing
myself in state court.

What I am asking for is called a writ of mandamus, essentially a court
order requiring the city to enforce its own laws.  Since a city law
requires a public hearing and a new permit for any intensification of
use, I am arguing that AT&T may not increase the radiation from its cell
towers without public hearings and new permits.

A week from Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. I will argue the case before Judge
Singleton.

Arthur Firstenberg
--
  Cellular Phone Task Force
  info@cellphonetaskforce.org