Am I wrong in thinking there was more to the issue presented in the film
in that Eastwood has made comments in the past about death being preferable to disability? He also opposes the Americans With Disabilities Act and I believe has used his celebrity status to speak out against it. Someone correct me if this is wrong but it is what I have been told by a few local activists and if it inaccurate I'd like to know.
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Reportedly, Eastwood's position is that he supports the ADA but is opposed to "abuses" that threaten small businesses and provide funds transfer conduits for sinister lawyers (the super villians of bad party jokes everywhere).
A tender story and perhaps even true but there's a personal element that may (ah, motive) be steering his course -- he was sued several years ago for accessibility violations at a hotel he owns.
Below, two articles from what appear to be opposing points of view.
Clint Eastwood and 'opportunism'
by Mary Johnson
<snip>
In the spring of 2000 Eastwood joined forces with Rep. Mark Foley (R. FL) to support the ADA Notification Act, a bill that would require disabled people to wait yet another 90 days, requiring them to ask a business, nicely, to please make their premises accessible, before suing them under the Americans with Disabilities Act for their lack of access. Since 1992, the federal law has required access. But almost no small businesses have bothered to obey the law.
Yet, according to Eastwood in his media blitz during the spring of 2000, businesses were being picked on by "unscrupulous" lawyers out to make a fast buck.
Eastwood appeared on the talk shows Hardball and Crossfire; he was covered in a Fox News Special. The National Journal quoted him. Columnists covered his comments. Newsweek used the "Mercedes" quote on its "Perspectives" page ("What happens is these lawyers, they come along and they end up driving off in a big Mercedes," Eastwood told reporters, "and the disabled person ends up driving off in a wheelchair."),
The seasoned Hollywood actor had his script and he stuck to it: He wasn't against disabled people. He wanted to help disabled people, who were being preyed on by moneygrubbing lawyers. The law was the problem; had been all along. The law needed to be fixed.
[...]
full at --
<http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/mediacircus/opportunism.html >
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MAY 17, 2000
Business Week
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
By JOHN M. WILLIAMS
Clint Eastwood Explains His Beef with the ADA
He supports the act but wants to amend it to give small-business owners time to comply before they're sued
<snip>
Eastwood says he won't allow lawyers to push him around. He sees himself as a champion of small business against a dirty dozen (or far more) of trial attorneys who are abusing the ADA to collect fistfuls of dollars. Eastwood was polite but firm and quite candid. I sensed a controlled anger in his tone. Like many business owners, he's confused about the law and hungry for information about it. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation:
Eastwood: I understand you know a lot about the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Q: Thank you, Mr. Eastwood. What do you know about the ADA? A: I'm not unfamiliar with it. And I'm learning more about it every day. I support civil-rights laws.
Q: Do you support the ADA? A: Yes.
Q: But you're interested in changing the law? A: I would like to see an amendment passed so that when a business is accused of violating the law, they would have a minimum of 30 days to respond to compliance without being hassled by lawyers and forced to pay huge legal fees. This is a bipartisan issue. Members in both parties are looking at the amendment.
Q: What happened at your hotel? A: I own a small hotel in Carmel that is in the midst of restoration. We've been working with the county authorities on accessibility issues and are in compliance with the law according to the county. A woman in a wheelchair came in and said we weren't accessible. And then the lawyers came in. They said we did not have sufficient signs for [people with] disabilities. They said our rooms are not accessible. We have accessible rooms. We have accessible wheelchair ramps.
The lawyers, who say they represent the woman, are trying to charge us hundreds of dollars an hour whenever they meet with my lawyers on this matter. The woman said she was in the hotel a year ago and complained we weren't accessible then for her to use the bathroom. But none of the hotel staff could remember her and her complaint. Still, in a year, the staff sees a lot of people.
[...]
<http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2000/nf00517c.htm >
...
.d.
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