FOIA - Open Records Requst for NorthPark Management Agreement With Departmetn of Justice Re: Complaint DJ# 202-73-256 After DOJ Officials Refuse to Provide to Me, the original complainant

Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disabilities Section Refuses to Release Copy of Settlement with NorthPark Management in ADA Complaint.....but doesn't mind sending me a Release And Waiver of my rights written by NorthPark's attorneys.

On November 30, 2011 Carmen Romero of the Department of Justice notified me that NorthPark Managment had sign a final agreement on November 28, 2011 agreeing to bring their facilities in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act and providing proof of that compliance withing 60 days of the signing.

I asked Ms. Romero for copy of the settlement which she, politely, but resolutely refused to do.  However, she had no problem in sending me a document written by the attorneys for NorthPark which would required me surrender, for the sum of $1,000 all my rights to recover by any other means the $9,000 I have spent pushing and alternately dragging the DOJ and Northpark to this point. 

I personally feel that the U.S. Department of Justice has no right to expect me to subsidize their enforcement duties through expending my own money in legal fees and then be asked by the DOJ to waive my right to reimbursement of the legal expenses I incurred getting them to do their job.  It's insulting to be told that I do not have a right to the document which is the final result of my complaint and all that I have done to get NorthPark to comply with Federal law.

So, I am now forced to request a copy of the settlement through the Freedom of Information Act through the following means and person:

FOIA Contact: To make a FOIA request to Civil Rights Division please send request to:
Nelson Hermilla
Chief of Staff, FOIA/PA Branch
NALC, Room 311
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
(202) 514-4209 (Telephone)
Nelson.Hermilla@usdoj.gov (Request via Email)

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FOIA Requester Service Center: Phone: (202) 514-4210
FOIA Public Liaison: Cheryl Durham, Phone: (202) 514-4210
Website: http://www.justice.gov/crt/foia/index.ph p

I made my request by email, a copy of which is reproduced below:


From: E Ponymous <stoughne@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 6:40 PM
Subject: FOIA Request - In the Matter of The Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disabilities Section and NorthPark Management styled as DJ# 202-73-256
To: Nelson.Hermilla@usdoj.gov


Dear Mr. Hermilla,

This is a request, under the Freedom of Information Act, for the following documents related to the matter referenced in the Subject Line of this email.

Please provide me with a copy of the final settlement between the DOJ and NorthPark Management Company and any of its subsidiaries or divisions included in the settlement.

Please also provide me with copies of documents submitted by NorthPark Management, NorthPark Center, NorthPark Security and any of their subsidiaries and division included in the settlement.

These documents may be sent to me by email to:  stoughne@gmail.com or,

by standard USPS delivery at the following address:


Norris Stough
(address removed prior to reproduction on blog site.)

Should you have questions or otherwise need to contact me, please do so my calling (phone number removed prior to reproduction on blog site.)

It should be a crime for the Department of Justice to collude with NorthPark in trying to keep this matter from the public view.  It says a great deal about the character of Ms. Romero and the management of NorthPark Center that they are attempting to keep this from the public while selling me out for $1,000


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Oh, the things one could do at NorthPark Center during the holidays

Re: Dallas Morning News, November 23, 2011

Oh, the things one could do at NorthPark Center durng the holidays 

Yes, there all kinds of things one can do at NorthPark Center this year, as there are every year.  However, this year, there are some traditions which are changing.

On November 28, 2011 NorthPark Management reached an agreement to bring their facilities into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.  They did not do this out of an excess of "Christmas" spirit, but rather due to a crusade by one individual who pressed his complaint against NorthPark Malls practices of lack or non-enforcement of the laws governing ticketing/towing vehicles occupying disabled parking spaces without the appropriate placard or plates.  They have also agreed to stop restricting access to disabled parking to facilitate their valet parking services.

So, one new thing to do at NorthPark Center this year is make use of the now unrestricted access to disabled parking spaces formerly blocked off by their valet service.  One thing you can not do this year is indiscriminately park in disabled spaces illegally knowing that NorthPark will not ticket or tow your car.

While NorthPark may be dressed up in its holiday best and looking good on the surface, the truth is the mall is operated by some very mean-spirited individuals who behaved disgracefully when confronted by the illegal use of disabled parking and NorthPark Security's refusal to do anything about it; going so far as to threaten to have someone who voiced a complaint about the use of these spaces by NorthPark's valet service arrested by the Dallas Police Department.  Then, with the help of their attorneys, engaged in stalling and prevaricating, during negotiations with the Department of Justice for three years, during which time they continued to violate the terms of the ADA and collected enormous amounts of money by restricting access to these spaces by and for the use of their valet parking service.

Make no mistake, NorthPark Center and NorthPark Management company are by no means motivated by anything like the "spirit" of the season.

Full details of their inexcusable and conduct, including the Title III Complaint that finally forced them into compliance, as well as the $1,000 to the original complainant asking him to Waive and Release any future attempt to collect the nearly $9,000 he spent dragging NorthPark and an unwilling DOJ to this point, just in time for Christmas.

http://randomobservationsfromdallas.blogspot.com

Please support the advertisers whose fees for making using of my blog page make it possible for my blog, and blogs by anyone else, to contribute to public debate. I do not need the minimal income generated by your "clicking through" these ads to support myself. However, I could never afford the expense of supporting such a blog site on my own and your viewing those advertising sponsors' messages does make this forum available to all. These ads are no security risk to your computer or your privacy for multiple reasons. First, I have absolute and total control over what ads and advertisers appear on my blog. I have nothing to gain from your visiting an advertisers site and finding as a result that your computer is infected or your privacy infringed upon. Second, these ads are placed and serviced by a reputable sales organization - AdSense. They would quickly go out of business if readers who click through the ads they place on this blog became the least bit dissatisfied by the results. Finally, Google and Blogspot.com have nothing to gain from damaging your computer or infringing on your privacy and everything to lose if they do.