The Americans with Disabilities Act guarantees that disabled people will have access to buildings like everyone else.

There is little argument that, since its passage, this law has helped many people open doors they might otherwise have been unable to open.

But the law should not be abused, and a federal judge in Los Angeles finally has ruled that's exactly what Jarek Molski and his legal team have been doing.

Molski has used a wheelchair since a motorcycle crash some years ago.

In recent years, he has been traveling throughout Southern California, finding violations of requirements in the Americans With Disabilities Act, then filing lawsuits.

In many cases, the "infractions" uncovered by Molski and his team have been extraordinarily minor, to such an extent that other disabled folks found no fault and used the facilities with ease.

The judge ruled Molski to be a "vexatious litigant" who filed lawsuits "maliciously and without good cause." And he's done that a lot.

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Records show he has filed more than 400 lawsuits since 1998, many of them accusing local restaurants, wineries and other businesses of violating the law, and many of them settled out of court for thousands of dollars.

The judge said what Molski and his team were doing amounted to "systematic extortion."

All buildings open to the public should be accessible by the handicapped, but no one should be allowed to make a fortune by exploiting the law.

Dec. 14, 2004