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Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

May 18, 2009

Will the next Supreme Court Justice support the rights of people with disabilities?

Ask President Obama to be sure she does

In the next few days or weeks, the White House is expected to name a replacement for Justice David Souter of the United States Supreme Court. Since Justice Souter announced his retirement, many people have speculated about whom President Obama will select to take his place — and about the President’s priorities in making a lifetime appointment to our nation’s most important court.

The importance of this nomination to people with disabilities is clear: President Obama has the opportunity — perhaps his only opportunity — to nominate a strong voice for disability rights to serve on our highest court. The new justice need not be a person with a disability (although that would be a great thing!), but should always take into account how his or her decision making will affect the millions of people with disabilities in this country.

The White House needs to hear from advocates for people with disabilities. Please review the information in this Alert and then tell the President why he should name someone who will uphold the rights of people with disabilities. You can contact the White House at (202) 456-1111 (phone), (202) 456-6213 (TTY) or at www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT.

During his Senate career, and his campaign for the White House, President Obama expressed strong support for the values — including independence, integration and equal opportunity — expressed in important federal disability rights laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act, the Medicaid Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). His nomination of Justice Souter’s replacement comes at a critical time, after more than a decade of sharply divided decisions on important disability rights cases. To advance disability rights, we ask the President to make the following commitments in naming the next Supreme Court justice:

  • Choose a justice who will give disability rights laws the broad remedial effect intended by Congress. In several significant decisions over the years, the Supreme Court chipped away at core protections that are of extraordinary importance to people with disabilities. Although Justice Souter authored many thoughtful opinions in his years on the Court, and joined the majority in some important decisions affirming disability rights,1 he joined the Court’s highly problematic decisions in cases such as Sutton v. United Air Lines, 527 U.S. 471 (1999), and Toyota Motor Mfg. Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184 (2002), which sharply narrowed the definition of disability under the ADA, significantly reducing the number of people protected by the law (see http://www.bazelon.org/issues/disabilityrights/resources/99scotus.htm). In response, and in a strongly bipartisan effort, last year Congress enacted the ADA Amendments Act, which restored the statute’s broad remedial reach (see http://www.bazelon.org/newsroom/2008/9-18-08ADAA.htm).

We want President Obama to select a justice who will interpret the ADA and other disability rights laws as broadly as Congress intended, so that all people with disabilities are fully protected from disability discrimination and have an equal opportunity to succeed in school and at work and to lead independent lives in their communities.

  • Choose a justice who understands the effect of Supreme Court decisions on people with disabilities. Supreme Court decisions have consequences, not just for the parties before the Court, but for everyone. For example, when the Supreme Court ruled that Casey Martin, a golfer with a mobility disability, could use a golf cart on the PGA tour, this made it easier for everyone, including students and workers (not just golfers), to get the accommodations they need to have an equal opportunity. Justice Souter joined the decision in P.G.A. Tour, Inc., v. Martin, 432 U.S. 661 (2001). However, he joined other decisions that made it more difficult for people with disabilities to get accommodations — for example, Schaffer v. Weast, 546 U.S. 49 (2005), which made it harder for parents to get special education services and accommodations for their children.

We want President Obama to choose a Supreme Court justice who understands how important Supreme Court decisions are to the everyday lives of people with disabilities.

  • Choose a justice who respects the role of Congress in protecting disability rights. In enacting the ADA and other disability rights laws, Congress carefully considered the history of people with disabilities in the United States. The lawmakers acknowledged that many people with disabilities have been ostracized from their families and communities — that they have been prevented from going to school in their neighborhood schools, from working at jobs for which they were qualified and from participating fully in all aspects of community life. Congress passed laws like the ADA that are specifically designed to combat these problems. In recent years, however, the Supreme Court has ruled that Congress did not have the power to pass some of these laws. Thankfully, Justice Souter was on the right side of most of these decisions. In Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509 (2004), for example, Justice Souter joined the Court’s ruling that Congress could require states to make their courthouses accessible to people with disabilities.

We want to President Obama will choose a Supreme Court justice who will respect Congress’s important role and hard work in writing and enacting crucial disability rights laws that so many people with disabilities depend on for protection from discrimination and an equal opportunity to succeed in life.

We are confident that President Obama will take these priorities into account, and we look forward to supporting his nominee for the Supreme Court. In the meantime, please the President know that you want a Supreme Court nominee who will strongly support disability rights!

Contact the White House at (202) 456-1111 (phone), (202) 456-6213 (TTY) or at www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT.
Ask President Obama to:

  • Choose a justice who will interpret disability rights laws broadly, as Congress intended.
  • Choose a justice who understands the effect of Supreme Court decisions on people with disabilities.
  • Choose a justice who respects the role of Congress in protecting disability rights.

1. See Bragdon v. Abbott, 524 U.S. 624 (1998) (person with asymptomatic HIV disease is covered under the ADA), Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999) (people with disabilities must be provided state services in most integrated setting appropriate), Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509 (2004) (state courthouses must be made accessible to people with disabilities).