[stylist] Reflections on the 24th anniversary of the ADA

[Chris Kuell]

Hi Donna,
As usual, you do an excellent job with this article, hitting several of the
loose nails in the ADA right on the head. Delay is an  oft used tactic, and
unfortunately, it works much of the time. As a longtime disabled person, I
know you know how to perservere.

After reading your article, I googled an old case which I heard about and
typifies, unfortunately, how our judicial system--which values the rights of
corporations more than they do the rights of women--feels about the ADA.
This comes from Slate, back in 2004.

  













Supreme Court Dispatches

Oral argument from the court.

Jan. 13 2004 7:46 PM
 
Off-Ramp




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Crawling up stairs at a courthouse near you.

By Dahlia Lithwick 






















 








 

You'd have to look long and hard to find a civil rights plaintiff more
deserving of empathy than George Lane. But then you'd also have to look long
and hard to find five Supreme Court justices capable of manifesting empathy.
Today is a triumph of mean-spirited grousing at the high court, all sung to
the dolorous tune of "What do those handicapped people want from us anyway?"



Lane was a paraplegic facing criminal misdemeanor charges for driving with a
revoked license. Since the Polk County courthouse in Tennessee had no
elevator, he was forced to crawl up two flights of stairs on his hands and
knees while court workers chuckled. He refused to crawl up again for a
subsequent appearance, or to be carried, and was arrested for failing to
appear. He sued for $100,000 under Title II of the Americans With
Disabilities Act, which provides that "no qualified individual with a
disability shall . be excluded from participation in or be denied the
benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity."
Tennessee claimed it was immune from suit under the doctrine of sovereign
immunity, which bars private suits against the state. It lost on that claim
in the district court and again in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Dahlia Lithwick