Colleagues:
This fall term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the
constitutionality of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
That title enjoins the state governments to abide by ADA. Several cases
have been combined under the Garrett case from Alabama. They assert that
Congress exceeded its constitutional limits in imposing the ADA on the
states. Among other arguments, they claim that Congress did not have
sufficient evidence of a historic pattern of discrimination against people
with disabilities by the state governments and their branches.
I have been working with a group of disability rights lawyers on a brief
that refutes that particular argument. It traces the pervasive historic
discrimination by the states against people with disabilities in
employment, jury service and access to the courts, voting, marriage,
reproduction, parenting, and other areas.
This brief is intended to present to the court the knowledge of disability
studies scholars, because briefs by "experts" in a relevant field often
carry weight with the courts. We are seeking disability studies scholars
to sign on to the brief as amici. We want representation, not only from
historians, but from the many academic disciplines represented in
disability studies.
If you are an academician who works in disability studies and would like
to read the brief in order to decide if you want to endorse it, please
email me immediately. We need the endorsements no later than Monday
morning, August 7.
Yours in solidarity,
Paul K. Longmore
Professor of History
San Francisco State University
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