Georgia and the ADA

Linda SuhDanielle Wolf

Period 5 – AP U.S. Government

It All Started With Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

of 1973…

Rehabilitation Act of 1973• Guarantees certain rights to people with

disabilities • First civil-rights statute for workers with

disabilities• Helped to pave way for the Americans

with Disabilities Act of 1990• Protected handicaps against

discrimination under any program/activity receiving Federal financial aid, under the Executive branch, or under the U.S. Postal Service

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

• Signed into law on July 26, 1990 by President George H. W. Bush (a.k.a. Bush Sr.)

• Wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits (under certain circumstances) discrimination based on disability

• Substance abusers excluded

The difference between the two?

• ADA = more detailed, better protection

• Rehabilitation Act = simple, less protection

Key Provisions of the ada

Title I• Businesses can’t discriminate

against a qualified individual with a disability

Meaning…• Handicaps can be promoted if qualified• Accommodations for the disabled need to

be met

• Equal employment opportunities

Title II• State or local governments,

departments, and agencies can’t deny handicaps the benefits of their services, programs, or activities

Title III

• Public accommodations (transportation, stores, restaurants, hotels, schools etc.) can’t discriminate against handicaps

Examples…• Elevators big enough for wheelchair access• Ramps• Wheelchair lifts for buses

Title IV

• telecommunications companies must ensure equal services for consumers with disabilities (especially the deaf, people with hearing problems and/or speech problems)

Who administers and enforces it all?

• Federal government (Department of Justice) plays central role in enforcing the standards established in the ADA

Other organizations with power…• Department of Education equal education• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

(EEOC) equal employment• Department of Transportation equal access• Federal Communications Commission

equal services

Now, where does Georgia come in?

TONY GOODMAN SUES THE STATE OF GEORGIA• Paraplegic inmate in a GA prison

His claims…• His cell is too small for him to maneuver his

wheelchair• Lacks accessible toilet/shower• Prison guards don’t help him at all• Lacks access to recreational facilities and

prison law library

U.S. Prison System

• operated by both the federal and state governments because incarceration is a concurrent power under the U.S. Constitution

11th Amendment• grants sovereign immunity to the

states (states can’t be sued in federal court by a citizen of another state without the state's consent) protects States’ rights

Why was it added to the Constitution?• Result of Chisholm v. Georgia

Chisholm v. Georgia (1792)• South Carolina merchant, Captain Robert

Farquhar, sold supplies to Georgia during the Revolutionary War

• Georgia later refused to pay for the goods because Farquhar was a British loyalist

• After Farquhar died, Alexander Chisholm, the South Carolinian executor of his estate, sued Georgia for Farquhar’s money Georgia refused to appear in court

• Federal court intervened and ordered Georgia to pay Chisholm the money damages

Continued…• Many protested to Federal court’s

action• Congress felt that the Supreme

Court had over stepped its bounds 11th amendment created

Significance? STATES’ RIGHTS

PRESERVED!

ADA Criticisms• People will abuse ADA protection• Example:

- Man applied for a job as a subway train conductor for the NYC Transit Authority

- Weighed 410 pounds and too fat to fit in the small cab of a typical subway train

- Suing under the ADA claims train must make "reasonable

accommodation" for his alleged disability

Now That’s just Ludacris! (ludicrous)

Sha-sha-shake yomoney maker

Supreme Court’s Decision in Goodman’s Case

It ruled that… Congress has authority to apply the ADA to state prisons

Significance?decision gives Congress more authority than the states thought a victory for Tony Goodman, who had lost his ADA claims in the lower courts

ADA…threat to states’ rights?

Yes! (Goodman & United States v. Georgia)- ADA calls for equal protection and under the 14th amendment, Congress has power to enforce equal protection in whatever way it wants

THEREFORE…If Congress wanted, it could still

override the states’ decisions in the name of equal protection!

Oh no!

Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v.

Garrett (2000)• 2 cases in 1

- Patricia Garrett, a nurse, sued Univ. of Alabama's medical center for insisting on transferring her for her long absences while being treated for breast cancer

- Milton Ash, a security guard with severe asthma, was not given duties that would alleviate his asthma

• AL argued that Congress lacks power to require states to pay money damages for violations of ADA decision reversed; Congress DOES have power under 14th amendment

Tennessee v. Lane (2004)• George Lane and Beverly Jones (both

handicaps) sued Tennessee because they couldn’t go to the 2nd floor of the courtrooms no elevators for them!

• TN Attorney General dismissed case by arguing that Congress did not have the authority to subject the state of TN to suit The U.S. District Court denied the state's motion; Congress DOES have power

How does this relate to the Goodman case?

• Goodman case, Garrett case, and Lane/Jones case all gave Congress the power to override states’ rights to sovereign immunity based on 14th amendment threat to states’ rights

So ultimately…

The federal government has more power than the state governments. Sorry Charlie…

One last thing…

Danielle Linda +

EQUALS…

HINOJOSA LOVE!!!