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What Does Elena Kagan Believe About Disability Rights?

June 21, 2010-- On Monday, June 28, all eyes will be on the United States Senate, as its Judiciary Committee begins the confirmation hearing for President Obama’s second Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan. Senators on the committee will have a unique forum to question Ms. Kagan about her views on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other laws that are important to people with disabilities. 

Unlike many past nominees, Elena Kagan does not have an extensive record on disability issues. The Senate hearing is a chance for people with disabilities to find out what she thinks about disability rights.  It’s also a key opportunity to send a message that people with disabilities care about the courts — about whether judges understand and can enforce disability rights laws.

Senators who are members of the Senate Judiciary Committee need to hear now from people with disabilities and their advocates.

What You Can Do

If one of your Senators is a member of the Judiciary Committee (see the list below), please contact him or her and explain why it is important to ask Elena Kagan about the rights of people with disabilities.

Ask your Senator to:

  • Ask Ms. Kagan whether, if she is confirmed to the Supreme Court, she would give disability rights laws the broad remedial effect intended by Congress.
  • Ask her about the role of the Supreme Court in guaranteeing the rights of people with disabilities.
  • Ask how she sees the role of Congress in protecting disability rights.

The contact information for the Senators on the Judiciary Committee is located at the end of this Alert. If you don’t live in one of their states, why not forward this Alert to a friend or colleague who does?

Contact your Senator today!

Why the Confirmation Hearing is Critical

The Obama Administration has voiced its support for the values —including independence, integration and equal opportunity— expressed in federal disability rights laws such as the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, the Medicaid Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). We need to know what Elena Kagan thinks about these laws. To better understand Ms. Kagan’s judicial philosophy, and to highlight the importance of disability rights, we want the Judiciary Committee to:

  • Ask whether Justice Kagan would give disability rights laws the broad remedial effect intended by Congress. In several significant decisions after the ADA was enacted in 1990, the Supreme Court chipped away at core protections for people with disabilities. For example, in Sutton v. United Air Lines, 527 U.S. 471 (1999), the court held that aspiring pilots Karen Sutton and Kimberly Hinton were not protected by the ADA because their vision impairments could be corrected with contact lenses. The court held that a person is not disabled if such “mitigating measures,” like contact lenses, allow her to function as well as a person without an impairment. In 2008, Congress enacted the ADA Amendments Act to clarify that whether a person is disabled should be determined without regard to mitigating measures and to reaffirm the broad scope of disability rights laws.

We want the Judiciary Committee to ask Ms. Kagan whether, as a Supreme Court justice, she would interpret the ADA and other disability rights laws as broadly as Congress intended, so that all people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to succeed in school and at work and to lead independent lives in their communities.

  • Ask about the role of the Supreme Court in guaranteeing the rights of people with disabilities. Supreme Court decisions affect the everyday lives of all people with disabilities. For example, when the Supreme Court ruled in P.G.A. Tour, Inc. v. Martin, 432 U.S. 661 (2001) 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 for an equal opportunity. Similarly, the Court's recent decision in Forest Grove Sch. Dist. v. T.A., 129 S. Ct. 2484 (2009) made it easier for families everywhere to obtain special education for children with disabilities when public schools have failed to provide needed services.

We want the Judiciary Committee to ask Ms. Kagan what role she would take, as a Supreme Court justice, in preserving the rights of people with disabilities.

  • Ask about 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 —prevented from going to their neighborhood schools, from working at jobs for which they were qualified and from participating in all aspects of community life. Congress passed laws like the ADA to combat these problems. But in recent years, the Supreme Court has declared that Congress lacked the power to pass some of these laws. The future integrity of disability rights laws will depend on whether the Court reinforces Congress’s power to pass such laws.

We want the Judiciary Committee to ask Ms. Kagan whether, as a Supreme Court justice, she will respect Congress's important role and hard work in writing and enacting the disability rights laws on which so many people with disabilities depend for protection from discrimination and an equal opportunity to succeed in life.

As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ADA, let’s not miss this opportunity, both to learn more about the woman who could be the next Supreme Court justice and to send a message about the importance of disability rights laws, and the courts, to people with disabilities.

Please let the Senators on the Judiciary Committee know that you want them to ask Ms. Kagan about disability rights!

Contact these members of the Judiciary Committee today!

Remember, if none of these is your Senator, please forward this Alert to someone in one of these states.

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