Subject: Re: Curiouser and curiouser ... Call to Action: help fix ADA
     Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 01:12:13 EST
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thanks Mr. Fuller, this was good info about a terible situation.
Buried deep in the US Supreme Court opinion was this comment:

Once we have determined the metes and bounds of the constitutional right
in
question, we examine whether Congress identified a history and pattern
of
unconstitutional employment discrimination by the States against the
disabled.
Just as §1 of the Fourteenth Amendment applies only to actions committed

"under color of state law," Congress' §5 authority is appropriately
exercised
only in response to state transgressions. See Florida Prepaid, 527 U.
S., at
640 ("It is this conduct then--unremedied patent infringement by the
States--that must give rise to the Fourteenth Amendment violation that
Congress sought to redress in the Patent Remedy Act"); Kimel, 528 U. S.,
at
89 ("Congress never identified any pattern of age discrimination by the
States, much less any discrimination whatsoever that rose to the level
of
constitutional violation"). The legislative record of the ADA, however,
simply fails to show that Congress did in fact identify a pattern of
irrational state discrimination in employment against the disabled.
(emphasis added)

So this opinion was basically a legal shell game, playing on the
Amendments
to the Constitution and accusing the Congress of sloppy work.  The
obvious
thing to me for concerned and conscientious parties to do is to flood
Congress with examples of individual states having discriminated against

people with disabilities.  This will allow Congress to amend the ADA to
where
it will supercede the protection that the 11th Amendment gave the
individual
States from being sued by its Citizens.

The salient question is whether it can be shown that there is a pattern
of
discrimination (as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 did for discrimination
on
basis of race).  This is what we can contribute to perfect the ADA.
Although the pattern may not be an intentional, programatic, or a policy

decision on the part of any of the 50 States it is obviously there.  The

States were required by the Rehab Act of 1973 (#501 i think) to show
affirmative action in its employment decisions, if the State of Alabama
had
done this, its supervisors would not have made such callous and
descriminatory decisions.

Government is for the people and by the people ... please write your
congressman with examples of discrimination by State Governments against

people with disabilities or AT LEAST to register your contempt for the
Supreme Court's decision.

here's some help

Write Your Representative - Lookup Representative for House and  U.S.
Senate

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