JKSCHW at aol.com wrote:
> As I predicted, the Supreme Court agreed to review whether the federal
> disabilitiy discrimination law can be applied to the states in view of its
> determination the other day that the federal age discrimination laws cannot
> be. Arguments in April, decision in (maybe) June or July. Any bets on the
> outcome?
>
> --jks
Justin,
this is from the 11th circuit Court of Appeals which combines several cases KIMEL, Dickson, and MacPherson,
The court's conclusion: "The Eleventh Amendment is an important part of the Constitution. It stands for the constitutional principle that State sovereign immunity limits the federal courts' jurisdiction under Article III. As such, Congress must make an unmistakably clear statement of its intent before a federal court can accept that States have been stripped of their constitutionally granted sovereign immunity. For me, the ADEA contains no unequivocally clear statement of such intent. The ADA does. And the ADA was enacted under the authority of the Fourteenth Amendment.
For the reasons stated in our combined opinions, we hold that the ADEA does not abrogate States' Eleventh Amendment immunity but that the ADA does do so. "
So there is hope that the ADA may have a more solid foundation to make clear to the Supremes. However given the conservative majority's states rights revolution bias, I'm not sure reason will apply.
Marta