Tony Thurmond: “during the Congressional recess last week, the Supreme Court issued an extremely important decision regarding the…”

“during the Congressional recess last week, the Supreme Court issued an extremely important decision regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act and the principles of federalism. The decision, Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, is one in a series of cases that is helping reassert the role of the States in our Federal system of Government. The eleventh amendment to the Constitution prohibits States from being sued in Federal court by private citizens for money damages, unless the State consents. In the Garrett case, the Supreme Court said that based on this provision it is unconstitutional for the Congress to hold the States liable for private lawsuits under the ADA. The Congress did not or could not create a record of a pattern of discrimination by the States sufficient to meet the heavy burden required by the Constitution. While the case referred to Title I of the ADA, which concerns employment discrimination, the reasoning of the Court should apply equally to all of the ADA and well beyond the ADA. I would like to note just one example. In 1998, the Supreme Court held that the language of the ADA was clear enough to cover state and local prisons. I immediately introduced legislation to exclude State and local prisons from the ADA because I do not believe that the Congress considered the ADA applying to these institutions when it passed the legislation.”