One of my favorite movies of all time is Stripes with Bill Murray and Harold Ramis and John Candy and others. There is a scene in that movie where the Sergeant is on a platform and that platform gets destroyed by mortar fire because the commanding officer, John Larroquette, who is absolutely incompetent, demands that
causation
What Kennedy Giveth Scalia Taketh Away?
I want to wish all those celebrating Passover, which started yesterday, and Easter, which is Sunday, a happy holiday.
This blog entry is divided into separate categories, but unlike my usual system, the categories are little bit different. Here we have: introductory comments, the case that is the subject of this blog entry (Burrage…
Professional licensing authorities and sovereign immunity
Recently, I talked about a decision from the 11th circuit which displayed a very good understanding of disability, in that case deafness, in a way that you do not often see in judicial decisions. Oftentimes when you are reading a case, you wonder whether a judge gets “disability,” so to speak. This particular blog entry…
Using the rehabilitation act to get around sovereign immunity in Title II cases
Under Tennessee v. Lane, the equal protection class persons with disabilities fall into is going to depend upon the facts and circumstances of the individual case. That equal protection class is also going to dictate how likely a state is going to be able to defend on the grounds of sovereign immunity. The question…
IDEA, Rehab Act, and the ADA: Have to keep in mind all three
Back in 1997, I wrote an article for the Florida bar Journal discussing the relationship between the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act. I have had the good fortune to see that article cited numerous times in various law review articles. If I were to update that article today,…
Police response and ADA liability
In a comment to a prior blog post, I mentioned a case, Gipson v. Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits, where a court, the Northern District of Georgia, found no ADA liability when a police officer not knowing the ADA, told a person who otherwise had a right to be in a restaurant with his service…
Enshrinement of unfair advantage as a legal standard: OCR, 504, and Sports
For years (every edition of my book starting with the very first edition published in 2000 has had a chapter on the ADA and sports), I’ve written about how the ADA applies to sports. The United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights has just issued a guidance dealing with their section 504 regulations…