• 2000 –
The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 became law. • 2001 –
Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356 (2001), was a
United States Supreme Court case about
Congress's
enforcement powers under the
Fourteenth Amendment to the
United States Constitution. The Supreme Court decided that Title I of the
Americans with Disabilities Act was unconstitutional, insofar as it allowed states to be sued by private citizens for
money damages. • 2001 – The
Commonwealth of Virginia House of Delegates approved a resolution expressing regret for its
eugenics practices between 1924 and 1979. • 2001 – In
PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin (00-24) 532 U.S. 661, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title III of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, by its plain terms, prohibited the
PGA from denying
Casey Martin equal access to its tours on the basis of his disability (a degenerative circulatory disorder preventing him from walking golf courses) and that allowing Martin to use a golf cart, despite the walking rule, was not a modification that would "fundamentally alter the nature" of the game. • 2001 –
Penry v. Johnson,
532 U.S. 782 (2001), is a
United States Supreme Court case which concerned whether instructions given to a Texas jury were constitutionally adequate to emphasize the mitigating factors in sentencing of intellectual disability. The Texas courts had determined the sentencing instructions were consistent with prior Supreme Court jurisprudence, but the Court in a divided decision reversed, finding the sentencing instructions insufficient. This was the second time Penry's case made it to the Supreme Court. • 2002 – On May 2, 2002, Virginia Governor
Mark R. Warner issued a statement expressing "profound regret for the commonwealth's role in the eugenics movement," specifically naming Virginia's 1924
compulsory sterilization legislation, which includes though is not limited to the
Virginia Sterilization Act of 1924. was a case in which the
Supreme Court of the United States interpreted the meaning of the phrase "substantially impairs" as used in the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. It reversed the decision by the Court of Appeals to grant a partial
summary judgment in favor of the respondent, Ella Williams, that had qualified her inability to perform manual job-related tasks as a
disability. • 2002 – In
Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), the U. S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that executing mentally disabled people violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. • 2002 –
Carol Carr, an American woman from the state of
Georgia, became the center of a widely publicized debate over
euthanasia when in 2002 she killed her two adult sons because they had
Huntington's disease. Carr pleaded guilty to assisted suicide and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. After serving 21 months, she was released on parole in 2004. The parole board mandated that if Carr's surviving son, James, should become ill with Huntington's disease, she will be prohibited from serving as his primary caregiver. They also stipulated that Carr must receive mental-health counseling during her period of supervision. Carol's youngest son, James Scott, was diagnosed with Huntington's in 2005. Carr was not allowed to be his caregiver. • 2002 –
Access Now, Inc. v. Southwest Airlines Co. was a decision of the
United States District Court on 18 August 2002. It concerned the nature of Title III of
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The court determined that
Southwest Airlines website is not a "place of public accommodation" as defined in Title III of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The case determined that the
Southwest Airlines internet website was not in violation of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is concerned with physical existences and hence cannot govern things that are in cyberspace. Judge
Seitz also explained that the "virtual ticket counter"
Southwest Airlines Co's website was a virtual construct and hence not a "public place of accommodation" and as such "To expand the ADA to cover "virtual" spaces would be to create new rights without well-defined standards". The commission has been touted as part of his commitment to eliminate inequality for Americans with disabilities. Opponents of the plan questioned the motives of the commission, largely from a
civil liberties perspective, asserting the initiative campaign was little more than a thinly veiled proxy for the
pharmaceutical industry, which, in its pursuit of
profits, is too eager to foster
psychotropic medication interventions. Some opponents contended that its objectives are to foster chemical
behavior control of American citizens. However, no commission recommendations specifically called for increased drug use and the commission did call for closer scrutiny of psychiatric drug treatment, months before the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) started taking these steps in the wake of reports of increased rates of
suicide, especially during the first months of drug use. • 2002 – The
Help America Vote Act (HAVA) became law in the U.S., and it required voting "systems" to be accessible for all those with disabilities, including special assistance for blind or otherwise visually impaired voters. • 2002 –
Laura's Law is a
California state law that allows for court-ordered
assisted outpatient treatment. To qualify for the program, the person must have a serious mental illness plus a recent history of psychiatric hospitalizations, jailings or acts, threats or attempts of serious violent behavior towards [self] or others. A complete functional outline of the legal procedures and safeguards within Laura's Law has been prepared by NAMI San Mateo. The measure passed the California Legislature in 2002 and was signed into law by Governor Gray Davis. The statute can only be utilized in counties that choose to enact outpatient commitment programs based on the measure. As of 2010, Nevada County has fully implemented the law and Los Angeles County has a pilot project. • 2002 –
Kansas v. Crane, is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld the Kansas Sexually Violent Predator Act (
SVPA) as consistent with
substantive due process. The Court clarified that its earlier holding in
Kansas v. Hendricks did not set forth a requirement of total or complete lack of control, but noted that the Constitution does not permit commitment of a sex offender without some lack-of-control determination. • 2002 - Decided by the US Supreme Court in 2002, the case
US Airways, Inc. v. Barnett held that even requests for accommodation due to disability that might seem reasonable on their face, e.g., a transfer to a different position, can be rendered unreasonable because it would require a violation of the company's seniority system. While the court held that, in general, a violation of a seniority system renders an otherwise reasonable accommodation unreasonable, a plaintiff can present evidence that, despite the seniority system, the accommodation is reasonable in the specific case at hand, e.g., the plaintiff could offer evidence that the seniority system is so often disregarded that another exception wouldn't make a difference. Importantly, the court held that the defendant need not provide proof that this particular application of the seniority system should prevail, and that, once the defendant showed that the accommodation violated the seniority system, it fell to Barnett to show it was nevertheless reasonable. • 2003 -
Max Starkloff and his wife Colleen began the Starkloff Disability Institute in downtown St. Louis, which sought to work with employers in hiring disabled people. • 2003 – The U.S. Supreme Court decision
Sell v. United States imposed stringent limits on the right of a lower court to order the forcible administration of antipsychotic medication to a criminal defendant who had been determined to be incompetent to stand trial for the sole purpose of making them competent and able to be tried. • 2003 – On September 17, 2003, the Free Our People March ended, with marchers arriving in the nation's capitol from Pennsylvania, to advocate for MiCASSA, full implementation of the U.S. Supreme Court's
Olmstead v. L.C. decision, Money Following the Person legislation, and Medicaid reform other than block grants. • 2003 – In
Hornstine v. Township of Moorestown Blair Hornstine, then a high school senior, successfully sued her school district, which had said she was able to get a higher grade point average because she had been home-schooled at times because of an immune-system illness and, as a result, had taken more advanced placement courses and fewer low-rated physical education courses. Arguing that she had the highest grades and should not have to share the top honors in her class, Blair won the right to be sole valedictorian. • 2003 – The
Disability History Association was founded; it is an affiliated society of the
American History Association. • 2003 – On February 10, 2003,
United States Department of Health and Human Services secretary
Tommy Thompson announced a limited program in Alabama that would fund in-home services for
Nick Dupree and 29 others who were turning 21 shortly; • 2004 – The
Assistive Technology Act of 2004 required states to provide direct aid to individuals with disabilities to ensure they have access to the technology they need. As a result, the majority of state efforts are required to be conducted in the following areas: assistive technology reutilization programs, assistive technology demonstration programs, alternative financing programs and device loan programs. • 2004 – On October 30, 2004, President
George W. Bush signed into law the "
Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act," Public Law 108-406. The bill authorized funding for its Healthy Athletes, Education, and Worldwide Expansion programs. • 2004 –
Hangarter v. Provident Insurance Company, 373 F.3d 998 (9th Cir. 2004), (UnumProvident, now referred to as
Unum or
Unum Group), is a landmark decision by the
9th Circuit Court of Appeals on the issue of disability
bad faith insurance law. Because California's bad faith insurance law is often referred to in many states as a model nationwide, the 9th Circuit's decision has a persuasive impact throughout the country. Affirming in part and reversing in part the district court's opinion in
Hangarter v. Paul Revere Life Insurance Company, the 9th Circuit ruled the defendant insurance company, UnumProvident, engaged in biased and bad faith claims handling and investigation. This case marked a milestone victory for disabled claimants who were rejected because disability insurers were basing their decisions on an improper definition of total disability. The 9th Circuit made it clear that California law controls the definition of this crucial phrase in disability policies.
Hangarter v. Provident is also a landmark decision in the area of admissibility of expert testimony, under the
Daubert factors laid out by the
Supreme Court. With experts on insurance claims practices, the Daubert factors will not preclude the kind of testimony whose reliability depends on the knowledge and experience of the expert, rather than the theory or technical framework behind it.
Hangarter gave several important findings of law that aid disabled claimants. First, futile attempts to return to an occupation are insufficient to reverse a jury's determination of total disability under California law. Total disability may still be found, even if an insured was able to do some work under her occupation. The guiding focus is whether an insured was unable to perform the substantial and material duties of her own occupation in the usual and customary way with reasonable continuity. Second, the 9th Circuit affirmed that recovery under total disability is not precluded because an insured was able to generate income during her disability. Disability insurance is designed not as insurance against loss of income, but as a substitute for earnings when an insured is deprived of the capacity to earn an income. Third, repeated use of a medical examiner overcomes any presumption that an insurance company's denial of a claim is a genuine dispute. The practice of using the same medical examiner when claims are being rejected evinces bad faith on the part of the insurance company. • 2004 – The
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) became law; it is a United States law that mandates equity, accountability and excellence in education for children with disabilities. • 2004 –
Archuleta v. Hedrick, 365 F.3d 644 (8th Cir. 2004) was a
pro se petition for a
writ of
habeas corpus filed in the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in October 2002, appealing the dismissal of a case brought by defendant Benjamin Archuleta. Archuleta had been found
not guilty by reason of insanity of
assault and subsequently ordered to be confined in a prison mental hospital by the
United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri after his successful
insanity defense, as he was evaluated by a psychiatrist as dangerous. His appeal challenged this confinement and "forced treatment", requested a withdrawal of his original
insanity defense, and sought his unconditional release from custody. The appellate court reversed the lower court's dismissal of the habeas corpus petition, saying that habeas corpus is a last resort remedy available to those without any other, and the case was remanded back to that court with the instructions to transfer the petition to another district court, the
United States District Court for the District of Utah. • 2004 –
Jesse Koochin was a 6-year-old American boy who became the center of a legal battle between his parents, Steve and Gayle Koochin, and
Primary Children's Medical Center in
Salt Lake City. On September 15, 2004, Jesse developed respiratory problems and was taken to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City and placed on a ventilator. On October 8, "his tumor pushed his
brain stem down through the skull," and he was in an unresponsive coma. Subsequently, two physicians independently examined him on October 11 and 12 and determined that the child was
brain dead. The hospital informed his parents that they would order life support removed within 24 hours. However, the Koochins rejected the hospital's definition of death. Instead, relying on traditional notions of cardiopulmonary death, they filed for an immediate restraining order to keep Koochin on a ventilator and to receive other treatment. They declared that he had been in a "similar coma" from May 23, 2004 to July 11, 2004 and had successfully awakened, and also claimed that the hospital staff did not perform an
EEG exam or cerebral perfusion study to test for brain activity. The Utah judge granted the restraining order on October 13 and ruled that the hospital would be allowed to declare him brain dead without performing the two tests. On October 15, the parents removed the brain-dead child from the hospital and put him under hospice care at their temporary home in Salt Lake City. Koochin's heart ultimately stopped beating on November 19, 2004. The landmark case was the first documented instance in the United States in which parents attempted to opt out of legally accepted standards of death. • 2004 –
Ewing v. Goldstein (
Cal. Ct. App. 2004) is a landmark court case that extended
California mental health professional's
duty to protect identifiable victims of potentially violent persons, as established by
Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, to include acting upon communications from third parties that indicate a possible threat. • 2004 – In
Tennessee v. Lane, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the
Americans with Disabilities Act did not violate the sovereign immunity doctrine of the 11th Amendment when, based on Congress's 14th Amendment enforcement powers of the Due Process clause, it allowed individuals to sue states for denying them services based on their disabilities. The Court held that Congress had sufficiently demonstrated the problems faced by disabled persons who sought to exercise fundamental rights protected by the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment (such as access to a court). The Court also emphasized that the remedies required from the states were not unreasonable – they just had to make reasonable accommodations to allow disabled persons to exercise their fundamental rights. The Court thus held that because Title II of the
Americans with Disabilities Act was a "reasonable prophylactic measure, reasonably targeted to a legitimate end," and because Congress had the authority under the 14th Amendment to regulate the actions of the states to accomplish that end, the law was constitutional. • 2004 – The first Chicago Disability Pride Parade was the first
Disability Pride Parade in the United States after the Boston-based parades of the 1990s. It was held on July 18, 2004. The first Chicago parade was funded with $10,000 in seed money that Sarah Triano received in 2003 as part of the Paul G. Hearne Leadership award from the
American Association of People with Disabilities. According to Triano, fifteen hundred people attended the parade. • 2005 – The
California Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) became California law in 2005 after the voters passed Proposition 63. Funded through a 1 percent tax on personal incomes in excess of $1 million, the MHSA established a broad continuum of community-based prevention, early intervention, and other services for Californians with severe mental illnesses. The California Department of Mental Health administers the act, and counties and their contracted agencies provide the direct consumer services. • 2005 – In
Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd., the U.S. Supreme Court held that Title III of the
Americans with Disabilities Act applied to foreign-flagged cruise ships in U.S. waters. • 2005 – The
Terri Schiavo case was a
right-to-die legal case in the
United States from 1990 to 2005, involving Theresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo (December 3, 1963 – March 31, 2005), a woman in an irreversible
persistent vegetative state. Schiavo's husband and legal guardian argued that Schiavo would not have wanted prolonged artificial life support without the prospect of recovery, and elected to remove her
feeding tube. Schiavo's parents disputed her husband's assertions and challenged Schiavo's medical diagnosis, arguing in favor of continuing artificial nutrition and hydration. The highly publicized and prolonged series of legal challenges presented by her parents, which ultimately involved state and federal politicians up to the level of
President George W. Bush, caused a seven-year delay before Schiavo's feeding tube was ultimately removed in 2005, after which she died that same year. • 2005 –
Peggy S. Salters, from South Carolina, became the first survivor of electroshock treatment in the United States to win a jury verdict and a large money judgment ($635,177) in compensation for extensive permanent amnesia and cognitive disability caused by the procedure. • 2005 – In
Campbell v. General Dynamics Government Systems Corp., the First Circuit Court of the U.S. had to consider the enforceability of a mandatory arbitration agreement, contained in a dispute resolution policy linked to an e-mailed company-wide announcement, insofar as it applied to employment discrimination claims brought under the
Americans with Disabilities Act. Under the Court's analysis, the question turned on whether the employer provided minimally sufficient notice of the contractual nature of the e-mailed policy and of the concomitant waiver of an employee's right to access a judicial forum. The Court weighed the attendant circumstances and concluded that the notice was wanting and that, therefore, enforcement of the waiver would be inappropriate; thus the Court upheld the district court's denial of the employer's motion to stay proceedings and compel the employee to submit his claim to arbitration. The case is a principal case in the Rothstein, Liebman employment law casebook. • 2005 – On November 14, 2005, the
U.S. Supreme Court held in
Schaffer v. Weast, 546 U.S. 49, that it is the party which requests a hearing under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act who has the burden of proof in such an action. • 2005 – The
Sun Hudson case concerned Wanda Hudson and her infant son, who in 2005 was allowed to die via removal of his
breathing tube, contrary to her wishes. • 2005 –
Spiro Nikolouzos was a Texas man incapacitated from bleeding related to a
cerebral shunt, whose care was the subject of an appeal of The
Texas Futile Care Law. Nikolouzos was hospitalized on February 10, 2005, at
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital,
Houston, Texas, and was in a
persistent vegetative state. He was fed through a
gastric feeding tube and respirated by a
ventilator. The
hospital wished to discontinue
life support, allowing Nikolouzos to die. His family opposed this action and claimed the hospital's decision was related to the fact that Nikolouzos's
Medicare funding was running out, a contention denied by the hospital. Under the 1999
Advance Directives Act (also known as The
Texas Futile Care Law), the hospital may override the family's wishes in such a matter should an
ethics committee clear such an action. However, Nikolouzos's family won an emergency
injunction preventing the removal of the life support apparatus, and on March 21, 2005, Spiro Nikolouzos was removed to
Avalon Place Nursing Home in
San Antonio, Texas. Avalon Place had rejected his application nine days earlier. Nikolouzos subsequently died at Avalon on May 30, 2005. The precedent set by the case of
Sun Hudson may have helped to expedite the removal of Nikolouzos from artificial respiration prior to the move. • 2005 – In
Bigby v. Dretke 402 F.3d 551 (5th Cir. 2005), the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down
jury instructions in death penalty cases that do not ask about
mitigating factors including a consideration of the
defendant's social, medical, and psychological history, saying that the jury must be instructed to consider mitigating factors even when answering unrelated questions. This ruling suggests that an expanded explanation including these factors be given in the jury instructions to insure the jury weighs all the mitigating factors. This ruling also established that a defendant's mental disorder must be considered as a mitigating factor in sentencing in a death penalty case, even if mental illness was not brought up in the trial. • 2005 - In 2005
Tatyana McFadden and
Deborah McFadden filed suit against the Howard County Public School System and won the right for Tatyana to race in her wheelchair at the same time as her school's runners starting in 2006, though her score would not be counted for her team. • 2006 – On April 19, 2006, it was announced that after nearly 5 years, Duane Reade, a chain of drugstores primarily located in New York City, finally agreed to settle with
Disabled In Action to make all of its stores
ADA-compliant. • 2006 – The
Ashley Treatment refers to a controversial set of medical procedures undergone by a disabled Seattle child, "Ashley X". Ashley, born in 1997, had severe
developmental disabilities due to
static encephalopathy of unknown
etiology; she was assumed to be at an infant level mentally and physically. The treatment included
growth attenuation via estrogen therapy;
hysterectomy, bilateral breast bud removal, and
appendectomy. • 2006 –
World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) is marked each year on March 21, beginning in 2006. The 21st day of March (the 3rd month of the year) was selected to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome. • 2006 –
National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corp.,
452 F.Supp.2d 946 (2006), was a
class action lawsuit in the United States that was filed on February 7, 2006 in the Superior Court of California for the County of Alameda, and subsequently moved to federal court. The case challenged whether the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, specifically Title III's provisions prohibiting discrimination by "places of public accommodation" (42 U.S.C. 12181 et seq) apply to websites and/ or the Internet, or are restricted to physical places. The plaintiff,
National Federation of the Blind (NFB), sued
Target Corporation, a national
retail chain, claiming that blind people were unable to access much of the information on the
defendant's website, nor purchase anything from its website independently. On September 7, 2006, the court ordered that a retailer may be sued if its website is inaccessible to the blind. In the court's opinion, Judge
Marilyn Hall Patel explained that the order of the court was based upon "42 U.S. Code § 12182", the prohibition of discrimination by public accommodations clause of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits discrimination in the "enjoyment of goods, services, facilities or privileges." • 2006 – In
United States v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the protection of the
Americans with Disabilities Act extends to persons held in a
state prison and protects prison inmates from discrimination on the basis of
disability by prison personnel. Specifically, the court held that
title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,
., was a proper use of
Congressional power under the
Fourteenth Amendment, Section 5, making it applicable to prison system officials. • 2006 - Following a lawsuit under the
Americans with Disabilities Act,
FedExField added caption screens in 2006. • 2007 – A psychiatric patient in the
Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in New York, given the pseudonym of
Simone D., won a court ruling which set aside a two-year-old court order to give her electroshock treatment against her will. • 2007 - In May 2007,
Hotels.com was subject to a
class action complaint (
Smith v. Hotels.com L.P., California Superior Court, Alameda County, Case No. RG07327029) brought against them for "ongoing discrimination against persons with
mobility disabilities who desire to, but cannot, use Hotels.com’s worldwide reservation network to make reservations for hotel rooms". The company denied the accusation and opposed the action, but was found guilty on one count of infringing California's
Unruh Civil Rights Act, and on one count in violation of Unfair Competition Law. It was agreed that the company would provide suitable accessibility information about hotels sold on its website. • 2007 -
Green v. State of California, No. S137770 (Cal. Aug. 23, 2007) was a case in which the majority of the Supreme Court in California was faced with deciding whether the employee suing the state is required to prove they are able to perform "essential" job duties, regardless of whether or not there was "reasonable accommodation," or if the employer must prove the person suing was unable to do so. The court ruled the burden was on the employee, not the employer, and reversed a disputed decision by the courts. Plaintiff attorney David Greenberg brought forth considerations of the concept that, even in the state of California, employers do not have to employ a worker who is unable to perform "essential job functions" with "reasonable accommodation." Forcing employers to do so "would defy logic and establish a poor public policy in employment matters." • 2007 – A decision by the
Colorado Court of Appeals in
People v. Grant upheld a lower court ruling that did not allow
expert testimony on the defendant's state of mind due to voluntary intoxication, thus ruling out any possibility that the issue of "settled insanity" might be raised. • 2007 – On May 21, 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court held in
Winkelman v. Parma City School District, 550 U.S. 516, that parents have independent enforceable rights under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and may appear
pro se on behalf of their children. • 2007 –
Jonathan's Law is the "popular name" of the amendments to New York Mental Hygiene Law Article 33. Jonathan's Law, a New York statute, was signed into law in May 2007; it entitles parents and legal guardians access to all child abuse investigation files and medical history records. The legislative measure is intended to hold residential mental health facilities accountable by requiring notification of guardians in cases of ill treatment, and requires written reports of ensuing investigations. Mike and Lisa Carey, the parents of Jonathan Carey, promoted Jonathan's Law. Jonathan Carey, who had severe autism, was abused and neglected at school and later killed by a direct care worker. • 2007 –
Panetti v. Quarterman, 551 U.S. 930 (2007), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, ruling that criminal defendants sentenced to death may not be executed if they do not understand the reason for their imminent execution, and that once the state has set an execution date death-row inmates may litigate their
competency to be executed in
habeas corpus proceedings. • 2007 –
Doe ex. rel. Tarlow v. District of Columbia, 489
F.3d 376 (D.C. Cir. 2007), is a decision of the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, written by Circuit Judge
Brett Kavanaugh, in which the Court upheld a 2003
District of Columbia statute that stated the conditions for authorizing a non-emergency surgical procedure on a mentally incompetent person. This case developed out of an appeal to a district court decision that was brought on behalf of a mentally incompetent patient who was subjected to an abortion without her consent and another patient who was subjected to an eye surgery without the patient's consent. Under the Appellate Court's interpretation of the statute, a court located in the District of Columbia, must apply the "best interest of the patient" standard to a person who was never competent, and the court must apply the "known wishes of the patient" standard to a person who was once competent. The appellate decision was
remanded back to the District Court. • 2007 –
Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America v. The University of Michigan, begun in 2007, was a case filed before The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division on behalf of the Michigan
Paralyzed Veterans of America against University of Michigan – Michigan Stadium claiming that
Michigan Stadium violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in its $226-million renovation by failing to add enough seats for disabled fans or accommodate the needs for disabled restrooms, concessions and parking. Additionally, the distribution of the accessible seating was at issue, with nearly all the seats being provided in the end-zone areas. The suit was settled in March 2008. The settlement required the stadium to add 329 wheelchair seats throughout the stadium by 2010, and an additional 135 accessible seats in clubhouses to go along with the existing 88 wheelchair seats. This case was significant because it set a precedent for the uniform distribution of accessible seating and gave the DOJ the opportunity to clarify previously unclear rules. The agreement now is a blueprint for all stadiums and other public facilities regarding accessibility. • 2007 – Legislation enacted in Idaho designated every October as
Disability History Month. • 2007 – The
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires the U.S. states to provide students with disabilities a "free appropriate
public education." Because the
New York City Department of Education did not have an "
Individualized Education Program" for former
Viacom executive Tom Freston's son Gilbert, Freston enrolled his son in the Stephen Gaynor School, a private school for
special needs students. The school district reimbursed Freston for tuition to the school. Two years later the school district offered a place for Gilbert at a different public school. Freston declined the offer and again sought reimbursement for private school tuition. A
United States district court ruled that because Gilbert had never been enrolled in public school, IDEA did not require the school district to reimburse Freston. As
Oyez notes, the IDEA act "authorizes reimbursement for a child 'who previously received special education and related services under the authority of a public agency,' but it does not explicitly state that parents of children who have never received public education are not entitled to reimbursement." The
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the decision of the district court on August 9, 2006, reasoning by comparing the disputed section of the act with other sections that IDEA was not
intended to deny reimbursement for students never enrolled in public school. The court held that upholding the district court ruling would require parents to enroll their children in inadequate public schools as a condition of eligibility for tuition reimbursement. The school district
appealed to the Supreme Court in a November 3, 2006 petition for a
writ of certiorari. The Supreme Court granted certiorari on February 26, 2007. Later that year in
New York City Board of Education v. Tom F. the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tom. • 2008 – The Washington, D.C. District Court decided that the Treasury must "take such steps as may be required to provide meaningful access to United States currency for blind and other visually impaired persons," siding with the
American Council of the Blind. • 2008 – In the state of Washington, October is a statutorily designated
civic holiday called
Disability History Month; the bill establishing the holiday passed the state legislature in 2008 and is codified in Title 28A of the
Revised Code of Washington in 2008. In addition to the ceremonial designation, the law also requires that "each public school shall conduct or promote educational activities that provide instruction, awareness, and understanding of disability history and people with disabilities". • 2008 – The
Illinois Appellate Court held that in determining a petition for the sterilization of an incompetent ward, a court should apply the substituted consent standard if there is clear and convincing evidence regarding how the ward would decide if the ward were competent; however, the court should apply the best interest of the patient standard if the ward's substituted judgment cannot be proven by clear and convincing evidence. • 2008 – The
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (, GINA) became law in the U.S. The Act prohibits group health plans and health insurers from denying coverage to a healthy individual or charging that person higher premiums based solely on a
genetic predisposition to developing a disease in the future. The legislation also bars employers from using individuals' genetic information when making
hiring,
firing, job placement, or
promotion decisions. • 2008 – The
ADA Amendments Act of 2008 became law, and it broadened the scope of who is considered disabled under the law, and when considering whether a person is disabled, the law required that people ignore the beneficial effects of any mitigating measures (except ordinary eyeglasses and contact lenses) the person uses; furthermore, when considering whether a person is substantially limited in a major life activity, which would make them disabled under the law, the law required the consideration of bodily functions as well as other major life activities, and having one major life activity substantially limited is enough; when considering whether a person whose condition is episodic or in remission is substantially limited in a major life activity, the law required the consideration of the person's limitations as they are when the condition is in an active state; furthermore, determining someone is disabled under the law does not require individuals to meet the substantially-limited-in-a-major-life-activity standard, but does not include impairments that are transitory and minor. • 2008 – The
Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act became law in the U.S., and it required that if a group health plan includes medical/surgical benefits and MH/SUD (mental health/substance abuse) benefits, the financial requirements (e.g., deductibles and co-payments) and treatment limitations (e.g., number of visits or days of coverage) that apply to MH/SUD benefits must be no more restrictive than the predominant financial requirements or treatment limitations that apply to substantially all medical/surgical benefits; MH/SUD benefits may not be subject to any separate cost-sharing requirements or treatment limitations that only apply to such benefits; if a group health plan includes medical/surgical benefits and MH/SUD benefits, and the plan provides for out-of-network medical/surgical benefits, it must provide for out-of-network MH/SUD benefits; and standards for medical necessity determinations and reasons for any denial of benefits relating to MH/SUD benefits must be disclosed upon request. However, this law does not apply to small group health plans. • 2008 –
Indiana v. Edwards, , was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the standard for competency to stand trial was not linked to the standard for competency to represent oneself. • 2008 - The Maryland Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act became law, which made Maryland the first state to require schools to provide equal physical education and athletic opportunities for students with disabilities. It is called
Tatyana's Law. • 2008 -
Kentucky Retirement Systems v. EEOC, 554 U.S. 135 (2008) is a United States Supreme Court case that ruled Kentucky's retirement system does not amount to
age discrimination under the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act when granting pensions to disabled persons who had not yet reached the permitted retirement age of 55. • 2008 - Section 10(g) of the
Cook Islands Disability Act 2008 prohibits discrimination against disabled persons based on their sexual orientation. • 2009 – The
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act became law in the U.S., and it expanded the definition of federal hate crime to include those violent crimes in which the victim is selected due to their actual or perceived disability; previously federal hate crimes were defined as only those violent crimes where the victim is selected due to their race, color, religion, or national origin. • 2009 – The
Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act became law in the U.S. It was the first piece of comprehensive legislation aimed at improving the lives of Americans living with paralysis; it created new coordinated research activities through the
National Institutes of Health to search for a cure for paralysis, and promotes enhanced rehabilitation services for Americans living with paralysis. • 2009 –
Forest Grove School District v. T. A., 557 U.S. 230 (2009), is a case in which the
United States Supreme Court held that the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) authorizes reimbursement for private
special education services when a public school fails to provide a "
free appropriate public education" (FAPE) and the private school placement is appropriate, regardless of whether the child previously received special education services through the public school. • 2009 – Section 3A1.1 of the 2009 United States Sentencing Guidelines states that: "If the finder of fact at trial or, in the case of a plea of guilty or
nolo contendere, the court at sentencing determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally selected any victim or any property as the object of the offense of conviction because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person," the sentencing court is required to increase the standard sentencing range. ==2010s==