Disabled people win right to sue states

Disabled people can sue if states ignore a landmark civil rights law that protects their rights, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The court ruled 5-4 for a paraplegic man who crawled up the steps of a small-town Tennessee courthouse because there was no elevator for his wheelchair. The ruling marks a limited but important endorsement of the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, a law meant to ensure equal treatment for the disabled in many areas of life.

The ADA properly gives private citizens the power to sue for damages if a state fails to live up to that promise, the liberal-led majority ruled, despite a presumption of state immunity to such suits.

Utah, along with other states, joined the suit on the side of Tennessee.

"The state of Utah is committed to providing equal access to its courts, (but) this is a classic collision of states' rights and Congress," said Utah assistant attorney general Stephen Mikita, himself confined to a wheelchair. "It's unexpected and inconsistent with the principles and rationale that the court has expressed in its prior rulings."

In rejecting the states' arguments, the court departed from a recent line of cases expanding the sovereign rights of state governments while limiting federal control and congressional power, additionally limiting the effect of the ADA.

Barbara Toomer, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake-based Disabled Rights Action Committee, welcomed the ruling.

"That is wonderful news — wonderful, wonderful news," she said. "We have been under the impression that we can't sue the government. While they are not the biggest violator, there are obviously problems."

The state's risk manager, Alan Edwards, said the ruling "is another incentive to comply with the law."

Edwards said the state has required builders to comply with ADA mandates in any new construction or upgrades to existing buildings. While ADA compliance is a "moving target," depending upon when buildings were built, agencies have tried to be responsive by making changes in program services when necessary.

"It would have been an overwhelming thing to go back and remodel every building completely, but we feel the state has done a good job of trying to respond to ADA," he said.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney's office said local governments, unlike state governments, never have been considered exempt from compliance, so the ruling will not affect the state's cities, town and counties.

The Supreme Court also Monday: