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Jan. 15th, 2004 12:06 pmJustice Antonin Scalia, who Bush refers to as a favorite Supreme Court Justice, does not believe that people with disabilities (whom he refers to as "handicaps") should be able to sue states which prevent them from voting or accessing courts.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scotus14jan14,1,749950.story
Justices Hear Case on Scope of Disabilities Act
Tennessee says states should be immune from ADA suits. Past rulings favor its bold stand.
By David G. Savage, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — George Lane, who had been left in a wheelchair because of a back injury, went to a Tennessee county courthouse in 1996 to answer a misdemeanor reckless driving charge. But the courtroom was on the second floor, and there were no elevators or ramps. Lane crawled up the steps. When ordered to return for a later appearance, he refused to crawl the stairs again and was arrested. Beverly Jones, a court reporter, had a similar problem. A paraplegic, she routinely had to be carried to the second floor to reach rural Tennessee courtrooms.
More than 30 years ago, Congress said states, schools and public colleges needed to install ramps or elevators to make their buildings accessible to the disabled. In the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, Congress went further and outlawed all discrimination against people with disabilities by state and local governments. Yet a Tennessee lawyer came before the Supreme Court on Tuesday to argue that his state has a "sovereign immunity" that shields it from being sued by disabled persons. It was a bold argument, but one firmly based on recent high court rulings that have barred discrimination victims from suing states under some federal civil rights laws.
The case of Tennessee vs. Lane and Jones has drawn wide interest among the disabled, and the aisles of the courtroom were filled Tuesday with people in wheelchairs. Outside, angry demonstrators chanted, "Justice for all! We won't crawl!" "It's outrageous that anyone should be denied their dignity because a state like Tennessee fails to comply with the ADA. It's even more outrageous that some states would argue the law never should have applied to them in the first place," said Jim Ward of the National Coalition for Disability Rights. He was referring to the state's legal argument that Congress overstepped its bounds by subjecting the 50 states to lawsuits from disabled people.
The 1990 disability discrimination law "exceeds Congress' enforcement authority," Tennessee's Solicitor Gen. Michael E. Moore told the court, because the states "were not engaged in a widespread pattern of violations" against those who were blind, deaf or in a wheelchair. Newer state buildings have ramps or elevators, he said, conceding that "the amenities required by the ADA were not present" when Lane and Jones went to the courthouses. But state officials were willing to make accommodations by moving Lane's trial to another site and by carrying Jones to the second floor in her wheelchair.
William J. Brown, a lawyer for the two plaintiffs, urged the court to uphold Congress' broad authority to protect civil rights. "Congress has the power to ensure all of us have rights as citizens," he said. And "all of us have a fundamental right of access to the courts." His case was bolstered by the Bush administration's Deputy Solicitor Gen. Paul D. Clement, who also urged the court to uphold the power of the federal government to protect the civil rights of disabled persons.
"Congress was reacting to a real problem," Clements said. Disabled people have been barred from voting booths as well as courthouses, he said. And federal officials cannot be everywhere to protect their rights, so victims of discrimination must be allowed to sue, he said. The case marks the latest clash between federal and state power at the Supreme Court. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says Congress has the power to pass "appropriate legislation" to enforce the civil rights of all Americans.
More recently, however, the court has struck down a series of laws that were deemed to go too far. Four years ago, for example, the court said the nation's 5 million state employees may not sue their employers if they were fired or demoted based on age discrimination, despite the federal law that forbids such bias. The next year, the court ruled that disabled employees of state colleges and hospitals could not sue if they were victims of discrimination, despite the 1990 law that forbade such bias. In both instances, a 5-4 majority said states had a "sovereign immunity" that protected them from such suits.
During Tuesday's argument, Justice Antonin Scalia said he saw no constitutional reason why state agencies cannot discriminate against persons he referred to as "handicaps." Some states "may not have made it easy for handicaps to vote," he said, but that is not reason enough for Congress to subject states to lawsuits, he said. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist agreed. Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer have consistently upheld Congress' power to enforce antidiscrimination laws.
Justice Clarence Thomas is likely to side with Rehnquist and Scalia. So the outcome will depend on Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony M. Kennedy. Both have sided with the states in past cases, but also have supported civil rights claims in other contexts. A ruling can be expected in several months.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RESUME
George W. Bush - The White House, USA
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
LAW ENFORCEMENT:
I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving ecord has been "lost" and is not available.
MILITARY:
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.
COLLEGE:
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.
PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock. I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our right-wing friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS:
I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union. During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America. I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money. I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.
With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:
I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.
I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.
I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury. I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history. I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period. I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.
I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market.
In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.
I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.
I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.
I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.
My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron. My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision. I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip-offs
in history.
I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed. I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts. I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.
I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.
I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history. II am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission. I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law. I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention. I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).
I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television. I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.
I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history. I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.
I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.
I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families -- in war time.
In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq, then blamed the lies on our British friends. I am the first President in history to have a
majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.
RECORDS AND REFERENCES:
All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.
All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.
PLEASE CONSIDER MY EXPERIENCE WHEN VOTING IN 2004.
(some sources found here)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scotus14jan14,1,749950.story
Justices Hear Case on Scope of Disabilities Act
Tennessee says states should be immune from ADA suits. Past rulings favor its bold stand.
By David G. Savage, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — George Lane, who had been left in a wheelchair because of a back injury, went to a Tennessee county courthouse in 1996 to answer a misdemeanor reckless driving charge. But the courtroom was on the second floor, and there were no elevators or ramps. Lane crawled up the steps. When ordered to return for a later appearance, he refused to crawl the stairs again and was arrested. Beverly Jones, a court reporter, had a similar problem. A paraplegic, she routinely had to be carried to the second floor to reach rural Tennessee courtrooms.
More than 30 years ago, Congress said states, schools and public colleges needed to install ramps or elevators to make their buildings accessible to the disabled. In the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, Congress went further and outlawed all discrimination against people with disabilities by state and local governments. Yet a Tennessee lawyer came before the Supreme Court on Tuesday to argue that his state has a "sovereign immunity" that shields it from being sued by disabled persons. It was a bold argument, but one firmly based on recent high court rulings that have barred discrimination victims from suing states under some federal civil rights laws.
The case of Tennessee vs. Lane and Jones has drawn wide interest among the disabled, and the aisles of the courtroom were filled Tuesday with people in wheelchairs. Outside, angry demonstrators chanted, "Justice for all! We won't crawl!" "It's outrageous that anyone should be denied their dignity because a state like Tennessee fails to comply with the ADA. It's even more outrageous that some states would argue the law never should have applied to them in the first place," said Jim Ward of the National Coalition for Disability Rights. He was referring to the state's legal argument that Congress overstepped its bounds by subjecting the 50 states to lawsuits from disabled people.
The 1990 disability discrimination law "exceeds Congress' enforcement authority," Tennessee's Solicitor Gen. Michael E. Moore told the court, because the states "were not engaged in a widespread pattern of violations" against those who were blind, deaf or in a wheelchair. Newer state buildings have ramps or elevators, he said, conceding that "the amenities required by the ADA were not present" when Lane and Jones went to the courthouses. But state officials were willing to make accommodations by moving Lane's trial to another site and by carrying Jones to the second floor in her wheelchair.
William J. Brown, a lawyer for the two plaintiffs, urged the court to uphold Congress' broad authority to protect civil rights. "Congress has the power to ensure all of us have rights as citizens," he said. And "all of us have a fundamental right of access to the courts." His case was bolstered by the Bush administration's Deputy Solicitor Gen. Paul D. Clement, who also urged the court to uphold the power of the federal government to protect the civil rights of disabled persons.
"Congress was reacting to a real problem," Clements said. Disabled people have been barred from voting booths as well as courthouses, he said. And federal officials cannot be everywhere to protect their rights, so victims of discrimination must be allowed to sue, he said. The case marks the latest clash between federal and state power at the Supreme Court. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says Congress has the power to pass "appropriate legislation" to enforce the civil rights of all Americans.
More recently, however, the court has struck down a series of laws that were deemed to go too far. Four years ago, for example, the court said the nation's 5 million state employees may not sue their employers if they were fired or demoted based on age discrimination, despite the federal law that forbids such bias. The next year, the court ruled that disabled employees of state colleges and hospitals could not sue if they were victims of discrimination, despite the 1990 law that forbade such bias. In both instances, a 5-4 majority said states had a "sovereign immunity" that protected them from such suits.
During Tuesday's argument, Justice Antonin Scalia said he saw no constitutional reason why state agencies cannot discriminate against persons he referred to as "handicaps." Some states "may not have made it easy for handicaps to vote," he said, but that is not reason enough for Congress to subject states to lawsuits, he said. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist agreed. Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer have consistently upheld Congress' power to enforce antidiscrimination laws.
Justice Clarence Thomas is likely to side with Rehnquist and Scalia. So the outcome will depend on Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony M. Kennedy. Both have sided with the states in past cases, but also have supported civil rights claims in other contexts. A ruling can be expected in several months.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RESUME
George W. Bush - The White House, USA
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
LAW ENFORCEMENT:
I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving ecord has been "lost" and is not available.
MILITARY:
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.
COLLEGE:
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader.
PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock. I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our right-wing friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS:
I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union. During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America. I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money. I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.
With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:
I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.
I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.
I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury. I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history. I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period. I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.
I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market.
In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.
I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her.
I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.
I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.
My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron. My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision. I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip-offs
in history.
I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed. I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts. I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.
I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.
I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history. II am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission. I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law. I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention. I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).
I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television. I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.
I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history. I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.
I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.
I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families -- in war time.
In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq, then blamed the lies on our British friends. I am the first President in history to have a
majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice.
RECORDS AND REFERENCES:
All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.
All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.
PLEASE CONSIDER MY EXPERIENCE WHEN VOTING IN 2004.
(some sources found here)
