Unanimous Supreme Court makes it easier to sue schools in disability cases

The Supreme Court on Thursday made it easier for students with disabilities to sue to enforce their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws enacted to ensure that disabled children get appropriate schooling.

Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Justice John Roberts said that while Thursday's decision may be narrow, that does not diminish its importance for a great many children with disabilities—children who face "daunting challenges on a daily basis."

"We hold today," he said, "that those challenges do not include having to satisfy a more stringent standard of proof than other plaintiffs" in discrimination cases.

At the center of the opinion was Ava Tharpe, a teenage girl who suffers from serious disabilities caused by a rare form of epilepsy. She has so many seizures, mostly in the morning hours, that her public school in Kentucky arranged her schedule to be in the afternoon only, including a teacher who gave her instruction at home in the early evening.

Read Full Article Here