For Immediate Release: May 12, 2005
Contact: Chris Burley, Bazelon Center, (202) 467-5730 x 133 or Jim Ward of ADA Watch, (202) 415-4753

Disability Rights Advocates Blast Pryor Vote

William Pryor's Record on Disability Rights Action Alert: Beat Back the Double-Barreled Assault on Disability Rights ADA Watch

WASHINGTON, DC—Two national advocacy groups for Americans with disabilities today responded with disappointment to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s 10-8 vote to advance William Pryor’s nomination to the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

"Fifteen years ago, Republicans and Democrats worked together to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act," said Jim Ward, president of ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights. "Today’s party-line vote is a sad betrayal of those bipartisan efforts. William Pryor has been one of the chief architects of an ongoing assault on the ADA and its protections for the rights of tens of millions of Americans with disabilities."

Pryor successfully argued in the Garrett v. Board of Trustees of Univ. of Alabama Supreme Court case to limit dramatically application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to employment discrimination. Patricia Garrett, and thousands more, lost the right to seek monetary damages from their employers for discrimination on the basis of disability. Pryor’s reasoning in the case has been used in subsequent attempts to further limit the ADA’s scope and enforcement.

"Pryor’s approval is disappointing, but the real test will be what happens on the Senate floor," said Jennifer Mathis, senior staff attorney at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, a national legal advocate for the rights of people with mental disabilities. "His efforts in Garrett and other cases have made it increasingly difficult for people with disabilities to enforce their rights in the courts. If the Senate doesn’t stand up soon to the rising tide of judicial activism against disability rights, you can wave goodbye to the basic protections the Americans with Disabilities Act and other bedrock civil rights laws have to offer."

The Eleventh Circuit, where Pryor would serve if confirmed, is made up of Florida, Georgia and Alabama. More than 3.6 million people with disabilities live in these states, according to U.S. Census data.

Nationally, between 40 million and 60 million Americans have a disability, according to tthe independent federal agency the National Council on Disability. The National Council on Disability is not affiliated with ADA Watch, the National Coalition for Disability Rights or the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

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ADA Watch is a project of the National Coalition for Disability Rights, an alliance of hundreds of disability, civil rights, and social justice organizations united to defend and promote the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the human rights of children and adults with physical, mental, cognitive and developmental disabilities.

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is a nationally recognized leader on disability rights law, having played a central role in legal victories for people with disabilities in the 1999 Olmstead v. L.C. and 2004 Tennessee v. Lane Supreme Court decisions. The Center engages in ongoing legal advocacy to fight discrimination against people with disabilities.