Prevent Jeffrey Sutton's Confirmation

Call your Senators to let them know that you oppose Sutton's confirmation because it would have disastrous results for people with disabilities.It is particularly important to contact Senators on the Judiciary Committee. Staff and contact information for the Committee can be obtained by calling (202) 224-7703 or online at http://judiciary.senate.gov. Judiciary Committee Democrats include: Patrick Leahy (VT), Edward Kennedy (MA), Joseph Biden (DE), Herbert Kohl (WI), Dianne Feinstein (CA), Russ Feingold (WI), Charles Schumer (NY), Richard Durbin (IL), Maria Cantwell (WA), and John Edwards (NC). Judiciary Committee Republicans include: Orrin Hatch (UT), Charles Grassley (IA), Arlen Specter (PA), Jon Kyl (AZ), Mike DeWine (OH), Jeff Sessions (AL), Sam Brownback (KS), and Mitch McConnell (KY). Sign ADA Watch's Stop Sutton! Petition. The petition can be found at www.adawatch.org. You can fax completed copies to ADA Watch at (202) 318-4040, and they will hand deliver the petitions to the Senate. For more ways you can help, see the ADA Watch website, www.adawatch.org. Get Involved... Support the Bazelon Center. Your tax-deductible donation helps the Bazelon Center keep you informed on important developments in mental health law and policy. Not a Subscriber? Sign up now to receive action alerts and updates from the Bazelon Center.

January 6, 2003-- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is menaced on two fronts as the new year begins. The Supreme Court is preparing to hear yet another case questioning the federal anti-discrimination law's constitutionality, and the Senate Judiciary Committee is about to take up President Bush's nomination of Jeffrey Sutton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Swift action by disability advocates is needed on both.

• More information on Medical Board of California v. Hason
• More Information on the nomination of Jeffery Sutton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Sutton Nomination

Jeffrey Sutton, who has been nominated by President Bush to serve as a federal judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, is scheduled to have a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 14th. Sutton has been a significant foe of disability rights, arguing time after time against the enforcement of important disability rights laws. It is urgent for disability rights advocates to act now and send a clear message to the Senate that they oppose Sutton's confirmation as a federal judge.

Sutton's Record

Sutton has aggressively pursued a national role as a far-right legal theorist arguing to limit Congress's power to pass civil rights laws. While Sutton now claims that he has simply acted as a lawyer representing the interests of his clients, this is disingenuous. Sutton has sought out cases that allowed him to pursue states' rights arguments that would drastically limit civil rights protections. It is no coincidence that Sutton has been hired by states as the chief lawyer in case after case arguingthat individuals have no right to enforce the civil rights protections that Congress has given them.

• Sutton persuaded the Supreme Court to rule that people with disabilities could not sue state employers for damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Sutton argued before the Supreme Court that states have no duty under the ADA to serve people with disabilities in integrated settings. Fortunately, the Supreme Court rejected this argument.
• Sutton argued to a federal court that poor children had no right to enforce the rights that Congress afforded them to obtain needed medical services under Medicaid.
• Sutton successfully argued to the Supreme Court that individuals cannot privately enforce regulations under Title VI, a race discrimination statute, that prohibits recipients of federal funds from doing things that have the effect of discriminating based on race or national origin. This decision has been used in efforts to persuade courts that people with disabilities should not be allowed to enforce regulations under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act requiring reasonable accommodations and integration of individuals with disabilities.

For more a more detailed account of Sutton's record, see http://www.bazelon.org/takeaction/alerts/7-26-01sutton.htm.

Take Action Now

If Jeffrey Sutton is confirmed as a federal judge, he will make decisions, not merely arguments, that affect the rights of people with disabilities. People with disabilities have worked too hard to obtain civil rights protections to see those protections systematically dismantled.