Sotomayor Nomination is Good News

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law welcomes the President’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Her opinions demonstrate that Judge Sotomayor understands the language and the purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other disability rights laws.

See the letter from 28 disability organizations (PDF) urging the Senate Judiciary to confirm Judge Sotomayor and the press release summarizing it (7/7/09).

A review and analysis of Judge Sotomayor's opinions in disability cases (PDF) is updated periodically. The current review was posted on June 22, 2009.

The review by Bazelon Center senior staff attorney Lewis Bossing suggests that she would bring a real-world understanding to the Supreme Court. “I am struck by how she has often engaged in searching inquiries into the nature of plaintiffs’ impairments,” Bossing said, “apparently motivated by a genuine desire to accurately determine whether a plaintiff is protected by law.”

Bossing reviewed decisions by Judge Sotomayor involving the ADA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Rehabilitation Act, federal privacy law and Social Security disability rulings. These laws cover the relationships between individuals with disabilities and entities such as employers, schools, state agencies and public facilities.

In ADA cases concerning the definition of “disability,” Judge Sotomayor has apparently combed through voluminous or technical testimony to determine whether evidence existed that the plaintiff was substantially limited in a major life activity or that the employer regarded the plaintiff as so limited. She has also given careful consideration whether accommodations offered are reasonable—for example, reversing a verdict against the plaintiff for failure to instruct the jury that, in determining whether reassignment to a vacant position is a reasonable accommodation, an offer of an inferior position is not reasonable when a comparable (lateral) position is available, Norville v. Staten Island University Hospital, 196 F. 3d 89 (2d Cir. 1999).