November 2, 2016
Private: The Importance of a Single Justice
Kevin Battersby Witenoff
At many points during my frigid three and a half hour wait, I questioned whether waking up before 6:00 a.m. was worth the chance to see oral arguments before the Supreme Court. Any doubt I harbored immediately vacated my mind upon entering the burgundy draped courtroom. The opportunity to stand in the presence of such mastery would have been enough to amaze any citizen, but as a future law student I felt an electric connection to the setting that enhanced my aspirations and heightened my admiration for my prospective profession to an almost Tocquevillian level. Between my own personal elation and the vicarious excitement of my family members and coworkers in the legal profession, it would have been easy to classify the trip as a complete success. But even after such a formative experience, I could not help but feel as though something, or rather someone, was missing from my morning at the High Court.
Though the late Justice Scalia’s chair has been temporarily removed from the courtroom, the ramifications of that chair’s vacancy continue to reverberate across the country. In Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools, the scope of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a piece of legislation that affects millions of Americans, was called into question. The Court’s interpretation of this act, in conjunction with its interpretation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), will determine the process that some aggrieved parties filing a complaint under the ADA will have to follow. Attorneys representing E.F., a young girl born with cerebral palsy, contend the ADA protects her right to bring her service dog to a Napoleon Community School. The defense asserts that prior to filing a complaint under the ADA, the Fry family must first raise a complaint under IDEA, an act specifically focusing on disability in educational settings. E.F.’s family’s hesitation lies in the process of filing a claim under IDEA, as it takes over 100 days to do so. Though the defense minimized this point, Chief Justice Roberts noted this amount of time is enough to derail a student’s entire school year. To this point the plaintiff’s attorneys emphasized that this case does not represent an isolated incident, but rather will influence countless individuals filing future disability claims in educational settings. As a result the ruling in this case has the possibility to disrupt an incalculable number of school days. This portion of the plaintiff’s argument reminded the entire courtroom of the importance of a single justice. One opinion has the power to change the process and thus the lives of an entire constituency.
Chief Judge Merrick Garland has now been waiting for a confirmation for 231 days. By comparison, Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Sotomayor, Ginsberg and Kennedy waited a combined 243 days to have their nominations confirmed. Chief Judge Garland has patiently waited longer than any Supreme Court nominee in history and he has yet to receive as much as a hearing. For the sake of children who need their service animals to fully participate in their education; for the sake of future cases that will impact millions; and for the sake of preserving our functioning democracy, the Senate must hold a hearing for Chief Judge Garland and afford him an up or a down vote.