JFActivist

Obama Nominates Sotomayor for Supreme Court

Below are Press Releases, News Reports, and community reactions to this mornings announcement of Sonia Sotomayor as President Obama's nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

Words from Andy Imparato, President and CEO of AAPD(May 26, 2009):

"...Based on our preliminary analysis of Judge Sotomayor’s extensive record on the bench, we are encouraged that she may be the champion we have been looking for,” said Imparato.  “Her jurisprudence in the disability area shows that she has a good understanding of the real-life implications of her decisions, and sees the important connections between disability rights laws and other civil rights laws.  Her personal experience as a woman with childhood-onset insulin-dependent diabetes gives her additional insights that can inform her approach to disability issues.  We look forward to studying her record in more detail, and working on a bipartisan basis with the Senate to make sure that her approach to disability law is explored as part the confirmation process."

>>> For his full Statement

From the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law's Press Release (5/26/09):

Sotomayor Nomination is Good News, Say Advocates for People with Mental Disabilities

...A preliminary review of her cases by Bazelon Center senior staff attorney Lewis Bossing suggests that she would bring that 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..

>>> For the Full Release

>>> For a Preliminary Review of Disability Cases of Judge Sonia Sotomayor

From a Press Release by the American Diabetes Association (5/26/09):

President Obama's nomination of Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States affirms that people with diabetes should not be discriminated against and each person with diabetes should be judged based on his or her merits, not on stereotypes or misinformation about diabetes.

"In the days leading up to this nomination, there were several media reports suggesting that Judge Sotomayor should not be considered for this position simply because she has type 1 diabetes," said R. Paul Robertson, MD, President, Medicine & Science, American Diabetes Association. "The advancements in the management of type 1 diabetes have been just amazing over the last two decades and the ability of people to manage their diabetes successfully has been proven. People with diabetes can function and live a long and healthy life."

As this process moves forward, the diabetes community expects that Judge Sotomayor's nomination will be evaluated based on her qualifications and years of experience and not her diabetes. To evaluate her in any other way would be a disservice to the United States. 

>>> For the Full Release

From a Letter in Support of Judge Sotomayor by Jo Anne Simon, Disability Rights Lawyer from New York (5/4/09):

I write to share my reflections on her qualifications from the position of one who has tried a significant case before her, Bartlett v. New York State Board of Law Examiners.  Bartlett, a woman with dyslexia, sought admission to the New York State bar. The Board of Law Examiners had repeatedly denied her request for reasonable accommodations—in this case, an extension of time limitations in which to take the exam. Judge Sotomayor found that the Americans with Disabilities Act clearly required the board to provide the requested accommodation.

I have enormous respect and admiration for Judge Sotomayor. She is brilliant, thoughtful and principled.  Judge Sotomayor is demanding -- of attorneys, litigants and herself.  She was a capable prosecutor and litigator before her appointment to the US District Court... 

I knew from the moment we made our first appearance in court, that Judge Sotomayor cared about the person behind the caption.  She has carried this through her jurisprudence on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.  I have the utmost faith that as member of the Supreme Court, Justice Sotomayor will consider the consequences of Supreme Court decisions on the real lives of the people who will be affected by them.  In my humble opinion, we need her on the Court...

>>> For the Full Letter
>>> For an associated essay by Ms. Simon

From Time Magazing (5/26/09):

Sotomayor's Diabetes: Will It Be a Handicap?
By Alice Park

As President Obama's first nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor approaches the bench with a number of firsts. If she is confirmed to the lifelong post, as is widely expected, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic to sit on the high court, and she would also be the first justice with type 1 diabetes.

The nominee's chronic condition is worth noting, since it puts her at increased risk of several serious medical conditions, including heart disease, kidney problems, blindness and nerve damage — and an increased risk of early death. Studies show that adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely than non-diabetics to die of heart disease. But when treated correctly, say doctors, type 1 diabetes patients are able to lead relatively healthy lives...

>>> For the Full Article

Sotomayor Judging Disability

From the New York Times (5/26/09):

On the Bench, With Fairness and Empathy
By JIM DWYER

... At the time of the [Bartlett] trial, Judge Sotomayor, who was nominated for the Supreme Court on Tuesday by President Obama, had been on the federal district court bench for three years. She became a national figure after issuing an injunction against the owners of Major League Baseball, effectively ending an eight-month strike. Out of the spotlight, she labored on cases like Dr. Bartlett’s.

“She was concerned with the life behind the caption,” said Jo Anne Simon, the lawyer who represented Dr. Bartlett.

The case, though, demanded far more than empathy for the plaintiff — it also required a command of statistics and an understanding of standardized reading tests. The disabilities rights act had become law only five years earlier. And the “field of learning disabilities is replete with chaos,” Judge Sotomayor remarked, with little agreement among experts on what constituted a disability or how to measure it. The state board suggested that with help from experts, Dr. Bartlett was faking her problems.

... In ruling for Dr. Bartlett, Judge Sotomayor said that the state mistakenly relied just on tests of disputed value. “The board (like many others in the public) wants the comfort of a test score to measure this complex process,” she wrote. But, she said, “A learning disability is not measurable in the same way a blood disease can be measured in a serum test.”

Dr. Bartlett, she said, was an intelligent, highly articulate person who read “haltingly, and laboriously,” slower than 78 percent of 14-year-olds on a test.

“For those of us for whom words sing, sentences paint pictures, and paragraphs create panoramic views of the world, the inability to identify and process words with ease would be crippling,” Judge Sotomayor wrote...

Dr. Bartlett never did pass the bar, even with extra time. Now the dean of the School of Education at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, she was reached by phone on Tuesday in Mexico, delighted by Judge Sotomayor’s nomination.

“Even when we didn’t know which way the case was going to go, she seemed fair,” Dr. Bartlett said. “The consummate judge.”

>>> For the Full Article (May Require a FREE Subscription)
>>> For Words about Sotomayor by the Lawyer who Tried this Case

Sotomayor's Opinions about Disability

From the New York Times (5/27/09):

Sotomayor’s Notable Court Opinions and Articles

Workplace Discrimination: Disabilities

Some of Judge Sotomayor's more prominent opinions on discrimination concern people with disabilities. In one case, Judge Sotomayor ruled that a law school graduate with a reading and learning disability was entitled to extra time in taking the bar exams. After the Supreme Court decided that people are not protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act if they can function normally by wearing glasses, taking medication or otherwise compensating for their disabilities, it told the Second Court to reconsider its decision in this case. Judge Sotomayor again found that the woman was disabled, and must be given accommodations, writing that test scores alone were not enough to diagnose a disability. Another case concerned a trucking company that rejected applicants who were taking some medications. Judge Sotomayor dissented from the majority, writing that Hunt, the company, had determined the applicants were "substantially limited in the major life activity of working," and not, as the, majority found, merely "unsuited for long-distance driving of Hunt's 40-ton trucks on irregular stressful schedules."

>>> For the Full Article (May Require a FREE Subscription)

Judge Sotomayor's Diabetes: Not a Weakness But a Strength

From The Nation (5/27/09):

Judge Sotomayor's Diabetes: Not a Weakness But a Strength
by John Nichols

...Sotomayor's most important service as a role model may be as a Type 1 diabetic -- someone who has, since the age of eight, had to deal with what has variously been referred to as "childhood," "juvenile" or "insulin-dependent" diabetes.

This is a big deal.

..."In the days leading up to this nomination, there were several media reports suggesting that Judge Sotomayor should not be considered for this position simply because she has type 1 diabetes," explains R. Paul Robertson, MD, who serves as president for the medical and science sector of the American Diabetes Association. "The advancements in the management of type 1 diabetes have been just amazing over the last two decades and the ability of people to manage their diabetes successfully has been proven. People with diabetes can function and live a long and healthy life."

The ADA adds, "As this process moves forward, the diabetes community expects that Judge Sotomayor's nomination will be evaluated based on her qualifications and years of experience -- and not her diabetes. To evaluate her in any other way would be a disservice to the United States."

Fair points, well made. But let's not be too quick to dismiss the fact of Judge Sotomayor's long struggle with a particularly serious form of diabetes. That experience is an asset for a judicial nominee, especially at this moment in history.

Remember that Judge Sotomayor's diabetes affected her career choices. As a girl she had been drawn to Nancy Drew novels. She wanted to be a police detective. But she determined at an early age that her disease might make it difficult for her to do the job. That's when she made the decision that would eventually lead her to the federal bench.

"If I couldn't do detective work as a police officer, I could do it as a lawyer," she explained in an interview with the New York Daily News...

...It is also important for a court that will deal, increasingly, with healthcare access and medical-research issues.

To have a judge who understands, through personal experience, the challenges and the needs of Americans with serious diseases, lifelong conditions and profound hopes for medical breakthroughs.

This is another piece of the diversity puzzle, an essential piece that ought not be underestimated.

In a very real sense, the disease that steered her toward a legal career and a place on the federal bench is one of the greatest strengths that Judge Sotomayor would bring to the Supreme Court.

>>> For the Full Article

GA: District Refuses to Repent for Abusing Autistic Student

From Alive11 News (5/29/09):

Carolyn Ferrari sits with her autistic son, Stefan, in their home.

DeKalb County D.A. Investigating Autism Abuse Case
By: Jaye Watson and Michael King

ATLANTA -- 11Alive News has been telling you about 11-year-old Stefan Ferrari. The Atlanta Public Schools have spent thousands of taxpayer dollars to defend against a lawsuit from Stefan's parents...

...The Atlanta Public Schools spent over $135,000 to defend against a lawsuit from the Ferraris -- parents of 11-year-old Stefan. Stefan has Autism, and according to a judge, was abused while at school.

And it may not be over yet. Attorneys for the Atlanta Public Schools said, "We are still reviewing the opinion and record carefully to determine whether and on what grounds an appeal will be filed."

..."All I wanted was them to do the right thing. And all along the way they've had decisions to make and they've consistently made the wrong decisions. We wanted this to be fixed. We wanted them to set up a system whereby this wouldn't happen again. It's all we wanted. Instead they forced us to go out and hire a lawyer, to sue them, and continue to bring negative publicity on the school system which they do not need. That's not what we were trying to do. We were trying to do the right thing but they forced us to do this and they continue to force us to do this," Marcelo [Ferrari -- Stefan's father] said.

>>> For the Full Story

Comment Below: How can we avoid all this wasteful spending by school districts as investigations into abusive seclusion and restraints proceed across the country?

China: Disabled Enslaved in Brick Factory

From the BBC (5/22/09):

Arrests in Chinese slavery case

Police in eastern China have arrested 10 people suspected of beating mentally disabled people forced to work as slaves in brick factories.

State media said the brick kiln owner had bought 32 such people and forced them to work without pay...

... The victims had been sold to a factory owner for less than $50 (£30) each, after being recruited off the street by a taxi driver promising work food and lodging, the report said...

...Twelve of those freed have now returned home, while the remainder, many of whom are unable to say where they live, are being kept in local shelters.

>>> For the Full Story

Action Alert: CCA Keep the Pressure On

TO: ALL COMMUNITIY CHOICE ACT SUPPORTERS

 

The time for change is now!  In order to make major changes in the long

term services and supports system of this country, we must end the

institutional bias once and for all.  As states rip, pillage and burn

home and community-based services in these tough budgetary times, there

was never a clearer reason why we need the Community Choice Act.  ADAPT

continues to work tirelessly towards its passage, but we are seeking your help.

 

Below is a list of members of the Senate Finance Committee and the

Special Committee on Aging, Senate  leaders, who have not yet signed on

to the Community Choice Act (S 683).  Senator Harkin and his staff

strongly urge us to do everything we can to get all of the legislators

listed below on the CCA bill, and to get them to support including the

CCA in health care reform.   If you are from one of these Senator's states, know someone in

any of these states, have an affiliation with a group, or you may know

someone who knows someone that might be able to help getting the

legislator to sign on as a co-sponsor, please contact them now and ask

for their help in securing the legislator in question.

 

It would be extremely helpful if you can identify a contact person from

a state, (with their consent of course) please send their contact info

to Linda Anthony at lanthony@drnpa.org .  This is not absolutely

necessary especially if you are crunched for time, however ADAPT would

like to refresh the list of these contacts as we continue to work on CCA

and find we need assistance in states where we do not have a presence.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at the address above.

FREE OUR PEOPLE!!!!

 

Key contacts still not yet signed on to CCA.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee:

Democrats not currently co-sponsors -

Baucus (Montana)

Bingaman (New Mexico)

Rockefeller (West Virginia)

Conrad (North Dakota)

Lincoln (Arkansas)

Wyden (Oregon)

Cantwell (Washington)

Nelson (Florida)

Menendez (New Jersey)

Carper (Delaware)

 

Republicans not currently co-sponsors -

Hatch (Utah)

Snowe (Maine)

Kyl (Arizona)

Bunning (Kentucky)

Crapo (Idaho)

Ensign (Nevada)

Enzi (Wyoming)

Cornyn (Texas)

 

Members of the Special Committee on Aging:

Kohl

Members of the HELP Committee:

Reed (Rhode Island)

Mikulski (Maryland)

Hagan (North Carolina)

Merkley (Oregon)

 

Newer members who should be willing to sign on:

Udall, T (New Mexico)

Udall, M (Colorado)

Klobuchar (Minnesota)

Feingold (Wisconsin)

Shaheen (New Hampshire)

Cardin (Maryland)

Whitehouse (Rhode Island)

Begich (Alaska)

Warner (Virginia)

Webb (Virginia)

McCaskill (Missouri)

 

Others

Brownback (Kansas)

 

************************************************************************

************************

Say thanks to Finance Committee members who are on, and stress we need

their support to get the provisions of CCA (esp. mandatory benefit) in health care reform:

 

Stabenow (Michigan)

Schumer (New York)

Kerry (Massachusetts)

Roberts (Kansas)

Sotomayor an inspiration for others with diabetes

From the Des Moines Register (5/28/09):

Sotomayor an inspiration for others with diabetes
By Andie Dominick

Judge Sonia Sotomayor grew up in a housing project in the South Bronx...

...But what inspires me most about Sotomayor is another story President Obama told Tuesday. Her interest in the law "was sparked as a young girl by reading the Nancy Drew series," he said, but "when she was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 8, she was informed that people with diabetes can't grow up to be police officers or private investigators like Nancy Drew. And that's when she was told she'd have to scale back her dreams."

...Being told you couldn't grow up to be a cop was one thing. We also got the message we shouldn't have children, could expect many health complications - from kidney failure to blindness - and wouldn't likely live to a ripe, old age.

Kids with diabetes grow up fast. It's necessary. Staving off complications means carefully monitoring the disease - which was especially challenging when Sotomayor was a kid...

...In coming weeks, Sotomayor will endure plenty of public scrutiny - about everything from her personality to her rulings and even her health. Whether or not she's confirmed, the 54-year-old judge's accomplishments are an inspiration - to every kid who grew up poor, or lost a parent, or has lived with a chronic illness.

Comment Below: Agree or Disagree?

Diabetes: Is It An Issue For The Supreme Court?

From NPR-All Things Considered (5/27/09):

Diabetes: Is It An Issue For The Supreme Court?

by Joseph Shapiro

Whether diabetes — or any health condition — should be a factor in the nomination of a Supreme Court justice is being raised by President Obama's choice of Sonia Sotomayor...

...Chai Feldblum, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center who has a specialty in disability civil rights law, says Sotomayor's example could reduce the stigma that exists around diabetes.

"It matters that a nominee for the Supreme Court is someone who acknowledges she has diabetes and that forms an aspect of her life," says Feldblum. Disability civil rights groups noted that, at a time when other judges had limited the scope of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Sotomayor ruled in favor of disabled plaintiffs, including a woman with learning disabilities who'd gotten extra time on tests during law school but then was denied the same accommodation when she tried to take the bar exam.

Still, people with diabetes say they often have reason to hide their condition: Sometimes they face discrimination.

Just last week, a federal jury found the FBI had discriminated when it refused to hire police officer Jeff Kapche to be a special agent because he managed his Type 1 diabetes with insulin injections. One diabetes blog said the Sotomayor nomination showed that people with diabetes now can break the glass ceiling for chronic illnesses.

>>> Listen to the full Clip Here

>>> Read the Full Transcript

Comment Below:  This piece brings together many of the pieces that connect to this conversation: will diabetes really affect her judicial tenure? is this an example of why people feel they need to hide their disabilities? will her experience with disability provide unique and valuable perspective to the Supreme Court?

How would you answer these questions? Do you have any others?

Sotomayor Faces Employment Discrimination for her Disability

From NPR (5/26/09):

A Matter Of Health For SCOTUS Nominee

by April Fulton

Are questions about President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's health fair game during her vetting process?

That question is being posed in blogospheric circles at the moment because the appeals court judge has Type 1 diabetes, often referred to as juvenile diabetes. She was diagnosed with the disease when she was 8...

...Gawker sounds a warning that Sotomayor is 54 already and is "a poor risk when it comes to longevity."

But diabetes support websites like DiabetesMine say the disease is extremely manageable and should not become an issue in Sotomayor's confirmation process...

>>> For the full article

From the Huffington Post (5/14/09):

Sotomayor's Medical History Sparks Wider Debate
by Sam Stein

... Just how relevant are medical issues to Sotomayor's ... Supreme Court nomination?

"It is obligatory [to look at this]" said Jeffrey Toobin, a legal analyst for CNN and author of "The Nine: Inside The Secret World of the Supreme Court." "The issue of duration of service for a Supreme Court nominee is critical to any president, and thus health and medical issues are very much at the forefront of their considerations... It would be irresponsible for any president not to make the health of the nominee a major subject of concern, because presidents want decades of service from their nominees."

Added another political operative who has worked on judicial nominations in the past: "I don't even think it is very sensitive. I think it is just obvious.... It is part of who we are. And so I think you find that there is almost in this day and age, there is almost no area of inquiry that is out of bounds."

Not everyone believes that medical conditions of prospective candidates should be considered so critically in the vetting process. George Dargo, a professor of law at New England Law in Boston, noted that retiring Justice David Souter serves as evidence that gaming out how a Supreme Court pick will fare is an imprecise art...

Comment Below:  20 years after the ADA passed and we still have to fight for equal opportunity. The fact that these conversations are happening at all is further evidence of how far we have to go in eliminating discrimination in the US. Even nominations to the Supreme Court are not exempt from employment bias. What would you like to say to Mr. Toobin?