Supreme Court backs disabled Ga. inmate

WASHINGTON --States can sometimes be sued for damages by disabled inmates, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in resolving the first clash over states' rights under Chief Justice John Roberts.

The court said Georgia inmate Tony Goodman could use a federal disabilities law to sue, claiming that prison officials did not accommodate his disability. Goodman contends he was kept for more than 23 hours a day in a cell so narrow he could not turn his wheelchair.

His case had become the latest test of the scope of the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, a law meant to ensure equal treatment for the disabled in many areas of life.

The Supreme Court ruled previously that people in state prisons are protected by the law, and the follow-up case asked whether individual prisoners have recourse in the courts.

Georgia argued that states should be immune from inmate lawsuits brought under the law.

Not a single justice agreed Tuesday.

Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the court, said that states could be sued under ADA for constitutional rights violations. The court put off deciding whether state corrections departments can face suits for general violations of the law, a more significant and contentious issue.

"This tells states they don't have free rein. They don't have carte blanche," said Chai Feldblum, a Georgetown University civil rights law professor. "If we are looking for some signal of what a Roberts' court might be, this is a very solid, careful approach."

A dozen states had urged the court to bar general suits by inmates under the disabilities law. Their lawyer, Gene Schaerr of Washington, said that justices likely "recognized Sandra Day O'Connor has announced her resignation and they'd rather wait until they have a full court in place until they address that issue head on -- I think that's very good news for the states."

The Senate Judiciary Committee is meeting this week on President Bush's nomination of Samuel Alito to replace O'Connor. She will leave the court as soon as her successor is confirmed.

O'Connor was the deciding vote the last time justices ruled on the 1990 law, siding with the four more liberal court members in a 2004 decision which held that states could be sued for damages for not providing the disabled access to courts.

Goodman had been supported in the latest case by the Bush administration, which argued that there was a history of mistreatment of disabled prisoners when Congress passed the law.

The court could have used the case to shield states from federal government interference, something that had been a hallmark of the court under the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Rehnquist died in September and was replaced by Roberts.

"This is another step forward moving away from states' rights and recognizing Congress' power to protect certain groups who are discriminated against," said John Brittain, chief counsel of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Georgia prison officials had described Goodman as a chronic lawsuit filer who contested things like the temperature and lighting in his cell. He is in prison for drug possession and aggravated assault.

"We're pleased that in today's decision the court limited liability solely to instances where there is an actual constitutional violation," said Russ Willard, a spokesman for the Georgia attorney general.

The cases are United States v. Georgia, 04-1203, and Goodman v. Georgia, 04-1236.

------

On the Net:

Supreme Court ruling: http://wid.ap.org/scotus/results--recent.asp