A high-stakes lawsuit, Texas v. Becerra, is currently making its way through the courts, threatening crucial protections for people with disabilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. This federal lawsuit brought by Republican state attorneys general against the Biden Administration’s updated disability discrimination regulation, challenges two aspects of that rule-. One aspect potentially allows discrimination protections for transgender individuals while the other sets parameters for application of the statutory “integration mandate.”
In its suit, Texas and its 16 supporting states (i.e., Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Flordia, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia) claim that these two aspects of the rule violate the Administrative Procedures Act and that they, and the entirety of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act violated the Constitution’s Spending Clause. Thus, in claiming that Section 504 is unconstitutional and instead of taking aim at those specific provisions, the lawsuit seeks to dismantle Section 504 in its entirety. If successful, this case could strip away fundamental protections, making it easier for discrimination against disabled individuals to go unchallenged.
The case is currently being considered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and whatever their ruling is likely to be appealed up to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, before possibly going to the U.S. Supreme Court.
To view a video detailing the case by the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF), click here.
For more information from The Educators Room, click here.