Tennessee v. Lane

The title states that people cannot be discriminated against solely by disability and that those that have been harmed in such a way may bring suit and seek damages, including from states themselves. They brought suit to both the state of Tennessee and twenty five individual counties contending that the operation of courthouses inaccessible to individuals with disabilities is in violation of Title II of said act. Lane is seeking 100,000 dollars in damages for humiliation and embarrassment. Beverly Jones is demanding 250,000 dollars in reparations for humiliation, embarrassment, and lost income (Medill). Together, both plaintiff parties are also requesting that all mentioned counties and courthouses in question be brought into compliance with Title II of the ADA. The language of Title II clearly states that, "no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation nor be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity- (Medill). Lane and Jones adopt the position that the state's failure to accommodate persons with disabilities, in essence depriving select individuals of their allotted due process rights as established in the 14th Amendment, should result in the individual's right to bring suit against the state to seek reparation under section five of the fourteenth amendment which reserves Congress the right to, "enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article- as well as the damage remedy of Title II; thus abrogating Tennessee's state sovereign immunity by making the state susceptible to private suit.
             The state of Tennessee contends that this case is not one involving the due process clause of the 14th Amendment; instead arguing that the immunity granted to individual states in the 11th Amendment protects it from such suit.