Able News Column August 2024 – The Supreme Court, Disability Rights, and Emergency Preparedness
Read the entire August 2024 Able News Issue
At the end of last month, the Supreme Court of the United States released its decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, overturning the 40-year old Chevron Doctrine. The Chevron Doctrine required federal courts to afford deference to federal agencies that had reasonably interpreted ambiguous laws when they created federal regulations governing civil rights, disability rights, healthcare, housing, education, emergency preparedness, and more. Federal courts now will no longer need to grant deference to longstanding regulations and regulatory guidance that provides important detail that informs the broader statutory language.
The implications of this decision could be devastating for people with disabilities if we are not vigilant in counteracting attacks on important regulations and longstanding precedent. Fortunately, DRA is here, with 31 years of expertise fighting for the civil rights of people with disabilities in the courtroom, to make certain that devastation does not come to pass.
This perilous moment in history seems like an appropriate time to talk about emergency preparedness planning. For this is the kind of life-saving legal precedent, brought about by DRA, that is certainly worth fighting for. And it’s a topic that is near and dear to my heart. During college, I had the harrowing experience of not being able to independently evacuate my dorm during a fire alarm in the middle of a snowstorm because the door to the ramp was frozen shut. The exterior stairway had been scraped but the ramp had not. The ramp was covered in many inches of snow and ice that kept the ramp door from opening. Surviving this terrifying experience prompted me to join my campus disability advisory committee and was the gateway to my disability community activism and eventual career at DRA as a disability rights attorney.
Given my experience, I was immediately drawn to DRA’s emergency preparedness casework when I first joined the organization as a law student intern. It is critical that entities have plans in place that address the needs of people with disabilities so that we are not left behind when disaster strikes. Back in September of 2011, more than a decade after the horrific 9/11 attacks, New Yorkers with disabilities continued to face disproportionate risks of catastrophic harm and death during disasters. DRA, on behalf of New Yorkers with disabilities, filed Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (BCID) v. Bloomberg to compel the City to provide for the needs of people with disabilities in its emergency preparedness plans.
In response to the 2011 lawsuit, the City refused to address its deficient emergency preparedness planning. Then, in October 2012 Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, hit New York City and far too many people with disabilities were stranded as the hurricane hit and the water rushed in. Many could not get to shelter and life-saving transportation. Power outages meant there was no way for many to use vital mobility and medical equipment.
The case went to trial in March of 2013—the first of its kind in the country to do so. The trial demonstrated that the City had failed to meet the needs of disabled New Yorkers, and in September 2014, we reached a comprehensive settlement agreement to remedy the City’s emergency planning deficiencies. The agreement provided for sweeping improvements to the City’s emergency preparedness programs and services including high-rise evacuation, sheltering, transportation and canvassing in the wake of disasters. In March of 2015, the Court gave final approval to the settlement and recognized its significance, calling the settlement “nothing short of remarkable” and one that will “make New York City a safer place to live for people with disabilities.”
DRA’s case against New York City is one of many cases we’ve brought to ensure adequate emergency preparedness planning across the country. DRA’s work has provided for similar comprehensive emergency response plans in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Washington DC, and the list goes on.
In this new, post-Chevron Doctrine reality, DRA can and will protect the life-saving precedents we have set. And DRA is remaining vigilant to ensure that future regulations, decided through the federal courts, uphold our vision of equality for people with disabilities in all key areas of life.
DRA is up to the challenge. This type of legal advocacy is what we were built for in 1993, shortly after the ADA was passed. We will continue, as we have for more than three decades, to build a world free from discrimination, where people with disabilities are valued members of their communities with equal access to opportunity.