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Disabled-rights
By Mary Adamski
advocates applaud Hirono’s
split from governor
Star-BulletinLt. Gov. Mazie Hirono is not in step with the state administration's participation in a challenge against the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Hawaii is one of several states to file a "friend of the court" brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting Alabama's position that the 1990 law, which compels compliance by states as well as private industry, violates the constitutional guarantee of state sovereignty.
"I asked the governor to pull it on Friday, but he is not inclined to do that," Hirono said yesterday. Her position was announced in a news release yesterday by Hawaii Centers for Independent Living, one of several organizations opposing the challenge.
The challenge will be heard by the high court in October.
"There is a states' rights issue," Hirono acknowledged. "I am concerned with what happens if Alabama wins. What does that leave the disabled community? If Title 2 will no longer apply, it would leave a huge gap in protections.
"My concern is that there is no comparable state law to protect the disabled," Hirono said. "Although the governor and I have a difference of opinion, he actually shares these concerns. He doesn't have an interest in hurting the disabled community."
"If the U.S. Supreme Court decides in favor of states' rights, a major piece of civil-rights legislation will be missing in Hawaii," said Mark T. Obatake, executive director of the Hawaii Centers for Independent Living.
He applauded Hirono's support, saying: "This is not so much a fight against the state as it is a fight for equal rights under law."
Hawaii's amicus brief supports Alabama's position that the 11th Amendment gives states and their agencies a "sovereign immunity" from private lawsuits brought under federal law. The case arose from suits brought against the Alabama Department of Youth Services and the University of Alabama board of trustees.
Brent White, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, described the widespread effect of the ADA in a letter published last month in the Star-Bulletin. He said "If the Supreme Court declares that the ADA is unconstitutional, as applied to the states, many of the important gains that have been achieved in the past 10 years would be reversed."
He said the law, which prohibits discrimination against a person with a physical or mental disability, has application to state services and programs ranging from employment opportunities to access to transportation, housing, education, Med-QUEST health insurance and disability insurance.
Some advocates have said they fear an erosion of federal protection that could undermine the Felix consent decree, through which the federal court has compelled the state to provide education and health programs. It is a separate federal law, Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act or IDEA, which requires that states provide access to educational and mental health services for students with special needs.
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