Obama Nominee Opposed by Disability Rights Organizations

A group of disability rights organizations are teaming up to oppose President Obama’s recent decision to appoint Andre Davis to a lifetime seat on the United States Court of Appeals, in the Fourth Circuit. The members of these organizations claim that Davis has been particularly discriminatory in his views and rulings against individuals with disabilities.

The following complaints were made by Jim Ward, the president of the National Coalition for Disability Rights.

• Judge Davis has repeatedly imposed inappropriately stringent standards that have prevented individuals with disabilities from enforcing rights under federal antidiscrimination laws, particularly in the area of employment.
• He has made it exceedingly difficult for people to show that they are individuals with disabilities entitled to the protections that Congress provided in the ADA.
• He has incorrectly imposed procedural hurdles on ADA plaintiffs that are contrary to the ADA's requirements.
• He has applied cramped interpretations of law to reject the discrimination claims of workers with disabilities.

In a statement, Ward said the following, "The current leadership in Congress and the White House have promised to select judicial nominees who understand the challenges facing working Americans and who are committed to core value of equal justice. We believe that in the area of disability rights this nominee's record does not meet these baseline criteria and, therefore, we are opposed to Judge Davis's elevation to the Fourth Circuit and will mobilize our membership in this regard."