Supreme Court nominee John Roberts no friend to disability rights

There's no doubt most of the debate over U.S. Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. will center on his views of abortion and Roe v. Wade, but his record on disability rights shows that Roberts brings a seriously conservative slant in his replacement of the more moderate Sandra Day O'Connor. Roberts was instrumental in Toyota v. Williams, the 2001 ADA case where he argued for the corporate defendant before the Supreme Court and specifically convinced swing voter O'Connor to support restriction of who qualifies as disabled under the ADA.

In 2001, Slate's Dahlia Lithwick presented a clear and pithy summary of the arguments before the Court, where thanks to Roberts it was concluded that the loss of a job due to severe work-related repetitive stress injury does not qualify someone for coverage under the ADA. Despite carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis resulting in "lumps the size of a hen's egg in [her] wrists, and [her] hands and fingers... curled up like animal claws," the Court ruled that plaintiff Ella Williams was not disabled because of Robert's legal arguments:

"She can brush her teeth, wash, bathe, do laundry and cook breakfast. She can take care of personal chores around the house. [Her wrist injury] is only a problem at work."

Thus, Williams was too disabled to do the job which impaired her, yet not impaired enough to be deemed disabled. A fuller analysis of Roberts' contribution to this undermining of the ADA and it's intentions can be found at Ragged Edge.

For a broader look at Roberts' record, see the PDF file here. For a quick and easy way to contact your senator in protest of Robert's nomination, go to NARAL. Send them money too. They do the hard work.