Plaintiffs Reach Settlement with
the State of Tennessee
by Kathleen R. Hagen
The Plaintiffs in Lane
v. Tennessee announced today that they have entered into
a full settlement agreement with the State of Tennessee. Plaintiffs
are represented by attorney William J. Brown, a solo practitioner
in Cleveland, Tennessee; attorneys Martha M. Lafferty and Gary D.
Housepian of Tennessee Protection & Advocacy, Inc.;
and, attorneys Linda Dardarian and Roberta Steele of the firm
of Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen, and Dardarian, one
of the nation's leading civil rights class action law firms,
located in Oakland, California.
In 1998, Plaintiffs George Lane and Beverly Jones filed a lawsuit
alleging that the State of Tennessee and twenty-five Tennessee counties
were in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) by failing to ensure that the State's judicial program is accessible
to individuals with disabilities. This settlement with the State of
Tennessee came after a landmark victory at the United States Supreme
Court in May 2004.
The State of Tennessee through the Administrative Office of the Courts
(AOC) agreed to recommend to the Tennessee Supreme Court that an Americans
with Disabilities Act Policy Regarding Access to Judicial Programs
be implemented in the Tennessee Judicial Branch. On March 21, 2005,
Tennessee Chief Justice Frank Drowota III signed an order implementing
that policy. Although this lawsuit was limited to the issue of access
to the judicial program by persons with mobility disabilities, the
Tennessee Judicial Branch ADA policy is comprehensive and is intended
to ensure that people with all types of disabilities have access to
the State's judicial program.
"This settlement vindicates the rights of persons with disabilities
to have the same access to the State's judicial program that all other
citizens are afforded. We are confident that the development of this
new State policy will make accessing the state's judicial program easier
for not only our plaintiffs in this case, but for other people with
disabilities across the state as well. We hope that Tennessee will
become a model for other states to follow," said Martha M. Lafferty,
Senior Attorney with Tennessee Protection & Advocacy, Inc.
In addition to reaching settlement with the State, Plaintiffs have
reached settlement of all of their injunctive relief claims against
the twenty-five County Defendants. In order to settle the Plaintiffs'
claims for injunctive relief, each defendant county has agreed to take
actions to ensure that the State's court program as conducted in their
county will be accessible to people with mobility disabilities. A majority
of the twenty-five Defendant Counties will be making physical modifications
to their current courthouses or building new courthouses to ensure
accessibility.
Tennessee Protection and Advocacy, Inc. is a federally funded non-profit
agency charged with protecting the legal rights of people with disabilities
in Tennessee. For more information regarding the Lane case visit www.TPAinc.org.
People with disabilities seeking free legal advocacy services can
contact Tennessee Protection & Advocacy, Inc. at 800-342-1660
(TTY 888.852.2852) or via e-mail to gethelp@TPAinc.org.
