The after effects of the U.S. Supreme Court s ruling in the Garrett case are beginning to show. Officials in Arkansas have asked the High Court to decide a similar case involving Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by any recipients of federal funding.
Every state receives federal funding for numerous programs.
Section 504 is modeled after similar regulations banning race and gender discrimination. In Garrett v. the University of Alabama, 99-1240, the Supreme Court considered the argument of Alabama state officials that Congress did not have the constitutional authority to craft Title II of ADA, making states liable for ADA violations. The justices issued a very narrow ruling, dodging the ADA constitutionality issue. Under the new case, Arkansas Department of Education v. Jim C. , the parents of a child with autism allege that the state failed to comply with several federal laws, including Section 504. A three judge panel of the 8 th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals originally sided with Arkansas.