Opinion ID: 77631
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Statutory Language and Regulations

Text: 40 Congress enacted the ADA to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities. 42 U.S.C. § 12101(b)(1). Title II of the ADA prohibits a public entity from discriminating against a qualified individual with a disability on account of the individual's disability, as follows: 41 [N]o qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity. 42 42 U.S.C. § 12132. Title II defines a qualified individual with a disability as an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable modifications . . . or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or the participation in programs or activities provided by a public entity. 42 U.S.C. § 12131(2). The Supreme Court has instructed that a disabled prisoner can state a Title II-ADA claim if he is denied participation in an activity provided in state prison by reason of his disability. See Pa. Dep't of Corr. v. Yeskey, 524 U.S. 206, 211, 118 S.Ct. 1952, 1955, 141 L.Ed.2d 215 (1998). The words eligibility and participation in the statutory definition of a qualified individual with a disability do not connote voluntariness and do not require voluntariness on the part of an applicant who seeks a benefit from the state. Id. 43 Title II of the ADA also provides that the Attorney General shall promulgate regulations that implement Title II, Part A. 42 U.S.C. § 12134(a). The Department of Justice (DOJ) has promulgated regulations implementing Title II's prohibition against discrimination. The DOJ's regulations provide that [a] public entity shall make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless the public entity can demonstrate that making the modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity. 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(7). 13 44 These same DOJ regulations also contain Subpart E, entitled Communications, which provides that [a] public entity shall take appropriate steps to ensure that communications with . . . members of the public with disabilities are as effective as communications with others. 28 C.F.R. § 35.160(a). These steps include furnishing appropriate auxiliary aids and services to afford a disabled individual equal opportunity to participate in an activity of the public entity, as follows: 45 A public entity shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, a service, program, or activity conducted by a public entity. 46 28 C.F.R. § 35.160(b)(1). The ADA defines auxiliary aids and services to include qualified interpreters or other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments. 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1)(A). The DOJ regulations provide that auxiliary aids and services include, among other things, [q]ualified interpreters and telecommunications devices for deaf persons (TDD's). 28 C.F.R. § 35.104(1). Further, the Appendix to DOJ Regulation § 35.160 states that [t]he public entity shall honor the [disabled individual's] choice [of auxiliary aid] unless it can demonstrate another effective means of communication exists or that use of the means chosen would not be required under § 35.164. 28 C.F.R. pt. 35, app. A; see also id. § 35.160(b)(2) (In determining what type of auxiliary aid and service is necessary, a public entity shall give primary consideration to the requests of the individual with disabilities.). 47 The ADA's reasonable modification principle, however, does not require a public entity to employ any and all means to make auxiliary aids and services accessible to persons with disabilities, but only to make reasonable modifications that would not fundamentally alter the nature of the service or activity of the public entity or impose an undue burden. See Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509, 531-32, 124 S.Ct. 1978, 1993-94, 158 L.Ed.2d 820 (2004) (Title II does not require States to employ any and all means to make judicial services accessible to persons with disabilities . . . . It requires only `reasonable modifications' that would not fundamentally alter the nature of the service provided . . . . [or] impose an undue financial or administrative burden.).