Opinion ID: 1276768
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: congruence and proportionality of ada title ii as applied to parking placards

Text: The Department contends that abrogation of sovereign immunity under title II of the ADA is not congruent and proportional to the findings of Congress. It argues that the congressional record does not show a pattern of pervasive unconstitutional conduct by the states in providing parking services. The appellees concede that the fee does not constitute a direct violation of their constitutional rights. They argue, however, that Lane relaxed and broadened Congress' ability to abrogate 11th Amendment immunity under its § 5 powers and that parking is in the realm of public services that Congress was concerned about when passing the ADA. We determine that Congress did not validly abrogate 11th Amendment immunity as it applies to suits for damages involving parking placard fees. The holding in Lane was limited by the Court to when a fundamental right, such as access to the courts, is at issue. In those cases, the congruence and proportionality test is met because Congress specifically identified concerns about access to the courts and other such fundamental rights, and the ADA proportionally seeks to remedy the identified constitutional violations. But such a fundamental right is not at issue in the present appeal. Nor is there evidence that Congress specifically noted concern about modest fees for parking placards when it enacted the ADA. When Congress enacted title II, it found widespread discrimination against people with disabilities, but not of the type presented by this appeal. A fee for parking placards is generally designed to recover the costs of programs provided for the benefit of disabled people. See, generally, Brown v. North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, 166 F.3d 698 (4th Cir.1999). The congressional history does not indicate a concern that minor fees for parking placards were a form of discrimination or motivated by animus toward the class. See id. Instead, the fee is a rational cost-recovery measure that can assist the disabled. As the Brown court noted: The facts of this case demonstrate how far the structure of dual sovereignty has been distorted. North Carolina has maintained a long-standing program designed to benefit disabled persons through the provision of special parking spaces. In order to make the program effective, the state undertook to provide placards to those who were eligible to use the spaces. To cover the cost of the placards, North Carolina introduced the most modest of all possible feesone dollar per year. A federal agency now seeks to deny the state even that meager option in administering the state's voluntary enforcement efforts. The United States further insists that the state may be called to answer for this alleged transgression in federal court. We hold, however, that the Eleventh Amendment forbids this course. To interpret Section 5 to abrogate the state's immunity would be a mark of profound constitutional disrespect to the role that states are meant to play within our federal system. 166 F.3d at 708. We conclude that abrogating 11th Amendment immunity under the ADA to invalidate a fee for a parking placard is not congruent to the specific findings of Congress, which were concerned with denial of fundamental rights in providing public services. Nor is the remedy proportional to those findings when the fee appears to be a modest cost-recovery measure and there is no evidence of animus toward the class. The appellees argue, however, that the fee affects their access to the public services addressed in Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U.S. 509, 124 S.Ct. 1978, 158 L.Ed.2d 820 (2004), such as their ability to gain access to the courts or voting precincts. We decline to stretch a modest $3 fee into a denial of a fundamental right. A $3 fee for a movable parking placard is a very different case than Lane, in which a paraplegic was required to crawl unassisted up two flights of stairs in order to appear in court. In Lane, the congressional record supported the conclusion that Congress found a pattern of irrational discrimination. But here, the fee does not prevent physical entry into a public building and nothing in the record suggests that members of the class have been denied access to public accommodations because of the fee. Nor is there evidence that the fee was the result of irrational discrimination. See Board of Trustees of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356, 121 S.Ct. 955, 148 L.Ed.2d 866 (2001). Instead, the fee is a rational method of modest cost recovery in a program meant to assist the disabled. The appellees also argue that under U.S. v. Georgia, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 877, 163 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006), Lane is not limited solely to cases involving access to the courts and that title II should be read broadly to abrogate sovereign immunity. Georgia, however, only held that immunity was abrogated for actual 14th Amendment violations. Here, the appellees concede that no such violations are at issue. Georgia did not address when other circumstances might give rise to abrogation of sovereign immunity. Finally, the appellees argue that the fee is an illegal tax or is a taking of property without just compensation. They contend that such actions are not barred by sovereign immunity. We determine that there is no valid precedent for the appellees' arguments and determine that they are without merit. We determine that Congress did not validly abrogate Nebraska's 11th Amendment immunity when it charged a modest fee for parking placards. Accordingly, we reverse.