In a decision February 21, 2001 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the case Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Patricia Garrett that state employees who suffer discrimination because of a disability cannot sue their employers under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

In an opinion written by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and joined by Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas, the conservative majority of the Court said that Congress had exceeded its authority by making states financially liable under the federal ADA. The ruling is the latest of several recent Supreme Court decisions that have limited federal power.

"This is a far more aggressive Court in scrutinizing Congressional legislation," AAJ's Senior Director of Legal Affairs Robert Peck told National Public Radio's Morning Edition. "Congress has gotten into the habit, according to the Court, of assuming that if it finds enough agitation to address a problem, that there is a problem. The Court is saying, We want Congress to dot the i's and cross the t's and show it is necessary.'"

Peck says that Congress could try again to pass legislation allowing state employees to sue their employers for disability-related discrimination, but that legislators would have to prove the law is essential to prevent abuse.

Stories on these cases and links to the decisions can be found at http://www.law.com/us_supreme_ct/.