Amicus Briefs
ELC has submitted numerous amicus (“friend of the court”) briefs in support of plaintiffs’ positions in cases across the country where important issues related to school and student equity were at issue. A sample of these
briefs is provided below.
J.T. v. Dumont
Public Schools (New
Jersey District Court 2010)
The J.T. case raises the issue of whether a
school district can satisfy the requirements of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by applying a blanket rule regarding
placement of kindergarteners with disabilities. ELC filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs,
arguing that the requirement that litigants first seek
relief through the administrative process before appearing in court
should not apply. The brief asserted that the proper remedy for
allegations about system-wide policies could only be addressed
by the court, and not by an administrative judge, and therefore the
plaintiffs should be permitted to proceed directly to court. ELC
further argued that the IDEA requires individualized decision-making about
school placement for each student with disabilities, and set forth at length
the benefits to all students of inclusive placements.
Pinto v.
Spectrum (New Jersey
Supreme Court 2010)
ELC joined the ACLU-NJ
and other NJ public interest organizations in appearing as amici before the New Jersey Supreme Court
on an issue concerning attorneys’ fees in state fee-shifting cases. The Court
agreed with amici that
public interest attorneys should not be barred from simultaneously negotiating
both the merits and attorneys’ fees in such cases, and barred defendants from
demanding the waiver of a public interest law firm's attorneys’ fees as a
condition of settlement.
L.J. v. Audubon Bd. of Educ. (Third Circuit Court of Appeals 2009)
ELC appeared on its own behalf and on
behalf of several statewide and national disability advocacy organizations as amici in this case, which presented the court
with the issue of attorneys’ fees in special education cases. The amici supported neither party; rather,
they wrote independently to advise the Third Circuit of the District Court's
misapplication of Third Circuit law regarding the determination of an
appropriate attorneys’ fee rate and to reinforce the critical nature of fee
shifting to enforce the rights of children with disabilities under federal
special education law.
Connecticut
Coalition for Justice in Education Funding v. State (Connecticut Supreme Court 2008)
The Supreme Court of Connecticut considered the question of
whether schoolchildren have a substantive constitutional right to a "suitable"
or "adequate" education. ELC filed an amicus brief along with other advocacy organizations to bring to
the Court's attention the rulings and remedial experiences of other state
courts considering this issue.
Bacon v. NJ
State Dept. of Education (Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division,
2008)
ELC, with co-counsel
Gibbons P.C., represented itself as amicus to argue for a needs-based remedy for the poor,
rural, "Bacon"
school districts, whose students were found to be denied a thorough and
efficient education under the State constitution. A New Jersey appellate court directed the State’s
Commissioner of Education to carry out a needs assessment of these 17 school
districts to ascertain the special educational needs of the students and determine
whether the school funding formula enacted by the State Legislature provided an
appropriate remedy.
Lobato
v. State (Colorado Supreme Court 2008)
The Supreme Court of Colorado considered the issue of
whether plaintiffs’ claims were nonjusticiable because their resolution would
require the courts to interfere with the legislative and executive branches of
government. ELC filed a brief in support of plaintiffs, providing information
about how courts in similar cases across the country have handled the issue.
Abbeville Cty. Sch. Dist. v. State (South Carolina Supreme Court 2008)
In December 2005, a trial court ruled that South
Carolina’s schoolchildren were being denied their right to an education under
the state constitution because of the state’s failure to develop and fund early
childhood intervention programs "designed to address the impact of poverty
on children’s educational abilities and achievements." Cross-appeals of
the trial court’s decision were filed with the state Supreme Court, and ELC
represented and wrote an amicus
brief for the League of Women Voters of South Carolina and the South Carolina
Conference of the NAACP urging the Court to uphold the trial court’s early
childhood remedy.
L.W. v. Toms River Regional
Schools Bd. of Educ. (New Jersey Supreme Court 2007)
ELC appeared with other New Jersey
advocacy groups before the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, and
the New Jersey Supreme Court as amici in this landmark bullying case involving anti-gay
harassment.
P.N. v. Clementon BOE (Third Circuit Court of Appeals 2006)
The P.N.
case raised the issue of who is a "prevailing party" in special
education cases for purposes of obtaining prevailing party attorneys’ fees. In
addition to supporting the plaintiff-student's argument that he obtained all
the relief sought and is entitled to "prevailing party" status, the amicus brief provides the Third Circuit with a powerful discussion
of the negative impact the lower district court opinion will have on students
with disabilities, especially those who are indigent, if upheld.
State v. Campbell (Wyoming Supreme Court 2006)
ELC prepared an amicus brief on behalf of the Northern Arapaho Tribe and
Wyoming Parent Teacher Association urging the Wyoming Supreme Court to reverse
a trial court order dismissing a claim for a state-funded, high quality,
preschool program. Several Wyoming school districts and the Wyoming Education
Association had sought funding for a voluntary preschool program as part of the
remedy in the on-going school finance case, State v. Campbell.
A.R. v. Freehold Regional High
Sch. Bd. of Educ.
(New Jersey District Court 2006)
ELC appeared on its own behalf and on behalf of several
disability advocacy organizations as amici in this case, which presented the court with the issue of who should
bear the burden of proof in a special education due process hearing when a
school district seeks to change a child’s IEP. The brief supported the
student-plaintiff’s position that, pursuant to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Schaffer
v. Weast, the burden is placed on the
district when it seeks to change an IEP. The brief explained why placing the
burden of proof on parents in such cases would be unfair, violate public policy
and undermine the goals of the IDEA.
Schaffer v. Weast (United States Supreme Court 2005)
The Schaffer
case presented the U.S. Supreme Court with the critical issue of who should
bear the burden of proof in contested special education cases – the school
district or the student with the disability. The amicus brief endorses the student-plaintiff’s position that
the burden should be placed on the district. The brief argues that giving the
burden to districts implements Congress’s affirmative mandate, under IDEA, that
school districts locate, identify, evaluate and appropriately educate children
with disabilities.
L.E. v. Ramsey Bd. of Educ. (Third Circuit Court of Appeals
2005)
ELC and seven other local and national
advocacy groups appeared as amici in this case regarding the “least restrictive environment”
for a young child with multiple disabilities. The amicus brief advised the court of the
wealth of social science literature supporting the many benefits of inclusion
to students both with and without disabilities.
Bd. of Educ. of the Borough of
Englewood Cliffs v. Bd. of Educ. of the City of Englewood (New Jersey State Board of
Education 2005; New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, 2005)
ELC appeared on its own behalf and on
behalf of the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP as amici in this 20-year-old, landmark
desegregation case involving the racial segregation of Black and Latino
students at the district high school. The amicus briefs argued that the State Board
should make any award of funds contingent upon Englewood taking specific
measures to ensure integration at its high school.
Estate of Jeffreys v. State of
New Jersey (New
Jersey District Court 2000)
Hallen
v. Union Beach Bd. of Educ. (New Jersey District Court 2000)
F.P.
v. State of New Jersey (New Jersey District Court 2000)
ELC
appeared on its own behalf and on behalf of 13 other local and national civil
rights and educational advocacy organizations as amici in these three cases in which the
State filed a Motion to Dismiss the claims against it under IDEA, the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section
504), alleging that the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
prevented such suits on sovereign immunity grounds. The amicus brief apprised the court of the
serious consequences of allowing the State to escape liability under IDEA, the
ADA and Section 504.