Jailhouse Blues

The question of states’ rights in regards to the Americans with Disabilities Act was before the Supreme Court today…again. In the case of Goodman v. Georgia, the State of Georgia argues that it has no duty to provide reasonable accommodations to prisoners with disabilities. In other words, if a prisoner in a wheelchair can’t transfer to the toilet because there are no grab bars in the cell, the state can shrug its shoulders and say, “Tough luck.” If a deaf inmate needs an ASL interpreter to participate in the prison’s GED classes, the state doesn’t have to lift a finger.
I know I’m repeating myself, but I’m getting tired of the disability community having to fight tooth and nail for basic rights, like the right not to sit in your own shit for days on end. I know it’s popular to be tough on prisoners, but nobody should be singled out for discrimination simply because they live within the walls of a prison. And if prisons don’t have to provide reasonable accommodations under Title II, then it’s logical to assume that neither do state hospitals, state parks, state office buildings, and so forth.
This is one of the first major cases for the Roberts court. Hopefully, Tennessee v. Lane will serve as precedent and the Court will finally and definitively declare that disability rights are not subordinate to states’ rights.