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Briefs and Opinions

Appellate Section - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Briefs and Opinions

  • Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools (S. Ct.) – Amicus
    • Section 1415(l )’s exhaustion requirement does not apply because petitioner’s ADA action seeks relief that is not available under the IDEA
    • Petitioner satisfied Section 1415(l )’s exhaustion requirement because further exhaustion would be futile or unnecessary
    • The question that Fry left unresolved is logically antecedent to — and would significantly inform the Court’s understanding of — the first question presented about the scope of Section 1415(l)’s exhaustion requirement
    • The Court should therefore grant review on the second question presented if it grants review on the first
     
    Document Date 
    Supreme Court Decision, available at 2023 WL 2575928  03/21/23
    Brief as Amicus 11/16/22
    Certiorari Granted, reported at 143 S. Ct. 81 10/03/22
    Brief as Amicus 08/24/22
  • E.T. v. Paxton (5th Cir.) – Amicus
    • Plaintiffs have standing
    • Plaintiffs were not required to exhaust the IDEA’s administrative procedures
    • GA-38 is preempted to the extent it obstructs school districts’ ability to impose masking requirements when needed to comply with their obligations under federal law
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 41 F.4th 709 07/25/22
    Brief as Amicus 01/13/22
  • Independent School District No. 283 v. E.M.D.H. (S. Ct.) – Amicus
    • The court of appeals correctly rejected petitioner’s contention that the IDEA’s statute of limitations barred respondent from asserting a claim based on petitioner’s breach of its child-find obligations
    • The court’s determination that respondent is entitled to recover for the child-find breaches that fell within the IDEA’s limitations period is correct and does not conflict with any decision of this Court or another court of appeals
    • No further review is warranted
     
    Document Date 
    Certiorari Denied, reported at 142 S. Ct. 67 10/04/21
    Brief as Amicus 08/23/21
  • Richardson v. Omaha School District (S. Ct.) – Amicus
    • The Eighth Circuit correctly concluded that the most analogous Arkansas limitations period is the one the State established for judicial review of IDEA administrative decisions
    • No further review is warranted
     
    Document Date 
    Certiorari Denied, reported at 141 S. Ct. 2851 06/28/21
    Brief as Amicus in Response to Court's Invitation 05/25/21
  • Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1 (S. Ct.) – Amicus
    • The IDEA requires States to ensure that eligible children with disabilities have the opportunity to make significant educational progress
    • There is an entrenched and acknowledged circuit conflict on the question presented
    • The Tenth Circuit’s “merely * * * more than de minimis” standard is erroneous
    • The question presented is important and recurring, and the Court should resolve it in this case
     
    Document Date 
    Supreme Court Decision, reported at 137 S. Ct. 988 03/22/17
    Brief as Amicus (Merits) 11/21/16
    Brief as Amicus in Response to Court's Invitation 08/18/16
  • Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools (S. Ct.) – Amicus
    • The IDEA does not require administrative exhaustion of non-IDEA claims seeking only relief that is unavailable under the IDEA
    • The court of appeals’ decision was incorrect
    • The courts of appeals are split as to the proper interpretation of Section 1415(l)’s exhaustion requirement
    • The question presented is important and recurring, and the Court should resolve it in this case
     
    Document Date 
    Supreme Court Decision, reported at 137 S. Ct. 743 02/22/17
    Brief as Amicus (Merits) 08/29/16
    Brief as Amicus in Response to Court's Invitation 05/20/16
  • Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service, Inc. v. Flint Community Schools (6th Cir.) – Amicus
    • The records-access provisions of the P&A Acts apply to non-residential schools
    • MPAS was not required to exhaust administrative remedies under the IDEA
     
    Document Date 
    Dismissed 02/03/17
    Brief as Amicus 04/14/16
  • Ridley School District v. M.R. (S. Ct.) – Amicus
    • The decision of the court of appeals is correct
    • Petitioner asserts that review is warranted because the court of appeals' decision is in "direct conflict" with the D.C. Circuit's 1989 decision in Andersen and presents a "recurring question" of "exceptional importance"
    • Neither consideration provides a compelling basis for the Court's intervention
     
    Document Date 
    Certiorari Denied, reported at 135 S. Ct. 2309 05/18/15
    Brief as Amicus in Response to Court's Invitation 04/10/15
  • T.K. v. New York City Department of Education (2d Cir.) – Amicus
    • The school district's refusal to discuss bullying and its effects on L.K. violated the IDEA
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 810 F.3d 869 01/20/16
    Brief as Amicus 03/06/15
  • Ruby J. v. Jefferson County Board of Education (N.D. Ala.) – Intervenor
    • The Eleventh Amendment is not a bar to the plaintiffs' IDEA claims because the county board of education is not an arm of the State, and Alabama waived its sovereign immunity when it accepted federal IDEA funds
    • Congress validly abrogated state sovereign immunity in Section 1403 of the IDEA as part of its enforcement authority under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment
     
    Document Date 
    District Court Decision, reported at 122 F.Supp.3d 1288 08/17/15
    Brief as Intervenor 02/25/15
  • C.L. v. Scarsdale Union Free School District (2d Cir.) – Amicus
    • When the least restrictive environment requirement is considered as a factor in assessing the appropriateness of a parental placement, state officials and courts should look at the restrictiveness of the private school options the parents had once the public school failed to comply with the IDEA, not the restrictiveness of the private school compared to a regular education classroom at a public school
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 744 F.3d 826 03/11/14
    Brief as Amicus 01/09/13
  • E.M. v. Pajaro Valley Unified School District (9th Cir.) – Amicus
    • The district court erred in holding that a child's symptoms or diagnosis may only be considered under one category of disability, and since E.M.'s auditory processing disorder (APD) fell within the learning disability category, he could not be considered under "other health impairment"
    • The court of appeals should defer to the Department of Education's interpretation of the IDEA, its regulations, and its policy guidance
    • A child's impairment could fall within more than one category of covered disability as long as the criteria for that category of disability are met
    • A diagnosis of APD could meet the criteria of "other health impairment"
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 758 F.3d 1162 07/15/14
    Brief as Amicus 08/02/12
  • Phillip and Angie C. v. Jefferson County Board of Education (11th Cir.) – Amicus
    • 34 C.F.R. 300.502 (1999) is a lawful exercise of regulatory authority and consistent with the requirements of the Spending Clause
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 701 F.3d 691 11/21/12
    Brief as Amicus 02/21/12
  • K.M. v. Tustin Unified School District (9th Cir.) – Amicus
    • The IDEA and the ADA have different statutory elements and purposes
    • The district court erred when it concluded that the school district's compliance with the IDEA automatically satisfied Title II of the ADA
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 725 F.3d 1088 08/06/13
    Brief as Amicus 01/24/12
  • Jefferson County School District R-1 v. Elizabeth E. (10th Cir.) – Amicus
    • The school district bears the burden of proof when the administrative decision, as here, was in parents' favor
    • This Court should adopt a test that requires school districts to pay some portion of the costs of residential placement when the child's educational and other disability-related needs are effectively intertwined
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 702 F.3d 1227 12/28/12
    Brief as Amicus 11/23/11
  • Compton Unified School District v. Addison (S. Ct.) – Amicus
    • The decision below is correct; it does not conflict with the decision of any other court of appeals or of the Supreme Court
    • This case does not present an appropriate vehicle for the Court to consider the question: whether an allegation that a school district has violated the "child find" provision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(3)(A), may be considered in a due process hearing under the IDEA
     
    Document Date 
    Certiorari Denied, reported at 132 S. Ct. 996 01/09/12
    Brief as Amicus in Response to Court's Invitation 11/18/11
  • American Nurses Association, et al. v. O'Connell (Cal. S. Ct.) – Amicus
    • As applied to the state court settlement of a federal case brought by Intervenor American Diabetes Association, state law is preempted because it imposes an obstacle to compliance with the IDEA, Title II, or Section 504
     
    Document Date 
    State Court Decision, 304 P.3d 1038 08/12/13
    Brief as Amicus 05/11/11
  • Klein Independent School District v. Hovem (5th Cir.) - Amicus
    • The continuous failure of the school district to provide an IEP that addressed Hovem's unique learning disability violated his right to a free appropriate public education
    • Hovem, who is over 18, may recover the costs his parents spent for his private school education
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 690 F.3d 390 08/06/12
    Brief as Amicus 04/22/11
  • Payne v. Peninsula School District (9th Cir.) – Amicus
    • Where a plaintiff alleges unconstitutional abuse and seeks only backward-looking remedies, the IDEA's exhaustion requirements do not apply
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 653 F.3d 863 07/29/11
    Brief as Amicus 11/04/10
  • Forest Grove School District v. T.A. (S. Ct.) -- Amicus
    • Under the traditional canons of statutory interpretation, the Department of Education’s interpretation is the correct one; in any event, the Department’s interpretation is entitled to Chevron deference
     
    Document Date 
    Supreme Court Decision, reported at 129 S. Ct. 2484 06/22/09
    Brief as Amicus 04/01/09
  • John M. v. Board of Education (7th Cir.) -- Amicus
    • The supports and services set out in John’s last agreed-upon IEP constitutes his stay-put placement
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 502 F.3d 708 09/17/07
    Brief as Amicus 05/22/07
  • Crowley v. TEA (5th Cir.) -- Intervenor
    • This court should delay consideration of this case pending this court's en banc decision in Pace v. Bogalusa
    • A State that voluntarily seeks entry of a consent decree in federal court waives its immunity from actions to enforce that decree the TEA waived its Eleventh Amendment immunity to claims under the IDEA by accepting IDEA funding
     
    Document Date 
    Dismissed 07/12/05
    Brief as Intervenor 11/12/04
  • Pardini v. Allegheny Intermediate Unit (3d Cir.) -- Amicus
    • The stay-put provision of Part B of the IDEA does not require continuation of the services provided to a child pursuant to Part C of the IDEA during the pendency of proceedings regarding the services to be provided under Part B
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 420 F.3d 181 08/29/05
    Brief as Amicus Curiae 04/06/04
  • S.C. v. Deptford Board of Education (3d Cir.) -- Intervenor
    • Congress validly conditioned IDEA funds on a waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity for private claims under the IDEA
     
    Document Date 
    Dismissed 10/20/04
    Brief as Intervenor 08/28/03
  • Lillbask v. Connecticut Department of Education (2d Cir.) -- Amicus
    • Connecticut's statutory issue-preclusion rule conflicts with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and is therefore invalid
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 397 F.3d 77 02/02/05
    Brief as Amicus 06/10/03
  • M.A. & United States v. State-Operated School District of the City of Newark and New Jersey Department of Education, etc. (3d Cir.) -- Intervenor/Appellee
    • Whether Congress validly conditioned the receipt of federal grants under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act on a State’s waiver of Eleventh Amendment immunity to suits under that Act.
     
    Document Date 
    Court of Appeals Decision, reported at 344 F.3d 335 09/16/03
    Brief as Intervenor-Appellee 07/03/02

 

 

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Updated June 12, 2023