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Law Spotlight: Acheson v. Laufer Infographic

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By: Kendall Eaton, Esq.

In December 2023, The Supreme Court of the United States heard Acheson v. Laufer regarding whether ADA ‘testers’ can ensure public entities’ comply with disability and civil rights laws. To read more about this case, check out Disability Activists Closely Watch SCOTUS Case and ADA Supreme Court Case Update: Acheson v. Laufer.

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Blue infographic: Acheson v. Laufer Image of a hotel. Text reads: About the Case: Deborah Laugher, a disabled woman filed a lawsuit against Acheson Hotels. In this lawsuit, Laufer said that the hotel website was not accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Image of the Supreme Court. Text reads: Issue of the case: whether testers can ensure public entitities comply with disability and civil rights laws and also have standing to Sui an establishment for violating the ADA, despite not intending to personally visit the establishment. Image of a group of people in different shades of pink. Text: What are Testers? Testers are individuals that judge the accessibility of a website or location to make sure it meets ADA regulations. Testers are preferred by many disability advocates due to time constraints. Image of gavel. text: SCOTUS Holding: In December 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that the case was moot. Fiding a case moot means that the case no longer required a decision because a solution was found. Image of a judge with gavel in hand. Text: Meaning of Ruling: lower courts, not SCOTUS, will decide if people can be testers for the ADA or not. This means that some states and circuits may allow testers for the ADA, while others will not. Image of the scales of justice. text: affect of Ruling: the positive impact is that the SCOTUS decision did not change the ADA in any way. The negative impact is that it still leaves the question of whether we can have testers for compliance with the ADA or not. The National Center for Disability, Equity, and Intersectionality www.Thinkequitable.com

Understanding Intellectual Disability

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A little over a month ago, I took on the task of trying to write a string of articles to help define intellectual disability (ID). The approach I chose would be to: first, explain what ID is, second, discuss the importance of ID awareness and pride, and third, discuss the stigma around ID. However, this task proved to be far from simple. I started my research by looking at what ID is and how to define it. As I began researching, I realized that there is a lot of information out there specifically related to defining ID. Everything I read provided a slightly different definition for ID that ultimately made it harder to define. Each article highlighted different aspects of ID. For example, some articles focused heavily on intelligence quotient (IQ) tests while others stated that IQ tests should not be the determinate for whether an individual has an intellectual disability. I began questioning if trying to define ID was the best starting point and ultimately decided to change my path and began researching ID awareness.

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