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News Release        May 19, 2001                                                                         Marcie Roth 301-747-7117 News Release People with Disabilities March to the White House and Launch National Campaign to Defeat President Bush’s Judicial Nominee Jeffrey Sutton (Washington, D.C.) - Leaders of numerous national disability rights, consumer, and service organizations launched a national campaign to defeat Jeffrey Sutton, President Bush’s nominee for the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The ADA Watch, a public awareness and advocacy initiative to protect the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), was introduced to the more than 500 participants of the annual meeting of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL). Deeply concerned with Sutton’s belief that there is no demonstrated record of discrimination towards people with disabilities, panelists vowed to use all the resources of their nationwide grassroots network to block this nomination.  Activists decided to march directly to the White House where they gathered to implore Bush to withdraw the Sutton nomination.   Sutton, who represented the University of Alabama in the University of Alabama v. Garrett case before the U.S. Supreme Court, has stated that the “ADA was not needed,” and has been central in many attempts to weaken or eliminate civil rights protections. When asked by a Supreme Court Justice if the Garrett case just applied to employment aspects of the ADA, Sutton replied, “Well, Your Honor, it’s a challenge to the ADA across the board.”  Sutton’s record against federal civil rights protections has galvanized the disability community and ADA WATCH campaign coordinator, Jim Ward urged action in the form of “letters, phone calls, and email to the White House and to Senate Judiciary Committee members; letters to the editor and op-ed columns; marches in the streets – every effort possible to let America know that Jeffrey Sutton represents a very real threat to the civil rights of Americans. Call on President Bush to honor the legacy of his father, who signed the ADA into law, and withdraw the nomination.” "The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) strongly disagrees with the states' rights ideology that Jeffrey Sutton has made his career promoting, most recently in the Garrett and Sandoval cases before the U. S. Supreme Court," noted Andrew J. Imparato, President and CEO of AAPD. Five justices on the Supreme Court have been steadily chipping away at civil rights protections for people with disabilities in recent years. Jeffrey Sutton is the most prominent lawyer who has been providing the chisel that activist federal judges have been using to disenfranchise and disempower millions of Americans with disabilities." Justin Dart, widely respected as the “father” of the ADA, reminded the audience that “the Americans with Disabilities Act is the world’s first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities.  Barbara Bush has described it as the finest accomplishment of her husband’s administration.  Abraham Lincoln led this nation to war and died to establish the authority of our federal government to protect the rights of our citizens no matter what their state of residence.  It is very difficult to understand how President George W. Bush could send to the Federal Court a man who challenges the “across the board” constitutionality of a great civil rights law written in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln and signed by his father, George Bush, Sr.” Representing the National Disabled Student Union (NDSU), a vital participant on today’s panel was Sabrina Marie Wilson (alumna), VP of DC Center for Independent Living and AAPD Paul Hearne Award winner.  NDSU is a cross-disability, student organization with representation at over 89 schools nationwide (colleges and universities, high schools, and elementary schools) and was founded in response to the US Supreme Court Garrett decision which weakened enforcement of  Title I of the ADA.  In a letter to President Bush, NDSU stated that “Sutton is vocally opposed to the Americans with Disabilities Act. His victory in Garrett severely weakened the ADA by undermining the anti-discrimination protections for persons with disabilities working for state employers despite the long history of state discrimination against people with disabilities and the fact that states like Alabama have disability rights laws that have been found by courts to lack any enforcement provisions. To be consistent with your father’s distinguished legacy for widening the circle of inclusion and your honorable commitments to the disabled community, we respectfully urge you to make the right decision and withdraw the Sutton nomination.” United with hundreds of members of the Independent Living movement from around the nation, Courtland Townes, III, Chair of the NCIL Civil Rights Committee stated that “We are in opposition to Sutton because he seems to be in direct contradiction with the philosophy of Independent Living.  The ADA has been a successful tool. It has provided concrete and real change.  We stand against this nominee who has stated that the ADA, the landmark piece of legislation, our civil rights law, is unnecessary. “