ICAP started off the fall with one of the first arguments of the Supreme Court's 2023 term -- an important disability rights case that could potentially reverberate across all areas of civil rights law. In Acheson Hotels v. Laufer, ICAP’s Supreme Court Director Kelsi Brown Corkran argued that our client, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis before her 40 th birthday and lost her physical mobility, had legal standing as a “tester” to challenge a hotel’s failure to provide accessibility information on its reservation website in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), whether or not she actually intended to make a reservation at the hotel. Since the landmark racial segregation challenges of the 1950s, “tester” plaintiffs have been a cornerstone of civil rights enforcement, and ICAP is proud to work to preserve access to the courts for those who challenge unlawful discrimination. Media coverage of Ms. Laufer's advocacy efforts and the importance of ADA tester plaintiffs include this Washington Post profile and this episode of NPR On Point. |
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ICAP has also been traveling this fall! In September, we hosted the third in our series of regional convenings to prepare local, state, and federal officials as well as community leaders and organizers for threats from political violence and anti-democracy efforts as we enter the presidential campaign season. Participants from New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada met in Santa Fe to hear from researchers in the online and offline extremist spaces; share case studies involving threats to election officials, hate crimes, and resilience; and learn about legal options for combatting political violence from ICAP’s legal experts. This month, we’ll be in Raleigh, meeting with participants from North and South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee. The convenings follow similar gatherings in the Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest last year, which have resulted in increased collaboration between public officials and community leaders, many follow-on consultations with ICAP, and the passage in Oregon of a version of model anti-paramilitary-activity legislation drafted by ICAP.
We’ve also been very busy in the lower courts.
In August, we prevailed against a motion to dismiss in our case against the Wisconsin fraudulent electors and two others who conspired with them, including Kenneth Chesebro, who just last week pleaded guilty in Fulton County, Georgia, for his role in the fraudulent electors’ scheme there. The Wisconsin ruling allows our civil case to move forward and we are now headed for a trial in 2024.
In September, we won summary judgment in federal court in Hamblen County, Tennessee, on our claims that the local court violated the constitutional rights of criminal defendants too poor to pay cash bail or afford an attorney to represent them. The federal court’s injunction requiring individualized pretrial hearings with the appointment of counsel has already significantly helped to ensure that indigent defendants are not detained pretrial solely because they cannot afford the cost of bail.
In early October, we filed our brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, defending Hawaii’s prohibition on carrying firearms in certain sensitive places like bars, restaurants, parks, beaches, and banks, as well as on private property where the owner has not authorized others to carry firearms. ICAP has also supported through amicus briefs other gun safety measures such as bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Meanwhile, ICAP continues to represent a disabled, formerly homeless veteran who was subjected to excessive police force, the tasing of his service dog, and a harassment campaign by the police department after he and others complained about his treatment; a woman who was shot by two state police officers while she was driving away from them and posed no danger; the South Carolina Conference of the NAACP in its quest to provide free, accurate advice to tenants facing eviction; and many others who seek to enforce their constitutional rights.
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Finally, ICAP was thrilled to host a live recording of the podcast Prosecuting Donald Trump at Georgetown Law just as the fall semester kicked off. ICAP’s Executive Director Mary McCord co-hosts the podcast with NYU Law professor Andrew Weissmann, both former federal prosecutors.
We could use your support! Our Supreme Court practice, anti-political-violence work, election protection litigation, criminal and police reform lawsuits, and everything else we do costs money. We’re small and scrappy and we pay our own way. Please consider making a gift here!
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Keep up with ICAP on Twitter via @GeorgetownICAP; and suggest what we should take on next via reachICAP@georgetown.edu.
With thanks for your continued support, The ICAP Team.
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