Supreme Court Win for Children with Disabilities

Big win today at the Supreme Court! Learning Rights Law Center is proud to have joined COPAA’s amicus brief in support of the family in A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, decided 9-0 this morning. The Court rejected an unfair legal standard that for years made it harder for students with disabilities to enforce their civil rights. The Justices rightly recognized what families know all too well — that parents of children with disabilities already “face daunting challenges on a daily basis.” We’re grateful to the outstanding legal team who argued and briefed the case, and relieved that the Court rejected the school district’s effort to impose an even more extreme rule that could have harmed disability rights far beyond education. For our clients and others in the Ninth Circuit, today’s ruling confirms and preserves the fairer standard that has long applied here: no heightened barriers to proving discrimination, and deliberate indifference remains the standard for damages.