00:00:01.519 --> 00:00:03.060
- The Americans with
Disabilities Act

00:00:03.060 --> 00:00:09.780
is not about doing special
things for disabled people.

00:00:09.780 --> 00:00:16.090
It is about our country and our
government making sure that all

00:00:16.090 --> 00:00:19.750
citizens, no matter
their circumstances,

00:00:19.750 --> 00:00:25.030
being able to participate freely
in one of the most important

00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:27.161
parts of our democracy --

00:00:27.161 --> 00:00:28.690
the administration of justice.

00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:34.898
So I filed suit.

00:00:34.898 --> 00:00:39.191
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:43.150
- It gave... it gave me purpose.

00:00:43.150 --> 00:00:43.950
What can I say?

00:00:43.950 --> 00:00:45.040
It gave me purpose.

00:00:45.040 --> 00:00:50.480
Because at that time, you
know, I lost my father.

00:00:50.480 --> 00:00:55.770
Two weeks later I lost
my wife, went to prison.

00:00:55.770 --> 00:00:59.340
Five months after that, I
lost my mother, you know.

00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:02.670
And this case kept me
together, you know.

00:01:02.670 --> 00:01:05.700
This case did as much
for me as I did for it.

00:01:05.700 --> 00:01:08.630
And basically all
I was, was a mouth.

00:01:08.630 --> 00:01:12.776
I was a redneck that just could
not understand and demanded

00:01:12.776 --> 00:01:13.276
answers.

00:01:18.520 --> 00:01:20.110
- I had a, um...

00:01:20.110 --> 00:01:25.850
an appointment on my book for
driving on a revoked license.

00:01:25.850 --> 00:01:31.150
And, um, so I went to
escort the client in,

00:01:31.150 --> 00:01:34.080
and they were in a wheelchair.

00:01:34.080 --> 00:01:37.920
- In May 1996, while driving
to his home in Polk County,

00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:41.550
Tennessee, George Lane falls
asleep at the wheel after

00:01:41.550 --> 00:01:44.880
having worked multiple 20-hour
shifts at a Georgia carpet

00:01:44.880 --> 00:01:47.400
factory.

00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:50.490
A head-on collision kills
the driver of another car

00:01:50.490 --> 00:01:51.950
and leaves George in a coma.

00:01:55.180 --> 00:01:58.430
Two weeks later, he awakens.

00:01:58.430 --> 00:02:01.040
- After he had been able
to get out of the hospital,

00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:07.430
they arrested him and had
him make a bond on a Driving

00:02:07.430 --> 00:02:10.160
on a Revoked License charge.

00:02:10.160 --> 00:02:13.490
- In July of that year, George
arrives at the Polk County

00:02:13.490 --> 00:02:16.571
courthouse to face four
minor charges stemming

00:02:16.571 --> 00:02:17.320
from the accident.

00:02:20.005 --> 00:02:22.980
He rolls into the
courthouse in a wheelchair,

00:02:22.980 --> 00:02:25.340
but the courtroom is
on the second floor

00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:28.820
and there's no elevator
in the building.

00:02:28.820 --> 00:02:32.360
- And they basically
sent word back to him

00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:36.260
that he needed to get up
there the best way he could.

00:02:36.260 --> 00:02:39.530
- So George decides to crawl
up the stairs to get to court.

00:02:46.510 --> 00:02:51.890
- And he described, um, how
everybody looked at him,

00:02:51.890 --> 00:02:55.240
stared at him.

00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:59.870
The police officers made
snide remarks about him.

00:02:59.870 --> 00:03:03.725
And how just absolutely,
totally humiliated

00:03:03.725 --> 00:03:07.320
he was by that experience.

00:03:07.320 --> 00:03:09.030
- In spite of the
attention George

00:03:09.030 --> 00:03:12.450
received crawling up the
stairs, once in the courtroom,

00:03:12.450 --> 00:03:16.380
Judge Frank Hammonds does not
call his case all morning, then

00:03:16.380 --> 00:03:18.750
breaks for lunch,
leaving George alone

00:03:18.750 --> 00:03:20.782
in the courtroom with his niece.

00:03:20.782 --> 00:03:26.180
- I'm a man that has...

00:03:26.180 --> 00:03:29.470
I have more than
one disability here.

00:03:29.470 --> 00:03:32.400
I suffer from the
disease of addiction.

00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:36.460
Therefore, you know,
I have had a past.

00:03:36.460 --> 00:03:38.530
I still have this past.

00:03:38.530 --> 00:03:41.415
But this past is what makes
me the man I am today.

00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:48.530
So I've run-ins with
the law and stuff.

00:03:48.530 --> 00:03:49.030
So I'm...

00:03:49.030 --> 00:03:51.090
I'm known in Polk County.

00:03:51.090 --> 00:03:54.660
- Prior to July 1996,
George had appeared

00:03:54.660 --> 00:03:57.630
in the Polk County
courthouse over 20 times

00:03:57.630 --> 00:04:00.880
on drug and alcohol charges.

00:04:00.880 --> 00:04:03.520
He waits for over six
hours in the courthouse

00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:05.950
without access to a
handicapped-accessible

00:04:05.950 --> 00:04:08.620
bathroom, only to
be told his hearing

00:04:08.620 --> 00:04:12.260
date is being rescheduled.

00:04:12.260 --> 00:04:15.235
So he crawls back
down the stairs.

00:04:15.235 --> 00:04:21.660
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

00:04:21.660 --> 00:04:26.280
On October 21, 1996,
when he returns to court,

00:04:26.280 --> 00:04:29.880
George sends word that he
won't crawl up the stairs again

00:04:29.880 --> 00:04:34.150
and asks that he be
accommodated in some other way.

00:04:34.150 --> 00:04:36.680
- They offered to carry
him up the stairs,

00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:41.350
but in light of
the disdain that he

00:04:41.350 --> 00:04:43.060
had been treated
with the last time,

00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:46.630
he said the last thing he
wanted those officers to do

00:04:46.630 --> 00:04:51.679
was to be responsible for
carrying him up those stairs.

00:04:51.679 --> 00:04:54.220
He sent word back that he wasn't
going to crawl up the stairs

00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:58.690
and he would not have
anyone carry him as well.

00:04:58.690 --> 00:05:01.360
And he said a few minutes
later, the officers came down

00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:06.310
and they arrested him and
took him to jail for failure

00:05:06.310 --> 00:05:06.922
to appear.

00:05:09.520 --> 00:05:15.880
He was within probably 30
vertical feet of the place

00:05:15.880 --> 00:05:20.030
where he was accused of not
arriving to appear for court.

00:05:20.030 --> 00:05:23.350
- Yeah, I just thought
it was just wrong --

00:05:23.350 --> 00:05:27.860
and not seeking any recognition
or anything of that sort.

00:05:27.860 --> 00:05:31.900
I just thought that I
could help someone not

00:05:31.900 --> 00:05:34.920
have to go through this again.

00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:37.490
- And so George --

00:05:37.490 --> 00:05:43.010
who I had known in the past
when I was an Assistant DA over

00:05:43.010 --> 00:05:46.460
there and, in fact, had
prosecuted him a number

00:05:46.460 --> 00:05:48.590
of occasions --

00:05:48.590 --> 00:05:53.420
told me that he decided that
he needed to get a lawyer.

00:05:53.420 --> 00:05:56.760
And he'd always respected
the way I'd handled cases.

00:05:56.760 --> 00:06:01.760
And so he asked me to
represent him in that case.

00:06:01.760 --> 00:06:07.340
And I'll never forget,
he asked me in this way

00:06:07.340 --> 00:06:08.440
that only George could.

00:06:08.440 --> 00:06:13.520
He said, he said, "Now,
Bill, isn't there a law that

00:06:13.520 --> 00:06:17.480
says they can't do this to me?"

00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:19.640
And I said, well,
George, there's

00:06:19.640 --> 00:06:22.590
a thing called the Americans
with Disabilities Act,

00:06:22.590 --> 00:06:27.530
and no, I don't think
they can do it to you.

00:06:27.530 --> 00:06:32.920
But the question is whether or
not they can get away with it.

00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:35.050
Because they really have
already done it to you.

00:06:39.650 --> 00:06:42.226
As I had told
George, you know, um,

00:06:42.226 --> 00:06:44.850
I knew there was a thing called
the Americans with Disabilities

00:06:44.850 --> 00:06:45.950
Act.

00:06:45.950 --> 00:06:50.640
But in terms of my professional
knowledge and experience of it,

00:06:50.640 --> 00:06:52.790
it was virtually none.

00:06:52.790 --> 00:06:55.400
- After some quick
research, two days later

00:06:55.400 --> 00:06:58.100
Bill sends a letter to Judge
Hammonds and the County

00:06:58.100 --> 00:07:01.460
Executive saying that the
conditions George faced

00:07:01.460 --> 00:07:04.460
were discriminatory
under the ADA,

00:07:04.460 --> 00:07:06.500
and asked that his
hearing be postponed

00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:09.860
until an elevator could
be put in the courthouse.

00:07:09.860 --> 00:07:13.550
- And I just
continuously received

00:07:13.550 --> 00:07:15.770
the, "Oh, we haven't
got any money for that,

00:07:15.770 --> 00:07:21.200
so uh, we're not
going to do it."

00:07:21.200 --> 00:07:24.740
But, you know, I felt
that it was my obligation

00:07:24.740 --> 00:07:29.060
to give the state of
Tennessee every opportunity

00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:32.060
to meet its obligations
for treating

00:07:32.060 --> 00:07:34.130
George in a reasonable manner.

00:07:34.130 --> 00:07:42.020
So after that, I filed a motion
for an interlocutory appeal.

00:07:42.020 --> 00:07:44.150
- The Tennessee Court
of Ciminal Appeals,

00:07:44.150 --> 00:07:47.960
the State Court of Appeals, and
the Tennessee Supreme Court all

00:07:47.960 --> 00:07:50.390
denied Bill's request
to have George's hearing

00:07:50.390 --> 00:07:52.760
postponed until the
courthouse was brought

00:07:52.760 --> 00:07:56.180
into compliance with the ADA.

00:07:56.180 --> 00:08:00.260
- Now during this whole
process, I had also

00:08:00.260 --> 00:08:02.810
sent a letter to
the Attorney General

00:08:02.810 --> 00:08:05.010
for the State of
Tennessee saying,

00:08:05.010 --> 00:08:10.220
hey, there's this Americans
with Disabilities Act thing,

00:08:10.220 --> 00:08:13.590
and I can't get my client
a reasonable accommodation.

00:08:13.590 --> 00:08:20.030
Would you guys
intervene to at least

00:08:20.030 --> 00:08:23.180
provide my client some
reasonable accommodation

00:08:23.180 --> 00:08:26.370
in his case?

00:08:26.370 --> 00:08:29.600
And I received
absolutely no response.

00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:33.010
It wasn't a, "Dear Mr.
Brown, we're sorry,

00:08:33.010 --> 00:08:35.840
Dear Mr. Brown, go
jump in the lake."

00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.480
It was nothing --

00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:39.150
dead silence.

00:08:42.030 --> 00:08:43.850
So I was satisfied
at that point in time

00:08:43.850 --> 00:08:45.308
that the State of
Tennessee was not

00:08:45.308 --> 00:08:49.740
interested in being confronted
with their responsibilities

00:08:49.740 --> 00:08:51.490
under the Americans
with Disabilities Act.

00:08:58.280 --> 00:09:01.290
So after dealing
with that situation,

00:09:01.290 --> 00:09:05.140
it really became a cause for me.

00:09:05.140 --> 00:09:07.540
- This prompts Bill
to think about access

00:09:07.540 --> 00:09:10.090
in other courthouses
around the state.

00:09:10.090 --> 00:09:12.640
- You know, in southeast
Tennessee and small counties...

00:09:12.640 --> 00:09:15.430
you don't just work
in Polk County.

00:09:15.430 --> 00:09:17.740
You work in Bradley County,
you work in McMinn County,

00:09:17.740 --> 00:09:20.980
Meigs County, Hamblen County
-- all over the place.

00:09:20.980 --> 00:09:24.430
And I knew of
multiple counties in

00:09:24.430 --> 00:09:26.860
our general geographical
area that didn't

00:09:26.860 --> 00:09:30.490
have accessible courtrooms.

00:09:30.490 --> 00:09:32.860
So I decided to do a survey.

00:09:32.860 --> 00:09:37.840
- An investigator hired by Bill
finds that 25 of 95 counties --

00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:41.260
or more than one quarter of
all courthouses in Tennessee --

00:09:41.260 --> 00:09:43.480
are in fact inaccessible.

00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:46.090
- By that time, I recognized
that this was really

00:09:46.090 --> 00:09:49.060
a serious problem
throughout the state.

00:09:49.060 --> 00:09:50.270
It wasn't just Polk County.

00:09:50.270 --> 00:09:52.570
It wasn't about just
getting George up there.

00:09:52.570 --> 00:09:56.590
It wasn't about just
building an elevator.

00:09:56.590 --> 00:09:58.280
So we filed suit.

00:09:58.280 --> 00:10:02.170
- Bill sues the State of
Tennessee and the 25 counties

00:10:02.170 --> 00:10:05.410
under Title II of the
ADA, which requires

00:10:05.410 --> 00:10:09.010
that people with disabilities
have equal access to all state

00:10:09.010 --> 00:10:11.830
and local government programs.

00:10:11.830 --> 00:10:14.170
The lawsuit seeks
both injunctive relief

00:10:14.170 --> 00:10:18.070
to make the courthouses
accessible and monetary damages

00:10:18.070 --> 00:10:20.350
for George and five
new plaintiffs brought

00:10:20.350 --> 00:10:24.980
onto the case,
including Beverly Jones.

00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:28.340
- Who was a single
mother who had

00:10:28.340 --> 00:10:35.570
become a paraplegic as a result
of a log truck hitting her.

00:10:35.570 --> 00:10:39.200
And she had gone from
being a person who

00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:44.480
had worked in a factory to
becoming a court reporter,

00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:46.950
because that was a way that
she could support her family.

00:10:46.950 --> 00:10:52.700
And so she confronted all of
these inaccessible courthouses

00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:54.670
in middle Tennessee.

00:10:54.670 --> 00:11:01.600
And in many cases, she had to
ask lawyers and police officers

00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:03.730
to carry her up to
the courtroom so

00:11:03.730 --> 00:11:07.990
that she could do her trade
of being a court reporter.

00:11:07.990 --> 00:11:13.200
So I had this
ironic circumstance

00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:19.310
of this beautiful woman,
salt of the earth,

00:11:19.310 --> 00:11:23.300
victim of a horrible
accident, made a paraplegic

00:11:23.300 --> 00:11:25.610
through no fault of her own.

00:11:25.610 --> 00:11:29.130
And then on the other
hand I had George Lane --

00:11:29.130 --> 00:11:32.370
somewhat of a n'er-do-well,
a person who was held in poor

00:11:32.370 --> 00:11:39.970
repute in Polk County, who
had been disabled as a result

00:11:39.970 --> 00:11:44.620
of his own falling asleep and
had killed another person.

00:11:47.850 --> 00:11:51.860
And so with this irony,
this dichotomy --

00:11:51.860 --> 00:11:56.560
literally of black
and white, you know --

00:11:56.560 --> 00:12:00.400
I filed suit against the
State of Tennessee and I said,

00:12:00.400 --> 00:12:04.330
we need to make courthouses
in Tennessee accessible

00:12:04.330 --> 00:12:09.379
no matter what your character
is, no matter who you are,

00:12:09.379 --> 00:12:10.795
no matter what
your disability is.

00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:19.080
I must admit I was
very naive back then.

00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:20.460
I said to myself --

00:12:20.460 --> 00:12:23.400
and I've had so many people
tell me this before --

00:12:23.400 --> 00:12:26.040
you know, this is so obvious.

00:12:26.040 --> 00:12:27.420
How could...

00:12:27.420 --> 00:12:32.610
how could you possibly
lose this one?

00:12:32.610 --> 00:12:40.350
So I got a motion to dismiss
filed by the State of Tennessee

00:12:40.350 --> 00:12:42.980
about 30 days later.

00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:46.080
And they raised the issue
saying that the Americans

00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:53.150
with Disabilities Act violated
sovereign immunity, imposed

00:12:53.150 --> 00:12:58.780
on the State's rights, and asked
the court to dismiss our claim.

00:13:03.420 --> 00:13:05.990
And I said, well, I
don't guess they're

00:13:05.990 --> 00:13:09.180
going to concede this one.

00:13:09.180 --> 00:13:12.480
You know, they didn't say
that what we said was false

00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:15.310
or really the State
was in compliance,

00:13:15.310 --> 00:13:17.750
that everything was hunky-dory.

00:13:17.750 --> 00:13:22.180
No, they said, "We're
the State of Tennessee,

00:13:22.180 --> 00:13:27.400
and you can't make us do
what we don't want to do."

00:13:27.400 --> 00:13:30.910
- The State was claiming it was
protected by sovereign immunity

00:13:30.910 --> 00:13:34.230
from individuals suing
it for monetary damages,

00:13:34.230 --> 00:13:39.250
as granted under the 11th
Amendment of the Constitution.

00:13:39.250 --> 00:13:44.950
- It's an amendment that was
designed to protect states

00:13:44.950 --> 00:13:47.000
against being sued.

00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:51.940
And there was this kind
of concept in English law

00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:54.520
that was inherited
in the United States,

00:13:54.520 --> 00:13:56.560
that you couldn't sue the king.

00:13:56.560 --> 00:14:01.180
You couldn't sue the sovereign,
unless the king or sovereigns,

00:14:01.180 --> 00:14:05.980
you know, granted
you that authority.

00:14:05.980 --> 00:14:09.400
- On November 10, 1998,
a federal district court

00:14:09.400 --> 00:14:11.740
in Nashville denies
Tennessee's motion

00:14:11.740 --> 00:14:14.850
to dismiss Bill's lawsuit.

00:14:14.850 --> 00:14:17.520
30 days later, the
State files an appeal

00:14:17.520 --> 00:14:22.050
to the Sixth Circuit Court of
Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio.

00:14:22.050 --> 00:14:25.830
- Well when they took their
appeal to the Sixth Circuit,

00:14:25.830 --> 00:14:29.910
one of the things that I
said to both the AG's office

00:14:29.910 --> 00:14:33.180
and to these counties was,
while we're dealing with this

00:14:33.180 --> 00:14:37.650
sovereign immunity issue, could
we go ahead and start to see

00:14:37.650 --> 00:14:41.100
whether or not we can
get Tennessee's program

00:14:41.100 --> 00:14:44.700
in compliance with the Americans
with Disabilities Act --

00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:48.060
at least have some kind of a
situation where people can get

00:14:48.060 --> 00:14:50.730
accommodations?

00:14:50.730 --> 00:14:53.160
And they told me
that, no, they wanted

00:14:53.160 --> 00:14:54.833
to wait till the case was over.

00:14:57.491 --> 00:15:01.070
And so I knew at
that point in time

00:15:01.070 --> 00:15:03.730
that they really didn't get it.

00:15:07.330 --> 00:15:09.160
Their defense of
sovereign immunity

00:15:09.160 --> 00:15:13.530
was more important than the
dignity of their citizens

00:15:13.530 --> 00:15:16.060
being able to get to court.

00:15:16.060 --> 00:15:18.010
- Despite winning in
the district court,

00:15:18.010 --> 00:15:21.370
new rulings handed down from
other federal courthouses

00:15:21.370 --> 00:15:23.620
would force Bill to
shift his strategy

00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:27.650
if he hoped to prevail
in the Sixth Circuit.

00:15:27.650 --> 00:15:29.360
- There's nothing
in the Constitution

00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:31.430
that suggests that
people with disabilities

00:15:31.430 --> 00:15:33.680
are special people.

00:15:33.680 --> 00:15:38.680
So the issue about arguing about
disabled people being special

00:15:38.680 --> 00:15:43.430
was probably not going
to be real compelling.

00:15:43.430 --> 00:15:48.680
So what did we have that
could make it compelling?

00:15:48.680 --> 00:15:52.460
Well, what made it
compelling is to discuss

00:15:52.460 --> 00:15:54.590
about a fundamental right.

00:15:54.590 --> 00:15:57.470
- Claiming that everyone has
a fundamental right of access

00:15:57.470 --> 00:15:59.720
to the courts based
on the due process

00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:02.180
clause of the 14th
Amendment, Bill

00:16:02.180 --> 00:16:04.730
waits over four
years for a decision

00:16:04.730 --> 00:16:06.530
from the Sixth Circuit.

00:16:06.530 --> 00:16:09.420
But he would again
be victorious.

00:16:09.420 --> 00:16:12.930
- The Sixth Circuit
makes its decision,

00:16:12.930 --> 00:16:14.670
and I thought, well,
maybe now we'll

00:16:14.670 --> 00:16:16.080
get some progress on this.

00:16:18.870 --> 00:16:22.320
And then I got an application
for writ of certiorari

00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:26.045
to the United States
Supreme Court.

00:16:26.045 --> 00:16:32.030
And I thought, oh, my
goodness, this country lawyer

00:16:32.030 --> 00:16:34.975
at 23 North Ocoee Street
in Cleveland, Tennessee,

00:16:34.975 --> 00:16:37.690
arguing over a courthouse in
one of the smallest counties

00:16:37.690 --> 00:16:40.600
in the country, is now
going to be arguing

00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:42.160
about a fundamental
right of access

00:16:42.160 --> 00:16:48.310
to the courts in the most
important court of our country.

00:16:48.310 --> 00:16:50.920
- The question before
the Supreme Court

00:16:50.920 --> 00:16:52.930
would be whether
Congress had properly

00:16:52.930 --> 00:16:56.680
abrogated state's right to
sovereign immunity under Title

00:16:56.680 --> 00:17:00.250
II of the ADA, thereby
allowing individuals

00:17:00.250 --> 00:17:03.220
to sue a state
for money damages.

00:17:03.220 --> 00:17:06.310
And while he had won in
the lower federal courts,

00:17:06.310 --> 00:17:08.950
Bill faced formidable
new obstacles.

00:17:11.810 --> 00:17:15.849
- This was a time at the time
when "Tennessee versus Lane"

00:17:15.849 --> 00:17:19.640
was decided that it looked
like the court was very

00:17:19.640 --> 00:17:24.079
aggressively limiting Congress'
power to enact civil rights

00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:25.339
legislation.

00:17:25.339 --> 00:17:28.820
- A conservative-leaning court
led by Chief Justice William

00:17:28.820 --> 00:17:33.260
Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia
had issued a number of 5-4

00:17:33.260 --> 00:17:36.927
decisions limiting civil rights,
and sometimes finding whole

00:17:36.927 --> 00:17:40.610
sections of the ADA to
be unconstitutional.

00:17:40.610 --> 00:17:43.310
- I think people were concerned
about the outcome in "Tennessee

00:17:43.310 --> 00:17:46.380
versus Lane" for a
number of reasons.

00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:50.120
First, the result in "Garrett."

00:17:50.120 --> 00:17:53.030
- In "The University of
Alabama versus Garrett,"

00:17:53.030 --> 00:17:56.630
the Supreme Court had just
found Title I of the ADA to be

00:17:56.630 --> 00:18:01.130
unconstitutional, claiming
they saw no widespread evidence

00:18:01.130 --> 00:18:03.420
of discrimination
in employment --

00:18:03.420 --> 00:18:05.340
preventing persons
with disabilities

00:18:05.340 --> 00:18:09.090
from being able to sue
employers for money damages.

00:18:09.090 --> 00:18:15.630
- And the "Garrett" decision had
really, in many people's minds,

00:18:15.630 --> 00:18:17.770
put a dagger in the ADA.

00:18:17.770 --> 00:18:22.970
- The concern in
"Lane" was far more

00:18:22.970 --> 00:18:26.570
than whether this injured
party, this injured person

00:18:26.570 --> 00:18:29.580
with a disability, would
be able to achieve damages.

00:18:29.580 --> 00:18:35.510
It was really about the
constitutionality of the ADA

00:18:35.510 --> 00:18:38.350
as a whole.

00:18:38.350 --> 00:18:39.970
- Although "Tennessee
versus Lane"

00:18:39.970 --> 00:18:43.250
was being argued under
Title II of the ADA,

00:18:43.250 --> 00:18:44.830
the fear was that
the court would

00:18:44.830 --> 00:18:47.950
apply the same lack of evidence
of discrimination found

00:18:47.950 --> 00:18:52.210
in "Garrett" to also find Title
II to be unconstitutional,

00:18:52.210 --> 00:18:56.350
effectively dismantling the ADA
and the rights of 55 million

00:18:56.350 --> 00:18:57.790
people with disabilities.

00:19:00.570 --> 00:19:02.730
- When we get to
the Supreme Court

00:19:02.730 --> 00:19:06.900
and we start talking about
where we are up there, well,

00:19:06.900 --> 00:19:09.090
you know, the math
is pretty simple.

00:19:09.090 --> 00:19:11.820
You gotta count to five.

00:19:11.820 --> 00:19:14.760
- Faced with a string
of recent 5-4 losses,

00:19:14.760 --> 00:19:16.860
an increasingly
conservative court,

00:19:16.860 --> 00:19:19.290
and an ADA legislation
under attack,

00:19:19.290 --> 00:19:22.290
a key strategic decision
becomes to argue the case

00:19:22.290 --> 00:19:27.300
on an as-applied basis, focusing
just on access to courthouses

00:19:27.300 --> 00:19:29.610
in the hopes of getting
the vote of at least one

00:19:29.610 --> 00:19:33.120
of the court's two
moderate justices.

00:19:33.120 --> 00:19:36.360
- I mean generally in civil
rights cases, Justice Kennedy

00:19:36.360 --> 00:19:38.690
and Justice O'Connor
were the swing votes.

00:19:38.690 --> 00:19:43.440
And litigants before the
court and the advocates

00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:44.930
of communities
that supported them

00:19:44.930 --> 00:19:50.160
would tailor their arguments
to one or the other or both.

00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:53.610
In the context of
"Tennessee versus Lane,"

00:19:53.610 --> 00:19:55.650
we were worried
about Justice Kennedy

00:19:55.650 --> 00:20:00.780
because he was a
very strong proponent

00:20:00.780 --> 00:20:06.270
of limited federal powers
of what's called federalism.

00:20:06.270 --> 00:20:10.530
- In the "Garrett" decision,
Sandra Day O'Connor

00:20:10.530 --> 00:20:16.740
had gone with the conservative
side of the court.

00:20:16.740 --> 00:20:19.890
I did a lot of reading...
a lot of reading.

00:20:19.890 --> 00:20:21.390
And one of the
things that struck me

00:20:21.390 --> 00:20:26.580
about Justice
O'Connor was that she

00:20:26.580 --> 00:20:37.140
had been a state trial-level
judge in Maricopa, Arizona.

00:20:37.140 --> 00:20:38.280
You know, I can...

00:20:38.280 --> 00:20:44.320
I could just imagine that in her
years on the trial-level bench,

00:20:44.320 --> 00:20:47.010
she had to deal with
and address issues of,

00:20:47.010 --> 00:20:52.530
how am I going to get that
person to the courtroom?

00:20:52.530 --> 00:20:54.360
Is it a witness?

00:20:54.360 --> 00:20:55.890
Is it a defendant?

00:20:55.890 --> 00:20:57.510
Is it a plaintiff?

00:20:57.510 --> 00:20:59.820
Is it a juror?

00:20:59.820 --> 00:21:02.550
And I know how important it
is to make sure that everybody

00:21:02.550 --> 00:21:05.600
gets to THE courtroom.

00:21:05.600 --> 00:21:10.380
And so I knew that our
best shot was probably

00:21:10.380 --> 00:21:13.170
winning Sandra Day O'Connor.

00:21:13.170 --> 00:21:17.670
- On December 8, 2003, just one
month before the Supreme Court

00:21:17.670 --> 00:21:19.710
hearing, Bill goes
to Washington,

00:21:19.710 --> 00:21:22.260
DC, to attend his
first moot court

00:21:22.260 --> 00:21:24.210
in front of nine of
the most prominent

00:21:24.210 --> 00:21:26.400
constitutional scholars
in the country.

00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:31.080
- For about two hours...

00:21:31.080 --> 00:21:33.840
now remember, my argument
in the court is 15 minutes,

00:21:33.840 --> 00:21:37.770
but for two hours
I just kept getting

00:21:37.770 --> 00:21:40.320
bombarded with questions,
one right after the other.

00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:49.770
And, um, finally, we
came to a conclusion.

00:21:53.890 --> 00:21:59.060
And all of them got up
without saying a word

00:21:59.060 --> 00:22:00.184
and walked out of the room.

00:22:07.930 --> 00:22:12.145
So Tom came in, and he sat down.

00:22:12.145 --> 00:22:16.780
And he looked at me
and he said, "Bill,

00:22:16.780 --> 00:22:25.830
everybody thinks that this
case involves the future

00:22:25.830 --> 00:22:28.920
of 55 million Americans.

00:22:33.770 --> 00:22:35.694
And we don't think
you're able to do it."

00:22:38.600 --> 00:22:42.250
- Here, you know, there
was a lawyer from Tennessee

00:22:42.250 --> 00:22:45.790
who had brought this case
and was very committed to it,

00:22:45.790 --> 00:22:48.910
very passionate about
it, but had never

00:22:48.910 --> 00:22:50.891
litigated in the Supreme Court.

00:22:50.891 --> 00:22:52.390
And one of the
things that sort of I

00:22:52.390 --> 00:22:55.000
learned when I first got
involved in Supreme Court

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:57.220
advocacy is that
the Supreme Court

00:22:57.220 --> 00:22:59.710
is as different from
the Court of Appeals

00:22:59.710 --> 00:23:05.000
as the Court of Appeals
are from the trial courts.

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.562
- It was a very cold
day, a very dark day.

00:23:09.562 --> 00:23:11.520
And I picked up my
briefcase, and I walked back

00:23:11.520 --> 00:23:14.070
to my hotel room.

00:23:14.070 --> 00:23:17.370
And I didn't sleep
much that night.

00:23:17.370 --> 00:23:19.890
That was probably
one of the lowest

00:23:19.890 --> 00:23:24.635
periods I'd ever had in the
years that I'd practiced law.

00:23:27.750 --> 00:23:29.860
And I called my
clients the next day.

00:23:29.860 --> 00:23:33.120
I called George, and
I called Beverly.

00:23:33.120 --> 00:23:36.734
And I'll never forget
what George said.

00:23:36.734 --> 00:23:38.400
George said, "Bill,
I don't want anybody

00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:41.670
but you to argue this case."

00:23:41.670 --> 00:23:44.020
He says, "I don't
know those people."

00:23:44.020 --> 00:23:46.410
He said, "They don't know me.

00:23:46.410 --> 00:23:49.050
They don't know
what the facts are."

00:23:49.050 --> 00:23:50.966
And he says, "I want
you to argue it."

00:23:54.440 --> 00:23:56.483
- He was always clear
and to the point.

00:23:56.483 --> 00:23:58.640
And he had an attitude.

00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:01.650
He had red hair, you know.

00:24:01.650 --> 00:24:03.500
And most redheads...

00:24:03.500 --> 00:24:06.096
I don't want to stereotype
it, but, you know,

00:24:06.096 --> 00:24:08.930
they're about their business.

00:24:08.930 --> 00:24:10.840
- So I decided at
that point in time

00:24:10.840 --> 00:24:19.742
that, despite my deficiencies,
that I was going to work hard

00:24:19.742 --> 00:24:21.200
and I was going to
argue this case.

00:24:26.070 --> 00:24:30.453
(SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING)

00:24:36.810 --> 00:24:39.600
The day came.

00:24:39.600 --> 00:24:41.920
My whole family, my
office staff came up.

00:24:44.820 --> 00:24:47.580
My sister took us all out
to dinner the night before,

00:24:47.580 --> 00:24:53.400
and I woke up about
5:30 in the morning

00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:54.900
and I started putting
my clothes on.

00:24:54.900 --> 00:24:59.020
And my wife rolled over, and
she said, "What are you doing?"

00:24:59.020 --> 00:25:01.320
And I said, well, I'm
putting my clothes on.

00:25:01.320 --> 00:25:03.690
I'm getting ready to
go argue this case.

00:25:03.690 --> 00:25:06.870
She said, "It's 5:30
in the morning."

00:25:06.870 --> 00:25:09.660
She said, "Your clothes
will be so wrinkled they'll

00:25:09.660 --> 00:25:12.780
think you're just a bumpkin.

00:25:12.780 --> 00:25:15.810
Get those off."

00:25:15.810 --> 00:25:18.030
So I took my clothes
off, and I sat there

00:25:18.030 --> 00:25:22.224
for the next two and a
half hours in my underwear.

00:25:22.224 --> 00:25:26.970
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

00:25:26.970 --> 00:25:29.910
- A few minutes into the
hearing, Sandra Day O'Connor

00:25:29.910 --> 00:25:32.850
asks her first question to
Tennessee Solicitor General

00:25:32.850 --> 00:25:34.050
Michael Moore.

00:25:34.050 --> 00:25:40.290
- Mr. Moore, does Tennessee
provide any cause of action

00:25:40.290 --> 00:25:43.110
for the alleged
violations here, the lack

00:25:43.110 --> 00:25:44.930
of access to the courthouse?

00:25:44.930 --> 00:25:48.360
- Uh, no private right of
action under our State Public

00:25:48.360 --> 00:25:49.020
Buildings Act.

00:25:49.020 --> 00:25:51.720
- So you're satisfied,
then, under Tennessee law

00:25:51.720 --> 00:25:54.870
there would be no
monetary relief available.

00:25:54.870 --> 00:25:55.754
- I think that is...

00:25:55.754 --> 00:25:56.670
I think that is right.

00:25:56.670 --> 00:25:57.170
Uh...

00:25:57.170 --> 00:25:59.310
- And would there
be any enforcement

00:25:59.310 --> 00:26:03.970
action at all available to
compel, under Tennessee law,

00:26:03.970 --> 00:26:06.780
the courthouses
to be accessible?

00:26:06.780 --> 00:26:08.520
- Uh, no, Your Honor.

00:26:08.520 --> 00:26:12.990
- She understood and
appreciated that the only way

00:26:12.990 --> 00:26:16.350
that my clients
would have an ability

00:26:16.350 --> 00:26:20.400
to make their
circumstances compatible

00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:23.990
with the Constitution was
through an act of Congress.

00:26:26.610 --> 00:26:29.700
And then I got to do my
15 minutes of argument.

00:26:29.700 --> 00:26:36.200
And I, uh, had probably close
to eight words out of my mouth

00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:41.900
when Justice Rehnquist, in his
very deep and authoritative

00:26:41.900 --> 00:26:45.110
voice, comes out and
says, (ADOPTS DEEP VOICE)

00:26:45.110 --> 00:26:49.580
"Mr. Brown, I thought we had
already resolved these issues

00:26:49.580 --> 00:26:50.735
in the 'Boerne' case."

00:26:53.340 --> 00:26:57.420
And I said, well,
you better be ready.

00:26:57.420 --> 00:27:02.940
Justice Scalia, of
course, was the most, um,

00:27:02.940 --> 00:27:05.120
persistent and negative.

00:27:05.120 --> 00:27:08.460
One of his questions
posed, "Do you

00:27:08.460 --> 00:27:12.150
have a constitutional right to
have a hockey rink accessible?"

00:27:12.150 --> 00:27:15.760
Hockey rinks didn't have
anything to do with this case.

00:27:19.050 --> 00:27:21.975
And wouldn't it have been
terrible if the State

00:27:21.975 --> 00:27:24.225
of Tennessee could have
forced George Lane to crawl up

00:27:24.225 --> 00:27:27.360
the steps because we were
worried about whether or not

00:27:27.360 --> 00:27:30.060
handicapped people
could go see a hockey

00:27:30.060 --> 00:27:33.080
game in a state-supported
hockey rink?

00:27:35.690 --> 00:27:38.730
What really would
have been ironic

00:27:38.730 --> 00:27:41.580
is that, at least in
Tennessee, that we

00:27:41.580 --> 00:27:44.640
don't have any
state-supported hockey rinks.

00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:47.730
- We therefore go no further
than the precise question that

00:27:47.730 --> 00:27:49.500
this case presents --

00:27:49.500 --> 00:27:51.990
whether Title II
appropriately enforces

00:27:51.990 --> 00:27:55.110
the constitutional right
of access to the court.

00:27:55.110 --> 00:27:56.910
We hold that it does.

00:27:56.910 --> 00:27:58.980
Title II requires
public entities

00:27:58.980 --> 00:28:02.340
to make reasonable
modifications to permit

00:28:02.340 --> 00:28:05.100
persons with disabilities
to participate

00:28:05.100 --> 00:28:07.320
in judicial proceedings.

00:28:07.320 --> 00:28:09.780
This duty to make
reasonable accommodations

00:28:09.780 --> 00:28:13.350
is perfectly consistent with
the well-established principle

00:28:13.350 --> 00:28:17.640
that states must afford all
individuals a meaningful right

00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:19.470
to be heard in court.

00:28:19.470 --> 00:28:21.840
So the judgment of the Court
of Appeals is affirmed.

00:28:26.510 --> 00:28:29.400
- As you know, we
have nine justices.

00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:32.800
I got five votes.

00:28:32.800 --> 00:28:37.170
You know, I'm an uneducated
man, but come on.

00:28:37.170 --> 00:28:40.160
These people...

00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:40.820
I don't get it.

00:28:40.820 --> 00:28:43.070
I just don't get it.

00:28:43.070 --> 00:28:48.020
You know, I understood it
on the level of Polk County,

00:28:48.020 --> 00:28:51.370
but you'd have to be there to
understand that's acceptable

00:28:51.370 --> 00:28:56.320
or they would be that
ignorant to the fact.

00:28:56.320 --> 00:28:59.540
But not at the Supreme Court.

00:28:59.540 --> 00:29:02.570
- After the verdict, State
Attorney General Paul Summers

00:29:02.570 --> 00:29:06.200
issues a written response to
the Supreme Court's decision.

00:29:06.200 --> 00:29:08.990
In it, Summers says that
the State of Tennessee

00:29:08.990 --> 00:29:11.600
has conceded from the
outset that the Americans

00:29:11.600 --> 00:29:14.500
with Disabilities
Act applies to it.

00:29:14.500 --> 00:29:19.520
- So why did we have to
wait six years for them

00:29:19.520 --> 00:29:22.700
to suddenly start to say,
"We're willing to come

00:29:22.700 --> 00:29:25.280
into compliance?"

00:29:25.280 --> 00:29:27.950
- General Summers'
response continues that,

00:29:27.950 --> 00:29:30.980
"...as a practical matter,
this outcome is exactly what

00:29:30.980 --> 00:29:33.530
the plaintiffs could have
obtained from the State had

00:29:33.530 --> 00:29:36.650
they sued under Ex parte
Young, rather than going

00:29:36.650 --> 00:29:40.040
to the Supreme Court to
seek monetary damages."

00:29:40.040 --> 00:29:42.740
- How many people
out there had already

00:29:42.740 --> 00:29:47.630
gone through this process of
having their fundamental rights

00:29:47.630 --> 00:29:51.020
of access to the courts
denied because they couldn't

00:29:51.020 --> 00:29:53.660
get anybody to listen to them?

00:29:53.660 --> 00:29:57.770
Hey, listen, I'd been practicing
law in the state of Tennessee

00:29:57.770 --> 00:30:01.510
for probably close to 15
years at that point in time.

00:30:01.510 --> 00:30:04.160
And despite the fact that I
took an appeal to the Tennessee

00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:06.941
Court of Appeals, the
Tennessee Supreme Court,

00:30:06.941 --> 00:30:08.690
and wrote letters to
the Attorney General,

00:30:08.690 --> 00:30:13.400
even I couldn't get
their attention.

00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:15.850
The only way you get their
attention is if they say,

00:30:15.850 --> 00:30:19.120
"Somebody is going to
have to pay for this."

00:30:19.120 --> 00:30:20.950
- But in spite of
the great victory,

00:30:20.950 --> 00:30:22.780
all the Supreme
Court decision did

00:30:22.780 --> 00:30:25.300
was give George Lane
and the other plaintiffs

00:30:25.300 --> 00:30:29.330
the right to sue the State
for monetary damages.

00:30:29.330 --> 00:30:32.020
Now nearly eight
years into the case,

00:30:32.020 --> 00:30:35.320
Bill tries to finally reach a
settlement on his original goal

00:30:35.320 --> 00:30:38.770
to simply make the
courthouses accessible.

00:30:38.770 --> 00:30:41.950
- And it wasn't always easy,
and it was all... it wasn't...

00:30:41.950 --> 00:30:45.280
most of the time it
was very frustrating.

00:30:45.280 --> 00:30:48.330
Because the burden of
proof is on the plaintiff.

00:30:48.330 --> 00:30:50.580
And we were the plaintiff.

00:30:50.580 --> 00:30:52.380
- The issues were pretty clear.

00:30:52.380 --> 00:30:53.800
People with mobility
disabilities

00:30:53.800 --> 00:30:56.940
couldn't get into courthouses
and therefore access

00:30:56.940 --> 00:30:58.410
the court program.

00:30:58.410 --> 00:31:01.170
And the Counties and
States' attorneys

00:31:01.170 --> 00:31:04.390
kept focusing more
on our clients,

00:31:04.390 --> 00:31:07.290
like, "Oh, my goodness,
George has a criminal record.

00:31:07.290 --> 00:31:09.390
Let's talk about that
during the deposition."

00:31:09.390 --> 00:31:11.306
Well, that didn't have
anything to do with it.

00:31:11.306 --> 00:31:15.350
- A plaintiff's personal
history, it is always...

00:31:15.350 --> 00:31:20.660
always important in the eyes of
the jury when they're awarding

00:31:20.660 --> 00:31:23.030
compensatory
damages, because one

00:31:23.030 --> 00:31:26.315
of the things that the jury's
going to think about is,

00:31:26.315 --> 00:31:32.760
is this particular
plaintiff entitled or worthy

00:31:32.760 --> 00:31:38.280
to this monetary damage that
he's asking the jury to award?

00:31:38.280 --> 00:31:42.150
- There was, I think, some
attempt to bait the plaintiffs

00:31:42.150 --> 00:31:44.070
and get them angry.

00:31:44.070 --> 00:31:49.400
- It's always a strategy
to get a deponent

00:31:49.400 --> 00:31:51.560
to tell you the truth.

00:31:51.560 --> 00:31:54.590
- In his deposition, George
Lane is asked three times

00:31:54.590 --> 00:31:57.680
by three different lawyers,
including John Nefflen,

00:31:57.680 --> 00:31:59.450
if he stopped
anywhere before going

00:31:59.450 --> 00:32:02.540
home the night of the accident,
with one attorney even

00:32:02.540 --> 00:32:05.110
directly asking if he
went to get a drink.

00:32:05.110 --> 00:32:08.340
- By the grace of God, at
the time of my car accident

00:32:08.340 --> 00:32:11.970
I had been sober for 18 months.

00:32:11.970 --> 00:32:16.320
- George's character was
made an important issue.

00:32:16.320 --> 00:32:21.477
Not that it was and not that it
should have been, but it was.

00:32:21.477 --> 00:32:27.960
The, uh, the pictures that
were in the paper of George

00:32:27.960 --> 00:32:37.360
were of George in prison garb
with crutches, and saying,

00:32:37.360 --> 00:32:39.766
"This is the lead plaintiff."

00:32:39.766 --> 00:32:42.150
We didn't get many
pictures of Beverly

00:32:42.150 --> 00:32:45.160
from some of the news media.

00:32:45.160 --> 00:32:47.950
In the discussions,
deliberations,

00:32:47.950 --> 00:32:52.670
and debate that we had
about who had standing,

00:32:52.670 --> 00:32:55.940
9 times out of 10 the only place
I could get everybody to agree

00:32:55.940 --> 00:32:58.490
on -- including
the other side --

00:32:58.490 --> 00:33:02.140
was that criminal
defendants, who

00:33:02.140 --> 00:33:06.910
are the ones that are forced
to be in court, have that right

00:33:06.910 --> 00:33:10.600
and have the most
logical standing.

00:33:10.600 --> 00:33:14.590
Is it not incredibly ironic
that the people that we

00:33:14.590 --> 00:33:17.650
may hold in the
most disdain may be

00:33:17.650 --> 00:33:22.710
the people that fundamentally
protect all of our rights?

00:33:22.710 --> 00:33:26.400
So the whole point
of the matter is

00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:30.900
this law, the Americans
with Disabilities Act,

00:33:30.900 --> 00:33:36.240
is not about the character
of disabled people.

00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:40.680
It is about our
responsibility as a society

00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:43.980
to treat people
with disabilities

00:33:43.980 --> 00:33:47.160
in a manner that is
respectful, no matter what

00:33:47.160 --> 00:33:48.860
their character is.

00:33:48.860 --> 00:33:49.860
- And I just knew...

00:33:49.860 --> 00:33:56.940
I just knew with every fiber of
me that I was doing the right

00:33:56.940 --> 00:34:05.710
thing -- in spite of the jail
terms or the bogus charges,

00:34:05.710 --> 00:34:10.030
you know, could not go to the
grocery store in my hometown.

00:34:10.030 --> 00:34:15.239
In spite of all that, I
was doing the right thing.

00:34:15.239 --> 00:34:17.995
- And I remember one of the
first meetings I had with Bill,

00:34:17.995 --> 00:34:20.746
he kept talking about,
"This was really important.

00:34:20.746 --> 00:34:21.870
It's more than courthouses.

00:34:21.870 --> 00:34:24.340
It's about the rule of law."

00:34:24.340 --> 00:34:31.210
- We make the rules before
we get into enforcing them.

00:34:31.210 --> 00:34:35.620
And, therefore, everybody
knows what the rules are.

00:34:35.620 --> 00:34:39.429
And with that notice,
everybody needs

00:34:39.429 --> 00:34:40.870
to come into
compliance with them

00:34:40.870 --> 00:34:43.719
or at least understand the
consequences if they don't

00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:46.570
come into compliance with them.

00:34:46.570 --> 00:34:51.010
And the beauty of that
is that the law is then

00:34:51.010 --> 00:34:55.830
decided on principles, not
the nature of the individuals

00:34:55.830 --> 00:34:58.660
that the principles
are being applied to.

00:34:58.660 --> 00:35:01.132
- It's about the
importance of, the law

00:35:01.132 --> 00:35:02.215
has to apply to everybody.

00:35:02.215 --> 00:35:03.750
It applies to counties.

00:35:03.750 --> 00:35:04.870
It applies to states.

00:35:04.870 --> 00:35:08.470
It applies to Beverly and
George and anybody else.

00:35:08.470 --> 00:35:10.780
And people get treated equally.

00:35:10.780 --> 00:35:15.680
- When does the law
apply to the government?

00:35:15.680 --> 00:35:17.950
When does the law apply
to these people that

00:35:17.950 --> 00:35:22.360
are applying the law to us, who
are passing the laws that we

00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:24.280
have to comply with?

00:35:24.280 --> 00:35:28.090
And in the broad
spectrum of things,

00:35:28.090 --> 00:35:34.697
who has the authority and power
to hold government responsible?

00:35:34.697 --> 00:35:36.530
Well, when you talk
about sovereign immunity

00:35:36.530 --> 00:35:39.120
and the principles
behind sovereign immunity

00:35:39.120 --> 00:35:43.690
and the common law basis, you
know, the king can do no wrong.

00:35:43.690 --> 00:35:45.220
- Sometimes you
would call a county

00:35:45.220 --> 00:35:48.940
and find out that they're
supposed ADA coordinator was

00:35:48.940 --> 00:35:52.500
a janitor who didn't know he
or she was the ADA coordinator.

00:35:52.500 --> 00:35:55.750
So that was... that
was always interesting.

00:35:55.750 --> 00:35:57.670
- And we finally
negotiated out what

00:35:57.670 --> 00:36:04.930
came to become the most
preeminent policy that

00:36:04.930 --> 00:36:08.680
was used by most of
the states thereafter,

00:36:08.680 --> 00:36:13.270
in terms of bringing their
own "access to the courts"

00:36:13.270 --> 00:36:15.310
policies into play.

00:36:15.310 --> 00:36:19.870
- Ultimately, 9 years after
George Lane crawled up the Polk

00:36:19.870 --> 00:36:23.800
County courthouse stairs, 26
settlements are reached with

00:36:23.800 --> 00:36:27.670
the State and Counties -- with
22 counties agreeing to make

00:36:27.670 --> 00:36:29.890
their courthouses
fully accessible,

00:36:29.890 --> 00:36:33.130
and the remaining 3 agreeing
to follow the new statewide

00:36:33.130 --> 00:36:37.930
judicial ADA access policy
negotiated by Bill and Martie.

00:36:37.930 --> 00:36:39.680
- The nice thing
about this, though,

00:36:39.680 --> 00:36:42.790
is that our state now has
specific ADA coordinators

00:36:42.790 --> 00:36:43.870
for the court program.

00:36:43.870 --> 00:36:47.790
And that's something beyond
what the ADA itself requires.

00:36:47.790 --> 00:36:49.360
- When they call
the courthouses,

00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:52.990
there's somebody that knows what
to do now instead of everybody

00:36:52.990 --> 00:36:55.750
doing the Keystone Cop thing
about what we're going to do

00:36:55.750 --> 00:36:57.291
and how we're going
to deal with them

00:36:57.291 --> 00:36:59.230
and how we're going
to get them up there.

00:36:59.230 --> 00:37:02.950
- Several counties also agreed
to pay modest monetary damages

00:37:02.950 --> 00:37:06.220
to five of the plaintiffs,
the only exception being

00:37:06.220 --> 00:37:10.690
Beverly Jones' case against Clay
County, which goes to trial.

00:37:10.690 --> 00:37:13.672
- "OK, yeah, she couldn't get
into our courtroom herself,

00:37:13.672 --> 00:37:15.130
so we picked her
up and carried her

00:37:15.130 --> 00:37:17.560
because that's the kind of
neighborly folk we are."

00:37:17.560 --> 00:37:19.191
That was their defense.

00:37:19.191 --> 00:37:21.190
- As a defense attorney,
you're looking for ways

00:37:21.190 --> 00:37:24.580
to minimize the effect
of the alleged injury

00:37:24.580 --> 00:37:28.490
and, as a result,
hopefully minimize

00:37:28.490 --> 00:37:31.300
any money you pay
for that injury.

00:37:31.300 --> 00:37:35.230
- And so we... we knew going
into that trial that it

00:37:35.230 --> 00:37:38.230
wasn't likely she would
get a lot of money from it.

00:37:38.230 --> 00:37:41.740
But we all thought they would
say, "Of course the county

00:37:41.740 --> 00:37:42.910
violated the ADA."

00:37:42.910 --> 00:37:44.950
And we were just
really surprised

00:37:44.950 --> 00:37:47.050
when the jury comes
back and says,

00:37:47.050 --> 00:37:49.030
"No violation of the ADA."

00:37:49.030 --> 00:37:53.050
So you have all the relief
we got in the "Lane" case

00:37:53.050 --> 00:37:58.870
through settlements, and
those settlements have

00:37:58.870 --> 00:38:01.510
made the program accessible.

00:38:01.510 --> 00:38:03.956
And then you have this one
outlying decision that said no

00:38:03.956 --> 00:38:05.455
liability, which
makes you wonder --

00:38:05.455 --> 00:38:07.146
at least makes me wonder --

00:38:07.146 --> 00:38:08.770
what on Earth would
have happened if we

00:38:08.770 --> 00:38:10.120
hadn't gotten the settlements?

00:38:10.120 --> 00:38:12.590
I think the settlements
got the right result,

00:38:12.590 --> 00:38:16.150
but what if a whole
case had gone to a jury?

00:38:16.150 --> 00:38:18.686
What would have happened?

00:38:18.686 --> 00:38:23.130
(SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING)

00:38:23.130 --> 00:38:29.460
- I would say that "Tennessee
versus Lane" established

00:38:29.460 --> 00:38:32.100
two very important things.

00:38:32.100 --> 00:38:41.900
One is that everyone
has a fundamental right

00:38:41.900 --> 00:38:44.360
to go to court.

00:38:44.360 --> 00:38:48.920
And if you don't think that
that was at serious risk,

00:38:48.920 --> 00:38:52.010
read the dissenting opinions.

00:38:52.010 --> 00:38:55.370
Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote
in his dissenting opinion

00:38:55.370 --> 00:38:57.440
that he saw nothing
in the Constitution

00:38:57.440 --> 00:38:59.300
that guaranteed the
right of everybody

00:38:59.300 --> 00:39:01.235
to go to court for
their own case.

00:39:05.820 --> 00:39:11.610
The second thing is, when the
courts evaluate these things

00:39:11.610 --> 00:39:14.760
they're going to focus
on what's important.

00:39:14.760 --> 00:39:18.000
And that is what is the case
that's before them, and who

00:39:18.000 --> 00:39:20.430
are the parties that
are before them,

00:39:20.430 --> 00:39:23.015
and what are the issues
that are before them.

00:39:23.015 --> 00:39:24.390
And we're not
going to be talking

00:39:24.390 --> 00:39:27.300
about esoteric things that
have absolutely nothing

00:39:27.300 --> 00:39:31.520
to do with the issue
that's before us.

00:39:31.520 --> 00:39:35.910
And in that way, I think
we have fundamentally

00:39:35.910 --> 00:39:39.030
established the
ability of Congress

00:39:39.030 --> 00:39:44.940
to make sure that states
comply with the Constitution.

00:39:44.940 --> 00:39:46.185
- Do I see more change?

00:39:46.185 --> 00:39:50.630
Do I see things
that ain't right?

00:39:50.630 --> 00:39:55.810
There's, you know, no gray areas
and no-brainer kind of thing?

00:39:55.810 --> 00:39:56.720
Do I see that?

00:39:56.720 --> 00:39:58.930
Yeah.

00:39:58.930 --> 00:40:02.770
Maybe I'll get placed in
a position to do something

00:40:02.770 --> 00:40:05.415
about that, too.

00:40:05.415 --> 00:40:07.339
Who knows?

00:40:07.339 --> 00:40:10.220
I can hope for the best.

00:40:10.220 --> 00:40:11.070
I say...

00:40:11.070 --> 00:40:13.840
I keep telling Martie --

00:40:13.840 --> 00:40:16.876
she's the attorney
here at DLAC --

00:40:16.876 --> 00:40:18.834
that I don't know if I
got another fight in me,

00:40:18.834 --> 00:40:20.700
but I'm sure I do, you know.

00:40:20.700 --> 00:40:21.225
I...

00:40:21.225 --> 00:40:22.100
I'm sure I do.

00:40:22.100 --> 00:40:24.860
If something came
about, yeah, I'd do it.

00:40:32.210 --> 00:40:36.470
- He always cared more about
other people than he did about

00:40:36.470 --> 00:40:39.200
himself, to the point that at
times he would make decisions

00:40:39.200 --> 00:40:44.140
that hurt himself in order to
help other... other people.

00:40:44.140 --> 00:40:46.650
You know, he could read
a story in the newspaper

00:40:46.650 --> 00:40:50.120
or see something on the news
and he would get very riled up,

00:40:50.120 --> 00:40:52.330
because somebody is being hurt.

00:40:52.330 --> 00:40:54.710
Whether it's somebody with
a disability or, you know,

00:40:54.710 --> 00:40:56.090
a child, he...

00:40:56.090 --> 00:41:00.220
he really had a heart
for kind of the underdog.

00:41:00.220 --> 00:41:03.320
- You know, thank God
there ain't 100,000 George

00:41:03.320 --> 00:41:05.630
Lanes in this world, you know?

00:41:05.630 --> 00:41:09.000
It's up to the individual
to stand up for theirself,

00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:11.255
take notice, you know?

00:41:11.255 --> 00:41:14.935
You get pushed and pushed,
or you can just see stuff,

00:41:14.935 --> 00:41:17.805
you know, that's just common.

00:41:17.805 --> 00:41:21.680
You know, you have to
stand up for yourself.

00:41:21.680 --> 00:41:25.112
matter what the cost is.

00:41:25.112 --> 00:41:27.360
Yeah, no matter
what the cost is.

00:41:27.360 --> 00:41:32.340
- He... he very much believed in
God and thought that his whole

00:41:32.340 --> 00:41:35.880
story, particularly the "Lane
versus Tennessee" piece of it,

00:41:35.880 --> 00:41:38.430
was very much a
God-centered thing for him.

00:41:38.430 --> 00:41:40.620
- You know, I sit
and talk to my God

00:41:40.620 --> 00:41:44.180
just like I would
sit and talk to you.

00:41:44.180 --> 00:41:45.835
And, uh...

00:41:45.835 --> 00:41:48.545
and He has somewhat a
sense of humor, you know.

00:41:48.545 --> 00:41:55.140
Who would think that God
would take an uneducated man

00:41:55.140 --> 00:41:58.265
with the history that
I had and put him

00:41:58.265 --> 00:42:03.120
in a position to be an advocate
for so many millions of people?

00:42:03.120 --> 00:42:06.480
You know, I guess he
thought I had the attitude.

00:42:06.480 --> 00:42:08.152
What do you think?

00:42:08.152 --> 00:42:09.040
- God?

00:42:09.040 --> 00:42:10.590
- Yeah.

00:42:10.590 --> 00:42:13.020
- And he was a
very humble person.

00:42:13.020 --> 00:42:15.330
And it always amazed me when
I would have him with me

00:42:15.330 --> 00:42:17.670
and introduce him to
somebody, and they

00:42:17.670 --> 00:42:20.310
would know who George was
because of the "Lane" case.

00:42:20.310 --> 00:42:22.200
And it always surprised him.

00:42:22.200 --> 00:42:25.230
He never had any idea
how important the case

00:42:25.230 --> 00:42:27.240
was, how important he was.

00:42:27.240 --> 00:42:31.445
And not only in Tennessee,
but across the country.

00:42:31.445 --> 00:42:31.945
Thanks.

00:42:41.060 --> 00:42:42.762
- George, um...

00:42:47.190 --> 00:42:52.050
George was a person that,
but for his personal demons,

00:42:52.050 --> 00:42:56.442
had a heart about as big as any
human I've ever met in my life.

00:43:00.780 --> 00:43:04.230
Of all the people
that I've represented

00:43:04.230 --> 00:43:06.750
and my experience
of knowing George,

00:43:06.750 --> 00:43:10.470
George was always prepared
to accept the fact

00:43:10.470 --> 00:43:12.390
that he had personal failures.

00:43:12.390 --> 00:43:19.800
And he was prepared to accept
responsibility for that.

00:43:19.800 --> 00:43:24.120
There is no doubt in my mind
that if the General Sessions

00:43:24.120 --> 00:43:27.870
judge had gone downstairs that
day, the first day, and said,

00:43:27.870 --> 00:43:31.350
"George, what do you want
to do about this case?"

00:43:31.350 --> 00:43:35.635
George would have said, "Judge,
I'll just plead guilty."

00:43:35.635 --> 00:43:37.010
And the judge
probably would have

00:43:37.010 --> 00:43:38.220
said, "Well, George,
you're going to have

00:43:38.220 --> 00:43:39.660
to do 48 hours in jail."

00:43:39.660 --> 00:43:41.996
And George would have said,
"Well, that's fine, Judge.

00:43:41.996 --> 00:43:43.620
When do you want me
to turn myself in?"

00:43:47.010 --> 00:43:51.810
George never, ever, ever
refused to accept responsibility

00:43:51.810 --> 00:43:53.820
for what he did.

00:43:53.820 --> 00:43:56.370
It was only when he
got pushed to the point

00:43:56.370 --> 00:44:02.910
of personal humiliation
and degradation

00:44:02.910 --> 00:44:07.860
and fear that he
reached out to try

00:44:07.860 --> 00:44:10.327
to find someone to protect him.

00:44:13.250 --> 00:44:22.610
And it was, um, one of the
great coincidences of my life

00:44:22.610 --> 00:44:24.140
that he elected me to do that.

00:44:27.180 --> 00:44:32.183
And, um, in many ways
I'm humbled by that.

00:44:38.470 --> 00:44:45.160
And but for George Lane,
and the circumstances

00:44:45.160 --> 00:44:49.150
that he confronted
and the humiliation

00:44:49.150 --> 00:44:53.590
that he experienced,
we may never

00:44:53.590 --> 00:44:57.590
have come to grips
in this country

00:44:57.590 --> 00:45:02.830
with the fundamental principle
that everybody has a right

00:45:02.830 --> 00:45:05.695
to appear in court in dignity.

00:45:09.200 --> 00:45:17.300
And that irony of a
person, who many people

00:45:17.300 --> 00:45:26.230
said had no character, gave
me, as a small-town lawyer,

00:45:26.230 --> 00:45:29.243
an opportunity to challenge
the character of our country.

00:45:33.410 --> 00:45:37.522
And hopefully make a difference.

00:45:37.522 --> 00:45:39.170
And I hope we have.

00:45:39.170 --> 00:45:43.420
(UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING)