Abstract
For people with various types of disabilities, traveling throughout America is no easy task. Before embarking on a journey, they must ensure that they can find suitable lodging along the way that does not have impassible barriers that exclude them. Deborah Laufer is a discrimination tester with disabilities who ensures that places of public accommodation do not violate Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Reservation Rule promulgated by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). She has filed hundreds of federal civil rights lawsuits against hotels for not providing information on whether they offer rooms that are accessible to travelers with disabilities. Stunningly, she has singlehandedly created a circuit split among federal appellate courts on the issue of whether she has standing to enforce federal civil rights laws if she does not actually intend to stay at the hotels that violate federal law by not providing accessibility information. In Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer, the Supreme Court of the United States found itself at a vital crossroad in America’s historical journey toward equal access for people with disabilities when it stood at the intersection of justice and jurisdiction. Poised to decide this consequential question of standing, the Court asked whether disability discrimination testers can pursue justice for violations of the ADA or whether federal courts must close their doors due to a lack of jurisdiction. Even though the Court dismissed the case as moot, for reasons irrelevant here, federal courts remain split, stalled, and without guidance on how to navigate this tricky intersection of justice and jurisdiction. Before federal courts routinely dismiss discrimination cases brought by testers for lack of standing, this Article implores those courts to place this jurisdictional issue in the context of the historically horrific treatment and exclusion of people with disabilities. Just as the Green Book opened interstate travel to African Americans in a time of bitter segregation and exclusion by providing a guide to accessible places of public accommodation, this Article maintains that testers provide the modern-day Green Book to light the way for travelers with disabilities by enforcing Title III of the ADA and the DOJ’s Reservation Rule. While millions of interstate travelers with disabilities idle at the intersection of justice and jurisdiction awaiting decisions on the standing of testers, they simply want to know if they can enjoy their rights to travel across America like everyone else, free from discrimination and exclusion. This Article resoundingly responds that American courts should be open for justice in cases involving discrimination testers who themselves have disabilities. More importantly, this Article envisions an America that is fully open and accessible for travelers with disabilities.
Recommended Citation
Lucas, Tory L.
(2024)
"The Modern-Day Green Book: How Discrimination Testers Under Title III of the ADA Stand at the Intersection of Justice and Jurisdiction to Light the Journey Ahead for Travelers with Disabilities and America Itself,"
Liberty University Law Review: Vol. 19:
Iss.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lu_law_review/vol19/iss2/3