Who’s really disabled? Who really deserves protection under anti-discrimination laws?
Those are the questions Costa Mesa urged the the U.S. Supreme Court to ponder as the city battles on, defending its sober living home rules against lawsuits from irate operators. Wisdom on this from the Supremes could have crystalized squishy matters of law and, as the city sees it, saved people’s lives.
But last week, the Supremes declined to take up those questions, sending the whole matter back to square one — to federal court for trial on the merits.
It’s a bit of a bummer for the city, and somewhat encouraging for the operators, but by no means suggests the city won’t prevail in the end.
Costa Mesa has gone to trial several times defending its sober home rules in similar lawsuits, and won.
Discrimination?
At issue: Costa Mesa’s laws prohibiting sex offenders, violent felons and drug dealers from operating sober living homes. The regulations require operators to provide 24/7 supervision of patients, enforce no-drug and good-neighbor policies and provide transportation to folks who leave, to prevent “curbing.” The rules also require a separation of 650 feet between sober homes, to prevent the institutionalization of residents and maintain the residential character of neighborhoods.
Sober home operators sued Costa Mesa, saying those regulations discriminate against the disabled, violating the Americans with Disabilities and Fair Housing acts. People suffering from addiction are, by law, disabled, they argued, and the city’s rules are discriminatory on their face.
U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna disagreed. He tossed out those suits before any trial was held. He sided with the city, which argued that sober home operators had failed to prove their residents were actually, truly disabled. The operators must show, on a case-by-case basis, that each individual had “a major life activity substantially impaired by the alleged disability,” the city…
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