On June 9, 2014 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the State of California of a Ninth Circuit ruling requiring state prison officials to track disabled parolees and alert the counties to their needs. RBGG represents parolees in the case: see 9th Circuit Rules for RBGG Clients and Rebukes State of California in ADA Case.
RBGG’s Michael Bien was quoted in the Associated Press coverage of the Supreme Court’s action:
“Michael Bien, an attorney representing parolees in the case, said the U.S. Supreme Court ruling merely requires the state to keep doing what it has been doing for the past year. Based on Wilken’s original order, the state sends an email to jail officials disclosing if the parolee needs a wheelchair, for instance, or is blind or deaf. Parole agents will also provide jailed parolees with a grievance form so they can complain if their needs aren’t met. ‘We have not asked, nor has the court ordered, anyone to retrofit a county jail to comply with the court order,’ Bien said. ‘This is the same kind of ‘the sky is falling’ argument that the state has been raising again and again.'”
Selected media coverage
U.S. Supreme Court declines to weigh whether California is in charge of disabled employees, Associated Press, June 9, 2014
Supreme Court leaves California in charge of disabled inmates, Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2014
Supreme Court refuses to hear California prison overcrowding case, Reuters, June 9, 2014