The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, The Bronx Defenders, New York County Defender Services, Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and Queens Defenders filed a lawsuit today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the New York State Office of Court Administration (OCA) to prevent the rushed, dangerous, and unilateral decision to reconvene in-person, non-emergency court matters scheduled for Wednesday of this week, reports the New York Law Journal.

The lawsuit argues that OCA’s proposal violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by depriving thousands of people who have medical vulnerabilities or other disabilities the opportunity to seek and help develop necessary accommodations from the Court.

This forces people to choose between their health and their liberty, because if they do not attend court they can have a warrant issued and potentially be incarcerated. The in-person appearance order implicates fundamental constitutional rights, including, at the least, due process of law, protections against arbitrary action of government, and excessive exercise of government power.

To give but one example, this order has put public defenders in a position of having to advise clients that they might be imminently required to appear in court without knowing for certain which people will actually be affected, the posture of cases that might be selected, or whether the court’s COVID-19 planning will sufficiently protect people in court or will permit requests for reasonable accommodations. Lastly, OCA’s proposal violates the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which prohibits any entity that receives Federal financial assistance – including New York’s court system – from excluding a person with disabilities from participating in any of their programs or activities.

OCA’s policy does not consider a person’s disability and does not provide reasonable modifications, including but not limited to virtual court appearances and enough advance notice of their court appearance, that people with disabilities need to participate safely and equally in these court administered programs.