Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al. v. Ronald R. Yeskey (524 U.S. 206)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 15, 1998 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 524 U.S. 206 · 118 S. Ct. 1952
- Decided
- June 15, 1998
- Term
- October Term 1997
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Scalia
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. The question before us is whether Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 104 Stat. 337, 42 U. S. C. § 12131 et seq., which prohibits a “public entity” from discriminating against a “qualified individual with a disability” on account of that individual's disability, see § 12132, covers inmates in state prisons. Respondent Ronald Yeskey was such an inmate, sentenced in May 1994 to serve 18 to 36 months in a Pennsylvania correctional facility. The sentencing court recommended that he be placed in Pennsylvania’s Motivational Boot Camp for first-time offenders, the successful completion of which would have led to his release on parole in just six months. See Pa. Stat. Ann., Tit. 61, § 1121 et seq. (Purdon Supp. 1998). Because of his medical history of hypertension, however, he was refused admission. He filed this suit against petitioners, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Corrections and several department officials, alleging that his exclusion from the Boot Camp violated the ADA. The District Court dismissed for failure to state a claim, Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 12(b)(6), holding the ADA inapplicable to inmates in state prisons; the Third Circuit reversed, 118 F. 3d 168 (1997); we granted certiorari, 522 U. S. 1086 (1998). Petitioners argue that state prisoners are not covered by the ADA for the…
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