This is the weirdest application of the Americans with Disabilities Act I’ve ever seen. And with the Ninth Circuit’s reputation, and the Supreme Court’s decision to grant certiorari earlier this week, it may not be long for this world.

Long story short: they shot her multiple times after a struggle and she somehow survived. After criminal charges against her were dismissed (thanks to a deadlocked jury and a partial acquittal), she sued the City of San Francisco.

Back in February, the Ninth Circuit allowed Sheehan’s suit to proceed, holding that it may have been unreasonable for the police officers to re-enter her room instead of waiting for backup. The court revived her claims of excessive force, civil rights violations, and most oddly, her ADA claims, reports Courthouse News Service.

The panel ordered the district court, on remand, to determine “whether the officers failed to reasonably accommodate Sheehan’s disability when they forced their way back into her room without taking her mental illness into account or employing generally accepted police practices for peaceably resolving a confrontation with a person with mental illness.”

It was an issue of first impression for the Ninth Circuit, and should make for an interesting Supreme Court case as well.

SCOTUS Grant With a Breyer Abstention

Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in an unelaborated order (as is typical of the Court’s orders). However, there was one interesting note: Justice Stephen Breyer took no part in the decision.

Why? It turns out his brother, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer, was the judge who initially dismissed Sheehan’s lawsuit, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Related Resources:

  • Sheehan v. City and County of San Francisco (FindLaw’s Caselaw)
  • 9 From the 9th: 4 More to SCOTUS, 1 That Won’t Bore You to Tears (FindLaw’s Ninth Circuit Blog)
  • 9 From the 9th: Trademark Tacking, Federal Tort Tolling, Church Signs (FindLaw’s Ninth Circuit Blog)

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