Sonnenschein Represents ABA as Amicus Curiae In Title IX Case in U.S. Supreme Court

In one of the most important civil rights cases of the Supreme Court's coming Term, the American Bar Association ("ABA") called upon Sonnenschein attorneys to represent the ABA, as amicus curiae, to argue that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 does not preclude claims under Section 1983 to vindicate rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. 

Richard M. Zuckerman, Jo Christine Reed and Matt Marostica prepared the brief on behalf of the ABA, which was filed on August 29, 2008.  Section 1983, which derives from the Civil Rights Act of 1871, is one of the nation's most important civil rights laws.  Section 1983 provides remedies against defendants who, acting on behalf of a state, deny persons rights under the Constitution and laws. 

In this case, Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (which guarantees gender equality in federally-funded education programs) precluded claims under Section 1983 to vindicate constitutional rights if the claims arose from the same events. 

In the amicus brief, Sonnenschein argues that Title IX was intended to expand, and not limit, the remedies available to redress sex discrimination, and the First Circuit erred in holding that Title IX "repealed by implication" or limited the applicability of Section 1983.