SUPREME COURT SHOULD RULE AGAINST CASEY MARTIN AND ADA
MARINA DEL REY, CALIF.-Disabled golfer Casey Martin's upcoming Jan. 17 appearance before the Supreme Court will likely result in a gross injustice, said a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute.
"Instead of gracefully accepting his inability to beat able-bodied opponents under the rules of a private organization he voluntarily joined, Martin-whose inability to walk the length of a golf course disqualifies him from PGA events-chose to force his way into PGA competition by invoking the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)," said Thomas A. Bowden, a Baltimore-based attorney. "At Martin's request, a federal court forced the PGA Tour to change its rules and let Martin ride in a motorized cart, while everyone else walks."
Bowden noted that the Supreme Court, which may well rule in Martin's favor, would probably not even pause to identify the innocent victims of such a decision:
* The PGA Tour, which should have an absolute right to set its own rules for its own tournaments, including rules that require and reward physical stamina;
* The millions of spectators, who want to see professional golf played at its highest level in PGA competitions winnable only by the ablest athletes;
* The able-bodied golfer who is expected to pick up his broken dreams and go quietly home after being cut from a tournament to make room for Martin. "The legal and moral principles at stake here extend far beyond the realm of spectator sports," said Bowden. "Under the ADA, which was designed by 'disability advocates' who resentfully describe healthy people as 'temporarily abled,' no employer may simply fire disabled employees-or even hire able ones-so long as 'reasonable accommodations' might help the handicapped compete.
"The ADA's backers count on the benevolence of decent people to support the law. But genuine benevolence toward the disabled is possible only through voluntary good will; it cannot be achieved by coercion, which results in punishing the able. Our lives and happiness depend on encouraging and rewarding ability wherever we find it."Attorney and Ayn Rand Institute senior writer Thomas A. Bowden is available for interviews.
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