NCD #05-475
February 14, 2005
Contact: Mark S. Quigley
202-272-2004
202-272-2074 TTY
mquigley@ncd.gov

National Council on Disability Experts Available for Comments on Supreme Court's Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line

WASHINGTON--National Council on Disability experts are available for comment on the U.S. Supreme Court’s February 28 oral argument in Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. (No. 03-1388), a case that will determine whether foreign-flagged cruise ships serving U.S. ports must comply with the public accommodations provisions contained in Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

NCD’s paper, Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd.—Background, Legal Issues, and Implications for Persons with Disabilities (http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2005/spector_norwegian.htm), examines the Spector case in detail and concludes that the plain and expansive language of Title III evidences a congressional intent to require cruise ships to comply with Title III. Cruise ship owners and operators claim that they and their ships are exempt from the ADA because all of their ships are, with few exceptions, foreign-flagged, and historically under international law, a seagoing vessel need only comply with the laws of the flagging nation when it comes to the regulation of a ship’s internal operations. This paper explains that compliance with Title III would not impinge on the internal management prerogatives of cruise lines or conflict with the United States’ obligations under international law. Moreover, the contemporary practice of flying what is known as a “flag of convenience” is simply a business decision that only marginally implicates the sovereign interests of the flagging nation. In stark contrast, however, the United States has a significant interest in ending invidious discrimination against persons with disabilities by cruise lines—particularly when cruise lines are headquartered in the United States, base their ships in U.S. ports, draw their clientele almost exclusively from the United States, and advertise and solicit most of their passengers in the United States. In passing the ADA, Congress sought to guarantee “full participation” by persons with disabilities in all aspects of American life. The Supreme Court has an opportunity in Spector to give force and effect to Congress’ unequivocal intent by refusing to exempt foreign-flagged cruise ships from Title III of the ADA. To do otherwise would place the Court’s imprimatur upon the discriminatory practices of inaccessible cruise lines, and write segregation on the basis of disability into American law.

These experts include:

Jeffrey T. Rosen
General Counsel and Director of Policy
National Council on Disability
Washington, DC
202-272-2004
202-272-2074 TTY

Julie Carroll
Senior Attorney Advisor
National Council on Disability
Washington, DC
202-272-2004

David C. Vladeck
Associate Professor of Law and Co-Director Institute for Public Representation Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, DC
202-662-9535

Richard McKewen
Staff Attorney/Fellow
Institute for Public Representation
Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, DC
202-622-9546

Mr. McKewen and Professor Vladeck have filed briefs on behalf of the Paralyzed Veterans of America and nine other disability rights organizations in support of the petitioners in Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd.

For more information, contact Mark Quigley or Julie Carroll at 202-272-2004 or 202-272-2074 TTY.