Disability accommodations in court
P. L. v. R. S.
In brief
- Where it stands
- Petition Pending
Awaiting an order on the petition
- What it’s about
- P.L. asks the Supreme Court to review her New Hampshire case, claiming the state courts denied her disability-related accommodations and due process by refusing a continuance, omitting part of the transcript, limiting evidence, and returning the case to the same judge.
- What's at stake
- P.L.'s request for Supreme Court review remains unresolved; the Court has issued no ruling on her claims.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
The pending petition was distributed for a November 13, 2026 conference; that does not mean the Court agreed to hear it.
P.L. says the trial court refused to pause a hearing after she reported that medically necessary medication impaired her ability to participate. She also challenges the transcript, limits on evidence, and the decision to return the case to the same judge.
Her petition asks whether disability accommodations and other safeguards were required in her New Hampshire court case.
Question presented
1. Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires a state court to grant a continuance when a disabled litigant explicitly informs the court at the outset of proceedings that she is cognitively impaired by medically-necessary medication and cannot meaningfully participate in the hearing — particularly where the court’s own scheduling decision precipitated the medical crisis requiring the medication. 2. Whether Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U. S. C. §12132, as interpreted by this Court in Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U. S. 509 (2004), requires state courts to provide reasonable accommodations — including brief continuances — when a disabled litigant’s disability-related medical treatment prevents meaningful participation in judicial proceedings. 3. Whether due process is violated when a state court’s official transcript omits a litigant’s opening statement containing explicit notice of disability-related impairment and requests for accommodation — thereby preventing meaningful appellate review of constitutional claims and insulating judicial conduct from scrutiny. 4. Whether due process is violated when a state appellate court remands a case to the same trial judge who committed statutory and constitutional violations against the litigant, rather than assigning a different judge, where the probability of bias is too high to be constitutionally tolerable under Rippo v. Baker, 580 U. S. (2017), and Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., 556 U. S. 868 (2009). 5. Whether a trial court violates due process when it limits evidence to post-final order events without prior notice, thereby preventing a litigant from presenting relevant evidence of ongoing stalking patterns and protective order violations.
What happens next
The petition was distributed for the Court's November 13, 2026 conference. That does not mean the Court has agreed to hear it or set a decision date.
Documents
Docket activity
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AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
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Brief added: Petition
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.