Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Yeskey

Summary

Justice Scalia, writing for a unanimous Court, held that Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act unambiguously covers state prison inmates. State prisons are public entities, and their services, programs, and activities fall within the statute without regard to whether participation is voluntary. Assuming that the federalism plain-statement rule applies, the statutory language satisfies it. The Court affirmed the Court of Appeals and declined to consider Congress’s constitutional authority to extend the ADA to state prisons because that question had not been raised before or considered by the lower courts. There were no separate opinions.