Handicap or disability: The davis case

This brief article discusses implications of the recent findings of the United States Supreme Court in Southeastern Community College vs. Francis B. Davis which was concerned with rights of handicapped persons. At issue in the case was whether or not federal law in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 forbids a federally funded professional school from considering a disabling handicap of a program applicant in the admissions process; thus no “otherwise qualified handicapped individual” could be excluded from a program on the basis of the handicap even though such a student would not be able to successfully complete the educational program, nor to enter practice. In Davis, a deaf person sued to seek admittance to a community junior college registered nurse program, for which normal or near normal hearing ability is required. Ultimately the Court ruled for the college and held that “otherwise qualified” means a person who meets all program requirements “in spite of his handicap”. This ruling provides protection to both society and the individual.