By Katelyn Aluise, HD Media
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Parents of children with disabilities and legal advocates are still pushing for West Virginia Attorney General John “JB” McCuskey to pull out of litigation against a federal law that bans discrimination in federally funded programs, despite it being paused in court.
Marisa Jackson first heard about West Virginia’s involvement in a legal complaint involving Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act through a social media group she became a member of as an advocate and a mother of two sons with disabilities.
The complaint, filed in September and signed by the attorneys general of 17 states, asks to deem unconstitutional a part of the Rehabilitation Act that protects individuals from disability discrimination.
“…[W]hen I hear about something like the lawsuit,” Jackson said, “my first instinct is to find out more information because I have been advocating for my son,” Jackson said.
Jackson said she’s worked for more than a year to set up an environment for him where he can be in a classroom with other students and have access to a nurse, among other accommodations.
