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One-on-One CNN's Charles Bierbauer on the Martin ruling
Updated: Tuesday May 29, 2001 1:43 PM
Paul Crane: Joining us now is CNN Senior Washington correspondent Charles Bierbauer. Charles, with a 7-2 ruling, how broad is this ruling? Charles Bierbauer: Well, the Americans with Disabilities Act, in the first place, says that you'd have to make individualized judgements on what kind of accommodation is needed. So this doesn't mean that you and I can go out and play on the PGA tour. Casey Martin can really hit a golf ball. I've watched him do it. It does mean that the PGA Tour has to accommodate him and in his case that means allowing him to use a cart because he has this debilitating disease in his leg which limits his ability to walk. But Justice John Paul Stevens in the opinion of the court said that, "Carts are commonplace in golf today and walking is not the fundamental matter of the game." If the PGA Tour was being asked to alter the basic rules of golf that would be different, but they say even fatigue, which the PGA Tour advanced at the reason why all golfers should walk, is not a factor here. Fatigue is as big a deal for Casey Martin riding a cart as it is for the other golfers that are on foot. So they'll have to take each case on a case-by-case basis, but this certainly allows Casey Martin to continue his professional career. Crane: With the case-by-case basis, what kind of a door, if any, has been opened for other golfers to ride carts? Bierbauer: Well, there is another case. A fellow by the name of Ford Olinger out in Ohio, and he got a ruling that was precisely the opposite of what Casey Martin got. Two different courts, two different versions, so this would open up the possibility for him to make an appeal and say, "Hey, if it's OK for Casey it's got to be OK for me." It's going to be that sort of thing. There will be people probably in other sports who will point to this and say, "I need to be accommodated but I can still play the game." It might be a blind bowler. It might be a place kicker in football I suppose could make some sort of argument as long as he can kick the ball through the uprights. Crane: Is there any feeling about the comfort level of the court getting involved in sports in particular? Bierbauer: The court gets involved in all walks of life. This is not the first time they've had to deal with sports. Actually Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the two dissenting justices, points to the fact that this is a "compassionate decision." Casey Martin is a nice guy and people like to be helpful, but Justice Scalia said he didn't think the courts had the authority to require the PGA Tour to make this kind of an accommodation. The argument that the PGA Tour made was that there's a difference between what they call, "outside the ropes" for spectators who go to the golf course to watch the matches and they need to have access but there's a difference "inside the ropes." The court is now saying there's no difference, at least as far as the Americans with Disabilities Act is concerned. Crane: Charles Bierbauer, thanks very much. Bierbauer: Thank you.
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