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Eileen Mendez, Individually and as Legal Guardian of A. C., et al. v. David C. Banks, Chancellor, New York City Department of Education, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 22-2663 · judgment April 12, 2023


Certiorari denied · January 8, 2024
Pre-decision estimate: 4% cert probability

Before the decision, roughly the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Second Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and counsel who has filed here before.

Questions presented

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) preserves the rights of children with disabilities to a free, appropriate, public education. The issues herein center on the "stay-put" or "pendency" provision of IDEA and the school district's obligations to fund a child's current educational placement as a dispute between the parent and the school district pends. Here, the parents and school districts all agreed that the children's appropriate pendency placement was at a private school. The District Court and Second Circuit, however, failed to find that the school districts were responsible for funding that placement during the pendency of the dispute. The questions presented are:

  1. Whether the stay-put provision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. § 1415(j) entitled Plaintiffs to an automatic injunction directing the DOE to fund their children's pendency placement.

  2. Whether the District Court's failure to enforce a pendency order requiring funding undermines cooperative federalism integral to the IDEA.

  3. Whether stay-put funding can be Ordered prospectively.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Rory J. Bellantoni
Brain Injury Rights Group, Ltd.

For respondent
Elina Druker
New York City Law Department

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
23A115

Proceedings

  1. Jan 08 2024
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Nov 29 2023
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/5/2024.
  3. Nov 21 2023
    Waiver of right of respondent David C. Banks, et al. to respond filed.
  4. Nov 20 2023
    Waiver of David C. Banks, et al. of right to respond not accepted for filing. (November 20, 2023)
  5. Oct 16 2023
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due November 27, 2023)
  6. Aug 10 2023
    Application (23A115) granted by Justice Sotomayor extending the time to file until October 16, 2023.
  7. Aug 04 2023
    Application (23A115) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from August 15, 2023 to October 14, 2023, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.