Few lawyers, let alone canines, ever snag a bone this big.
Now semi-retired as a service dog, Wonder’s work for a young Michigan girl with cerebral palsy set in motion the legal proceedings that culminated in an hour’s worth of mostly technical oral argument Monday morning. Facing some poignant facts, justices stuck closely to the dry but significant basics.
Wonder provided a different kind of service for Ehlena Fry, who is now 12 and who is identified in court proceedings as “E.F.” Ehlena and her parents were in the courtroom Monday for the hourlong oral argument.
In 2009, when she was 5 years old, Ehlena obtained Wonder with the help of community fundraising. The dog helped her in a number of ways, from retrieving dropped items and helping her balance when she used her walker to opening and closing doors.
School district officials in Jackson County, Mich., eventually blocked Wonder from accompanying Ehlena, citing the potential for distractions to other students, among other reasons. The family subsequently home-schooled Ehlena, and later moved to nearby Washtenaw County, where she and Wonder were both permitted to attend.
The specific question facing the eight justices Monday was whether Ehlena’s family first had to exhaust administrative remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act before they filed federal suit under the separate Americans with Disabilities Act.