Neinast v. State of Texas

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM,

Circuit Judge:

Today we review a challenge under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) to Texas’s fee for handicapped parking placards in light of jurisdictional and immunity defenses by the State. Texas asserts that Nell Neinast cannot bring this suit in federal court because the placard charge is a tax, barring our review under the Tax Injunction Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1341, and because the ADA regulation at issue does not validly abrogate Texas’s immunity from suit under the Eleventh Amendment. We hold that the charge is a fee unaffected by the Tax Injunction Act. We…