COPAA celebrates the decision issued on July 7, 2025, by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in J.N. v. Oregon Department of Education, finding that the case, which had been dismissed by the United States District Court for the District of Oregon in 2024, can proceed. J.N. is a federal class action lawsuit in which several advocacy organizations—including COPAA—have sought to end the State of Oregon’s longstanding systematic failures that have led to many students with disabilities being denied the right to a full day of school. COPAA is also an organizational plaintiff.

The Oregon federal district court had dismissed the case as moot because of the passage of a state law that only partially addressed the crisis of shortened school days for many students with disabilities across Oregon. The Ninth Circuit disagreed, finding that neither the new state law nor the Oregon Department of Education’s own voluntary changes had mooted the Plaintiffs’ claims. 

The Ninth Circuit remanded the case back to the district court to address the merits of the Plaintiffs’ claims. 

The plaintiffs are represented by the National Center for Youth Law, Disability Rights Oregon, COPAA, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and McDermott Will & Emery LLP.  COPAA Legal Director Selene Almazan is one of the attorneys on the case. Richard D. Salgado of McDermott Will & Emery LLP in Dallas, Texas, argued the case before the Ninth Circuit.

You can read the briefs submitted to the Ninth Circuit by the plaintiffs and amici: 

Opening Brief of Plaintiffs-Appellants 

Plaintiffs-Appellants’ Reply Brief

Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants by Law Professors Adam M. Samaha, Erwin Chemerinsky, and Helen Hershkoff

Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants by Public Counsel, Education Law Center, National Disability Rights Network, National Down Syndrome Congress, and Former United States Department of Education Officials Responsible for Special Education Policy Stephanie Smith Lee, Madeleine Will, Michael Yudin, and Robert Pasternack

Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants by the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the East Bay Community Law Center, et al.

Amicus Brief in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellants by the American Civil Liberties Union