This educational guide is based on the linked primary sources. It is not a Court publication, is not affiliated with the Court, and is not legal advice.
In brief
Overview
Background and question before the Court
What each side argues
Petitioners' Position
Source-limited. The record does not yet support a complete account.
Respondents' Position
Source-limited. The record does not yet support a complete account.
What happened at oral argument
Justice Thomas asked whether there is an argument embedded in the question about the applicable standard.
Justice Kavanaugh asked if, assuming no unique standard in the school context, the court on remand would decide which standard is appropriate.
Justice Kavanaugh asked for the difference between “deliberate indifference” as defined by the Solicitor General and “bad faith” or “gross misjudgment.”
According to Justice Sotomayor, justice Sotomayor questioned the source of the tests, noting that mens rea is generally willfulness, which the statute does not mention.
Justice Barrett asked whether other circuits have taken the view, indicating it may be a live issue in the lower courts.
Justice Kavanaugh asked if the Solicitor General’s formulation of deliberate indifference was acceptable.
Justice Alito asked what impulse led many lower courts to adopt a standard the Court finds unsupported.
Ms. Reaves testified that there was enough to go to trial because of deliberate indifference after repeated requests for an interpreter.
Justice Alito asked whether the IDEA’s requirement to provide a free appropriate public education could be “extremely expensive.”
Justice Kagan asked what could properly happen below if the dual‑track approach is rejected and no standards for damages or injunctions are set.
Justice Kavanaugh asked how the Court should deal with the lack of clear notice when the Solicitor General frames deliberate indifference as requiring actual knowledge of a substantially likely violation.
Justice Gorsuch asked whether Mr. Martinez and the Solicitor General are lying.
Justice Jackson asked for at least one other circuit that has applied the bad‑faith standard in a different context.
According to Justice Barrett, justice Barrett noted that such a change would be a “sea change.”
According to Justice Kavanaugh, justice Kavanaugh clarified that the definition of “bad faith” does not require animus.
According to Justice Jackson, justice Jackson restated the question presented: whether the ADA and Rehabilitation Act require a uniquely stringent bad‑faith or gross‑misjudgment standard for relief.
According to Justice Sotomayor, justice Sotomayor observed that nowhere else has “deliberate indifference” or “gross indifference” been used to define intentional discrimination.
According to Justice Sotomayor, justice Sotomayor noted that intent was not an issue because the plaintiffs already obtained an injunction under the IDEA.
According to Justice Kavanaugh, justice Kavanaugh questioned how one can know a federally protected right was substantially likely to be violated without knowing what the law provides.
- [1] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 7
- [2] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 10
- [3] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 11
- [4] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 14
- [5] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 22
- [6] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 30
- [7] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 45
- [8] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 45
- [9] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 47
- [10] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 50
- [11] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 52
- [12] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 64
- [13] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 66
- [14] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 67
- [15] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 69
- [16] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 74
- [17] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 85
- [18] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 88
- [19] 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdf, p. 97
What the Court decided
Why it matters
Terms to know
No glossary terms are available for this guide.
Primary sources
Read the source materials on the official site or open the immutable repository copy used for this guide.
- 2c1a20e12f59fa4ea9b3-r1-c7f7f47ffad44326.pdfopinion
- 5ccfc72d8dea76aa7fb0-r1-9ff217544eaa600f.pdforal argument transcript
Guide generated September 18, 2026. Automated validation accepted this version.