Taking an Independent Look at the Air Carrier Access Act: Why No Private Right of Action Exists
![handle is hein.journals/jalc84 and id is 143 raw text is:
TAKING AN INDEPENDENT LOOK AT THE
AIR CARRIER ACCESS ACT: WHY NO PRIVATE RIGHT
OF ACTION EXISTS
MADISON GAFFORD*
N STOKES V SOUTHWEST AIRLINES,' the Fifth Circuit was
forced to overturn its own precedent in order to determine
that there is no independent private right of action to enforce
the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) of 1986.2 This was due to a
controversial case, Alexander v. Sandoval, where the U.S. Su-
preme Court held that no private right of action existed to en-
force disparate-impact regulations that were created under Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.3 The Supreme Court empha-
sized that private rights of action to enforce federal law must be
created by Congress and that [t] he judicial task is to interpret
the statute Congress has passed to determine whether it displays
an intent to create not just a private right but also a private rem-
edy.4 The Fifth Circuit recognized that this undermined its pre-
vious reasoning that an implied private right of action existed
under the ACAA and overturned its past precedent.' The Fifth
Circuit correctly held that no private right of action exists be-
cause there was no congressional intent to create a private right
of action under the ACAA, and due deference must be given to
the Department of Transportation (DOT) in order to balance
necessary safety concerns and troublesome discrimination
claims.
* Madison Gafford is a J.D. Candidate at SMU Dedman School of Law
graduating in May 2020 and an active member of SMU Law Review, moot court,
and the Academic Success Program. Madison earned a Bachelor of Arts in
Political Science and Philosophy from Southern Methodist University in Dallas,
Texas. Madison would like to thank her family for always supporting her
throughout law school and her other endeavors.
1 887 F.3d 199 (5th Cir. 2018).
2 Id. at 203-04; see 49 U.S.C. § 41705 (2012).
3 Alexander v. Sandoval, 532 U.S. 275, 285 (2001).
4 Id. at 286.
5 Stokes, 887 F.3d at 203-04.
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Taking an Independent Look at the Air Carrier Access Act: Why No Private Right of Action Exists
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