ALCOHOLIC ATHLETE SUES TO BE ON TEAM

A Chicago high school basketball player who was dropped from the team
for drinking says he is a recovering alcoholic and is suing for
reinstatement under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The case could test the scope of the federal law, which is still being
deciphered almost a decade after its passage.

Last spring, Rickey Higgins, 17, helped lead his suburban Warren
Township High School team to second place in the state basketball
tournament. Then he was arrested for two alcohol-related offenses,
including drunken driving, and was told his sports career was over.

He says that amounts to discrimination under the Americans with
Disabilities Act, the 1990 law that protects disabled people from
discrimination. He is suing in federal court for $100,000 and a
position on the team.