Story highlights The case involves claims by the parent of an autistic child that they were entitled to reimbursement

While Neil Gorsuch didn't craft the decision he did embraced it in a 2008 opinion

(CNN) As Judge Neil Gorsuch continued to testify at his Supreme Court confirmation hearing Wednesday, his potential soon-to-be colleagues were busy reversing an interpretation of a federal anti-discrimination statute that he played a role in crafting.

Although Gorsuch had not participated in the lower-court decision that the Supreme Court reversed Wednesday, that decision had relied on an interpretation of the federal statute that he had embraced in a 2008 opinion.

Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Justice John Roberts explained that the federal appeals court in Denver had applied too strict a standard to claims by the parent of an autistic child that they were entitled to reimbursement for the cost of private education under the federal Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA).

That statute conditions federal funds to school districts on their compliance with specific minimum standards for accommodating disabled students — or, if they are unable to do so, on their reimbursement of the expense of sending a disabled student to an appropriate private school.

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