Law Commons^™

Who Says You're Disabled? The Role Of Medical Evidence In The Ada Definition Of Disability, Deirdre M. Smith

Faculty Publications

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), enacted by Congress seventeen years ago, offered disabled people a hope of equality and access that has not been fulfilled. ¹ Court decisions halt an overwhelming majority of claims, particularly in the employment context, at the summary judgment stage. ² A key mechanism for fencing out disabled people's claims is the pernicious requirement, based upon the very construction of disability that the ADA's proponents aimed to dispel, that medical evidence is required as a threshold matter to demonstrate that the plaintiff is entitled to seek protection under the statute. ³ The medical evidence requirement …

Reasonably Accommodating The Able Employee Who Is Disabled By Misperception: The Ada’S “Regarded As” Prong Gone Awry?, Selma Shelton

Selma Shelton

Even though the evil of race-based slavery was remedied, this did not mark the death of shame in America because subjugation of another minority persisted as individuals with disabilities remained without legal recourse. Congress recognized “discrimination against individuals with disabilities persists in such critical areas as employment, housing, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and access to public services” and it enacted the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). This paper discusses a problem that continues to persist despite the enacting of the ADA - that is, victimization of individuals with disabilities because of strongly ingrained attitudes, …

Hedonic Damages, Hedonic Adaptation, And Disability, Samuel R. Bagenstos, Margo Schlanger

Vanderbilt Law Review

Over the past quarter century, the concept of "adaptive preferences" has played an important role in debates in law, economics, and political philosophy. As Professor Jon Elster has described this psychological phenomenon, "people tend to adjust their aspirations to their possibilities." A number of prominent scholars have argued that the existence of adaptive preferences "raises serious problems for neoclassical economics and for unambivalent enthusiasm for freedom of choice." Because our current preferences are constrained by the opportunities available to us, proponents of adaptive preference theory contend, those preferences may not be the best guide to what is in our interests; …

Interpreting The Americans With Disabilities Act: A Case Study In Pragmatic Judicial Reconstruction, Michael L. Selmi

Michael L Selmi

This article challenges the prevailing academic consensus regarding the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and does so in the context of theories of statutory interpretation. Virtually all academic commentary has condemned the Court’s interpretations as constituting a “judicial backlash” against the disabled, given that the Court’s interpretations have significantly narrowed the scope of the statute. My analysis offers a counter narrative. I contend that although the Supreme Court’s interpretations have narrowed the statute’s scope, and have done so without regard to congressional intent, their decisions are largely consistent with congressional expectations and reigning social norms …

The Mythic 43 Million Americans With Disabilities, Ruth Colker

Ruth Colker

Although Congress stated in its first statutory finding that it intended the Americans with Disabilities Act to protect at least 43 million Americans from disability discrimination, the Supreme Court has interpreted this statute so that it covers no more than 13.5 million Americans. More importantly, by using Census data, this article demonstrates that the ADA covers virtually no Americans who are both disabled and able to work, eviscerating the employment discrimination provisions of the ADA.

This article places that problem in the larger context of the Court undermining Congress’ efforts to protect discrete and insular minorities from employment discrimination. Although …

The Social Security Administration's New Disability Adjudication Rules: A Significant And Promising Reform, Jeffrey Lubbers

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Disability Rights, Annika Johnson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Disability rights are often ignored in discussions of human rights. Recently, however, scholars and activists have begun producing a body of literature on disability rights in Russia and the former Soviet bloc states. Much of the literature focuses on children’s rights with an emphasis on the right to inclusive education. The literature addressing adult issues includes articles considering civil society, civil rights, and community integration. Finally, several articles address the intersection of disability rights with gender rights and ethnic minority rights.

Shape Stops Story, Elizabeth F. Emens

Faculty Scholarship

Storytelling and resistance are powerful tools of both lawyering and individual identity, as I argue in this brief essay published in Narrative as part of a dialogue on disability, narrative, and law with Rosemarie Garland-Thompson and Ellen Barton. Garland-Thompson's work shows us the life-affirming potential of storytelling, its role in shaping disability identity, and its role in communicating that identity to the outside world. By contrast, Barton powerfully shows how those same life-affirming narratives can force a certain kind of storytelling, can create a mandate to tell one story and not another. In short, Barton reminds us of the need …

Ensuring A 'Yes-Pets' Rule, Joan Schaffner

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

For many people, their companion animal is their "life-line." Almost 65% of all US households have a companion animal. Moreover, it is well-documented that living with a companion animal is therapeutic. Unfortunately, obtaining housing that allows companion animals can be very difficult. It is common for rental leases to prohibit companion animals. Moreover, many mobile home parks, cooperatives, condominiums and homeowners associations are banning companion animals, leaving fewer and fewer opportunities for people to benefit from the love of a companion animal. Last but not least, many homeless animals are needlessly destroyed because no-pet rules eliminate options for placing them. …

Uncovering Identity, Paul Horowitz

Michigan Law Review

This Review raises several questions about Yoshino's treatment of identity, authenticity, and the "true self' in Covering. Part I summarizes Yoshino's book and offers some practical criticisms. Section II.A argues that Yoshino's treatment of authenticity and identity leaves much to be desired. Section II.B argues that Yoshino's focus on covering as an act of coerced assimilation fails to fully capture the extent to which one's identity, and one's uses of identity, may be fluid and deliberate. Section II.C focuses on another identity trait that runs through Yoshino's book, always present but never remarked upon: those aspects of identity and …

A Price On Volunteerism:The Public Has A Higher Duty To Accommodate Volunteers, Lauren Attard

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Comment first examines the issues presented in Bauer (including the holding that the Americans with Disabilities Act does not protect these volunteers from discrimination) and the court’s rationale for finding that volunteers are not protected under Title III. Part II explores the requirements and differences between Title I and Title III and provides some history of the definitions of “volunteer” and “employee.” Part III presents a public duty thesis arguing that the responsibility of providing accommodations should not belong solely to employers in the context of employees, or public accommodations in the context of patrons, but to all factions …

The U.N. Disability Convention: Historic Process, Strong Prospects And Why The U.S. Should Ratify, Tara J. Melish

Journal Articles

On December 13, 2006, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Convention is historic and path-breaking on several levels, both in protection terms for the world's 650 million persons with disabilities who may now draw upon its provisions in defense of their internationally-protected rights, and in relation to the unprecedented level of civil society input and engagement in the negotiation process. This sustained and constructive engagement has given rise to a dynamic process of dialogue, cooperation, and mutual trust that will fuel monitoring and implementation work, at national and international …

Dangerous Bodies: Freak Shows, Expression, And Exploitation, Brigham A. Fordham

Brigham A Fordham

The freak shows of the late 1800s and early 1900s, which traveled the nation exhibiting “human oddities” for profit, are regaining popularity as an underground form of entertainment. While some non-legal scholars have investigated the meaning of freak shows in American culture, little attention has been paid to the laws that regulate freak shows or the legal rights of freak show participants. This Article seeks to introduce legal discourse into the discussion of freak shows and, in the process, to comment on legal approaches to preventing discrimination against persons who are physically different. Drawing upon the theories and analysis of …

The 'Right To Reside' And Social Security Entitlements, Mel Cousins

Mel Cousins

This case note looks at a decision by a Tribunal of Social Security Commissioners concerning the interpretation of the UK 'right to reside' test and its compatibility with EU law. The note sets out the background to the test, examines recent legislative changes, and discusses possible developments.