Disability Law Commons^™

What Patients With Disability Teach Us About The Everyday Ethics Of Healthcare, Elizabeth Pendo

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In Healers: Extraordinary Clinicians at Work, by David Schenck and Dr. Larry Churchill, and in What Patients Teach: The Everyday Ethics of Health Care, their follow-up with Joseph Fanning, the authors look at the everyday experience of health care and the relationships that shape it. They call attention to the ethical dimensions of the clinical encounter and the hope for, and desirability of, a genuine human engagement between the clinician and the patient. In their view, healers are clinicians who cultivate a therapeutic relationship with their patients. They identify a set of skills that accomplish this, including welcoming …

The Disability Cliff, Samuel R. Bagenstos

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We’re pretty good about caring for our disabled citizens—as long as they’re children. It’s time to put equal thought into their adulthoods.

The Ada And The Supreme Court: A Mixed Record, Samuel R. Bagenstos

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According to conventional wisdom, the Supreme Court has resisted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at every turn. The Court, the story goes, has read the statute extremely narrowly and, as a result, stripped away key protections that Congress intended to provide. Its departure from congressional intent, indeed, was so extreme that Congress passed a statute that overturned several key decisions and codified broad statutory protections. That statute, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA). passed with widespread bipartisan support, and President George W. Bush signed it into law. The conventional wisdom leaves out a major part of the story. …

Peacebuilding And Reintegrating Ex-Combatants With Disabilities, Janet E. Lord, Michael Ashley Stein

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There is a significant gap in post-conflict reintegration processes when it comes to ex-combatants with disabilities, notwithstanding an apparent acknowledgement that physical and mental trauma impact civilians and ex-combatants alike in large numbers and that social reintegration is vital to peaceful transitions. Moreover, processes aimed to reintegrate ex-combatants are typically disconnected from broader efforts to build and sustain the legal institutions that support the rights of the most marginalised groups in conflict affected countries. We examine the implications of this marginalisation of ex-combatants with disabilities and set our analysis within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of Persons …

Toward An "Unqualified" Otherwise Qualified Standard: Job Prerequisites And Reasonable Accommodation Under The Americans With Disabilities Acts, John E. Rumel

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No abstract provided.

Disability, Repressive Regimes, And Health Disparity: Assessing Country Conditions In North Korea, Jae-Chun Won, Janet E. Lord, Michael Ashley Stein, Yosung Song

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This article examines the potential of international human rights standards to account for heightened risk and vulnerability to human rights abuses for persons with disabilities in politically repressive environments. We offer a preliminary assessment of whether and how a disability-cognizant accounting of human rights in repressive regimes can lead to a more credible and comprehensive understanding of disability in such contexts. In so doing, we make the case for a more thorough and thoughtful application of international disability rights standards to better inform human rights investigations, transitional justice approaches, and international criminal law proceedings. To illustrate this methodology, we analyze …

The Democratic Life Of The Union: Toward Equal Voting Participation For Europeans With Disabilities, Janos Fiala-Butora, Michael Ashley Stein, Janet E. Lord

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This Article puts forward preliminary legal scholarship on equal political participation by persons with disabilities and what international human rights law requires for its attainment. The goal is to provoke an informed dialogue on the neglected but fundamental human right to enfranchisement by persons with disabilities while also acknowledging that a complete and just resolution requires further information and reflection. The Article argues that the fundamental right to vote cannot be curtailed on the basis of an alleged lack of capacity. Disenfranchisement based on individual assessment unjustly excludes a certain number of voting-capable individuals. Since all those affected are persons …

Egypt, Lila Meadows, Nadia Adib Bamieh, Janet E. Lord

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No abstract provided.

Identifying (With) Disability: Using Film To Teach Employment Discrimination, Elizabeth Pendo

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On the first day of class, I tell my Disability Law students that my objective is simple-I want to change the way they see the world. Teaching, writing, and working in disability rights has done that for me, and I want to continue to share that experience with my students. Integrating film into the classroom is one way to invite that change. When used properly, film can enhance coverage and discussion of substantive legal concepts and important policy issues surrounding employment of people with disabilities. That result is especially important to my objective, because employment and other issues critical to …

Child Welfare Cases Involving Parents With Disabilities, Joshua Kay

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Many families include at least one parent with a disability. These parents become involved in the child welfare system more frequently than nondisabled parents, and their child protection cases are more likely to end in termination of parental rights. Parents with cognitive and/or psychiatric disabilities are particularly at risk of child welfare involvement. Cases involving parents with disabilities present special challenges and opportunities in child protection litigation, and strong advocacy is needed to ensure that these parents’ needs are met by the child welfare system and their rights are fully protected. With appropriate services, many parents with disabilities can provide …

Beyond The Orthodoxy Of Rule Of Law And Justice Sector Reform: A Framework For Legal Empowerment And Innovation Through The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Janet E. Lord, Deepti Samant Raja, Peter Blanck

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No abstract provided.

The Death Penalty And The Mentally Ill: A Selected And Annotated Bibliography, Jean Mattimoe

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The United States Supreme Court over the last decade has selectively whittled away at the scope and availability of the death penalty by exempting certain groups from execution under the Eighth Amendment. In 2002 the court ruled that executing mentally retarded criminals violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In 2005 the court ruled that the Constitution forbids the execution of individuals who were under the age of 18 when they committed their crimes. Currently there is an active debate on whether to extend the categorical exemptions created by the Court to the mentally ill. At the forefront …

A Call For Standards: An Overview Of The Current Status And Need For Guardian Standards Of Conduct And Codes Of Ethics, Karen E. Boxx, Terry W. Hammond

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The role of trust in guardianships is rarely discussed, perhaps because of the assumption that court supervision of guardians reduces their power to act in any way other than trustworthy. However, as the number of persons needing guardianship protection increases while the resources available to courts to finance supervision decreases, the role of guardian is starting to become a more conventional fiduciary relationship complete with a hallmark downside-lack of supervision. Because of this trend, the concept of delineated standards for performance of a guardian's duties has taken on critical importance.

The 2001 Wingspan Conference, the second national conference on guardianship …

The Past And Future Of Deinstitutionalization Litigation, Samuel R. Bagenstos

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Two conflicting stories have consumed the academic debate regarding the impact of deinstitutionalization litigation. The first, which has risen almost to the level of conventional wisdom, is that deinstitutionalization was a disaster. The second story challenges the suggestion that deinstitutionalization has uniformly been unsuccessful, as well as the causal link critics seek to draw with the growth of the homeless population. This Article, which embraces the second story, assesses the current wave of deinstitutionalization litigation. It contends that things will be different this time. The particular outcomes of the first wave of deinstitutionalization litigation, this Article contends, resulted from the …

School Districts And Families Under The Idea: Collaborative In Theory, Adversarial In Fact, Debra Chopp

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To read the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is to be impressed with the ambition and promise of special education. The statute guarantees disabled students a "free appropriate public education" (FAPE) in the "least restrictive environment." At the core of this guarantee lies an entitlement for the parents of a disabled child to collaborate with teachers and school administrators to craft an educational program that is both tailored to the child's unique needs and designed to help her make progress in her education. This entitlement, and the IDEA generally, represents an enormous advance for children with disabilities--a community that, …

Federal Disability Discrimination Law And The Toxic Workplace: A Critique Of Ada And Section 504 Case Law Addressing Impairments Caused Or Exacerbated By The Work Environment, John E. Rumel

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No abstract provided.

Shifting The Conversation: Disability, Disparities And Health Care Reform, Elizabeth Pendo

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In keeping with the theme of this symposium, I would like to invite you to consider health care reform as a political shift in our thinking about the barriers and inequalities experienced by people with disabilities in our health care system. Traditionally, when these issues have been addressed, the predominant approach has been through a civil rights framework, specifically the Rehabilitation Act of 1973' and the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).2 Now, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) offers a new approach. This essay will outline the barriers to health and health care experienced …

Enabling Refugee And Idp Law And Policy: Implications Of The U.N. Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Professor Michael Stein, Janet E. Lord

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No abstract provided.

A Service-Learning Project: Disability, Access And Health Care, Elizabeth Pendo

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Last summer, I was thinking about a public service project for my disability discrimination law course. I teach the course in fall, and try to incorporate a project each year. Integrating a public service project into a traditional doctrinal course fits within the trend toward expanding teaching techniques beyond the case method in order to better prepare students for the practice of law., It was also inspired in part by the Carnegie Foundation's 2007 report, "Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law," as a way to foster "civic professionalism," and to "[link] the interests of legal educators with the …

Reducing Disparities Through Health Care Reform: Disability And Accessible Medical Equipment, Elizabeth Pendo

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People with disabilities face multiple barriers to adequate health care and report poorer health status than people without disabilities. Although health care institutions, offices, and programs are required to be accessible, people with disabilities are still receiving unequal and in many cases inadequate care. The 2009 report by the National Council on Disability, The Current State of Health Care for People with Disabilities, reaffirmed some of these findings, concluding that people with disabilities experience significant health disparities and barriers to health care; encounter a lack of coverage for necessary services, medications, equipment, and technologies; and are not included in the …

Taking It To The Streets: A Public Right-Of-Way Project For Disability Law, Elizabeth Pendo

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I teach a course in Disability Discrimination Law, which is designed as a civil rights course focused on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). When the ADA was passed in 1990, it was celebrated by many as one of the most significant civil-rights victories of this century. The ADA was enacted to "provide clear, strong, consistent, [and] enforceable standards [for] addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities" and prohibits discrimination in employment, public services and transportation, privatelyowned places of public accommodations, and telecommunications. Although the ADA is not the first federal law addressing disability, its passage made clear that the continued …

Shared Understanding Or Consensus-Masked Disagreement? The Anti-Torture Framework In The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Janet E. Lord

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No abstract provided.

Lessons From The Experience Of U.N. Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities: Addressing The Democratic Deficit In Global Health Governance, Janet E. Lord, David Suozzi, Alyn L. Taylor

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No abstract provided.

Disability-Inclusive Disaster Preparedness And Response: Challenges And Opportunities For Reconstruction In Haiti,, Janet E. Lord

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Hurricanes Rita and Katrina poignantly demonstrated the failure of U.S. federal-level disaster preparedness to respond effectively to the needs of disabled beneficiaries. Similarly, the 2004 Asian tsunami revealed major shortcomings in humanitarian assistance operations conducted by international agencies to address the needs of affected persons with disabilities. The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)' in 2006 highlights disability inclusion as a human rights issue in humanitarian emergencies. It is within this context that the Haitian earthquake on January 12,2010, presents a major challenge, but also an opportunity to address disability inclusion and apply lessons …

The Law And Politics Of Us Participation In The Un Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Professor Michael Stein, Janet E. Lord, Penelope J.S. Stein

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No abstract provided.

Monitoring The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities: Innovations, Lost Opportunities, And Future Potential, Professor Michael Stein, Janet E. Lord

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As the first human rights treaty of the twenty-first century, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) protects some 650 million persons with disabilities. The CRPD also has an opportunity to progressively reconfigure the structure and process of human rights oversight. While the overall framework for monitoring and implementing the CRPD resembles existing core human rights instruments, it has some notable features. The CPRD Committee is endowed with several innovations of significant potential, especially in the breadth of reporting and investigative procedures, thereby offering prospects for other treaty bodies and the human rights system more …

Social Rights And The Relational Value Of The Rights To Participate In Sport, Recreation, And Play,, Janet E. Lord, Michael Ashley Stein

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No abstract provided.

Disability, Equipment Barriers And Women’S Health: Using The Ada To Provide Meaningful Access, Elizabeth Pendo

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It is well-known that people with disabilities face multiple barriers to adequate health care, including lower average incomes, disproportionate poverty, and issues with insurance coverage. This article focuses on a more fundamental barrier-one that has not been discussed in the legal literature-inaccessible medical equipment and its effect on the delivery of women's health care to millions of women with disabilities .

Jacobus Tenbroek, Participatory Justice, And The Un Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Michael Ashley Stein, Janet E. Lord

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No abstract provided.

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

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A number of states recognize hedonic damages as a separate category of recovery in tort and tort-like actions. Others consider lost enjoyment of life as an aspect of what are sometimes termed "disability" damages-damages for physical or mental impairment. Many other states permit juries to take account of lost enjoyment of life in setting compensation for pain and suffering or other forms of general damages. In all these jurisdictions, disability has loomed large. And the (explicit or implicit) view of disability is often one of tragic dependency and helplessness. As we show in Part I below, lawyers seeking hedonic damages …