Disability Law Commons^™

Systemic Compliance Complaints: Making Idea's Enforcement Provisions A Reality, Monica Costello

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Since the passage of what is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") in 1975, this country has recognized the importance of providing appropriate educational services to students with disabilities. When a school district fails to provide these services, an organization can file a compliance complaint with the state's designated education agency to investigate the violation. This Note uses California as a case study and argues that state education agencies should be required to investigate systemic violations, even when the names of affected students are not provided. To effectively protect the rights of students with disabilities and …

Introducing The New And Improved Americans With Disabilities Act: Assessing The Ada Amendments Act Of 2008, Alex B. Long

NULR Online

No abstract provided.

The Domestic Incorporation Of Human Rights Law And The United Nations Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Janet E. Lord, Michael Ashley Stein

Washington Law Review

This Article reviews the processes by which domestic-level transposition of international human rights norms may occur as a consequence of human rights treaty ratification, or other means of incorporation. Specifically, we consider the transformative vision of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD or Convention) as a vehicle for fostering national-level disability law and policy changes. In doing so, we outline the challenges and opportunities presented by this new phase in disability rights advocacy, and we draw conclusions that bear generally upon human rights practice and scholarship. We contend that the role of human rights in domestic …

Disability, Vulnerability, And The Limits Of Antidiscrimination, Ani B. Satz

Washington Law Review

Despite the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), disabled Americans face substantial barriers to entry into the workplace, lack material supports including health care and transportation, and may not receive reasonable accommodation that best supports their functioning. In addition, individuals with impairments have difficulty qualifying as disabled for disability protections. In light of these problems, some commentators suggest that a civil rights or antidiscrimination approach to disability discrimination—an approach for which activists fought for twenty years prior to the enactment of the ADA—may not adequately address disability discrimination. Some critics advocate a return to the social …

Data Note: Tracking Employment And Day Support Participation And Outcomes In State Intellectual Disability And Developmental Disability Agencies, Samita Bhattarai, Jean E. Winsor

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

As a part of the FY2007 National Survey of Day and Employment Programs data was requested from state Intellectual Disabilities and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD) agencies regarding the sources of information used to report the total number of individuals served in the following services categories: integrated employment, facility-based work, community-based non work, and facility-based non work. Data on sources is an important factor to note when comparing each state’s service outcomes over time. Collecting information on the source of the data can help to explain unexpected trends in state service distribution when the state has not implemented changes in policy or …

Data Note: Wia Employment Outcomes And Trends, Monica Cox, Frank A. Smith

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

This data note focuses on employment outcomes for individuals served by the One-Stop system through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Adult funding stream. Outcomes data include the rate of WIA customers entering employment and their employment retention rate. This data note compares outcomes among adults with reported disabilities to those without reported disabilities.

Perceptions And Knowledge Of Special Education Law Among Building Administrators In A Selected Georgia School District, Patricia Claire Grasso

Dissertations

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has impacted every school district in the United States and significantly altered the role of administrators. Requirements for the administration and supervision of special education have developed exponentially since the enactment of Public Law 94- 142 and its reauthorization as the IDEA.

The purpose of this study was to compare the perceptions and knowledge of building administrators regarding special education law. The following research questions were developed to facilitate this study: (a) is there a difference in the level of knowledge about special education law among building administrators regarding the seven provisions of …

Data Note: Employment Rates In The General Population And Vr Rehabilitation Rates, Alberto Migliore

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program plays a critical role in assisting people with disabilities gaining integrated employment. In 2006, for instance, 48,876 people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD) exited the VR program after receiving services, with 56% of those who received services finding jobs in integrated employment. This percentage, known as the VR Rehabilitation Rate, varied from 42% in Hawaii to 77% in Maryland, if excluding the figure in Oklahoma where the VR rehabilitation rate was 22%.

Data Note: State Mental Retardation And Developmental Disabilities Agencies Expenditures For Integrated Employment Services, Jean E. Winsor, Frank A. Smith, Brooke Dennee-Sommers

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

In FY2004, the average expenditure per person for integrated employment as reported by state Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (MR/DD) agencies was $6,251 (Table 1). This figure has increased steadily since the mid-1990s indicating that states have slowly begun allocating additional resources towards integrated employment. However, growth in expenditures is likely a result of changes in federal law as opposed to changes in the amount of state dollars available to fund integrated employment.

Lawyers With Disabilities: L'Handicape C'Est Nous, Anita Bernstein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

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

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Making Good On The Promise Of International Law: The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities And Inclusive Education In China And India, Vanessa Torres Hernandez

Washington International Law Journal

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities conceptualizes disability as a human rights issue and requires state parties to provide an inclusive education to all children with disabilities. However, China and India, the two most populous signatory countries, do not currently provide inclusive education—described by the Convention as nondiscriminatory access to general education, reasonable accommodation of disability, and individualized supports designed to fulfill the potential of individual children with disabilities. Though both India and China have laws that encourage the education of children with disabilities, neither country’s laws mandate inclusive education and neither country currently provides universal education …

Applying The Americans With Disabilities Act To Private Websites After National Federation Of The Blind V. Target, Jeffrey Bashaw

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently held that websites which are tightly integrated with a physical store must be accessible to the blind, or risk running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The court in this case, National Federation of the Blind v. Target (“Target”), declined to grant summary judgment for Target, a retailer which operates both physical stores and an e-commerce website, in a suit alleging that Target’s website, Target.com, was discriminating against the blind. This Article will describe the narrow application of Target, which found that websites which are …

Data Note: Job Seekers With Disabilities At One-Stop Career Centers: An Overview Of Registration For Wagner-Peyser Funded Employment Services, David Hoff, Samita Bhattarai

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933 established a nationwide system of public employment services, known as the Employment Service. Via the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, the Employment Service was made part of the One-Stop service delivery system. Wagner-Peyser funds are a primary source of funding for the core and other services of One–Stop Career Centers that provide employment services available to all people, including people with disabilities.

Courts Must Welcome The Reality Of The Modem World: Cyberspace Is A Place Under Title Iii Of The Americans With Disabilities Act, Shani Else

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Americans With Disabilities Act And Internet Accessibility For The Blind, 25 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 543 (2008), Katherine Rengel

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

This comment analyzes the current debate over Internet accessibility for the blind. The author proposes an amendment to the ADA which would require that all Web sites make reasonable accommodations so they are accessible to the visually impaired. The amendment would comply with the purpose of the ADA, and promote the public policy of equal access to all. Finally, the author concludes that, given the Internet’s prevalence in today’s society, an amendment to the ADA is essential to promote equality and bring the ADA into the Internet age.

Drunk Or Disabled - The Legal And Social Consequences Of Roy Tarpley's Discrimination Claim Against The Nba, Robin L. Muir

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

An Uncertain Privilege: Implied Waiver And The Eviseration Of The Psychotherapist Patient Privilege In The Federal Courts, Deirdre M. Smith

Faculty Publications

Twelve years ago in Jaffee v. Redmond, 518 U.S. 1 (1996), the United States Supreme Court first recognized a federal common law psychotherapist-patient privilege and held that federal courts must protect confidential communications arising in psychotherapy despite the "likely evidentiary benefit" of such communications. This article examines the sharply conflicting authority in the federal courts that has developed since that landmark decision on the question of whether a plaintiff to a civil lawsuit waives the psychotherapist-patient privilege merely by seeking emotional distress damages. The federal courts' inconsistent and unprincipled approaches to this question renders the privilege itself nearly illusory and …

Restoring The Ada And Beyond: Disability In The 21st Century, Robert L. Burgdorf

Journal Articles

Perhaps it was imprudent for me to agree, in response to the request of the symposium organizers, to address the future of disability law. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Neils Bohr supposedly once said that "[p]rediction is very difficult, especially about the future."' Columnist and author Jim Bishop wrote, "The future is an opaque mirror. Anyone who tries to look into it sees nothing but the dim outlines of an old and worried face." 2 Prognosticating is a very tricky and uncertain undertaking. I cannot pretend to have any particular gift for crystal ball gazing in disability matters. When I joined the …

Just Semantics: The Lost Readings Of The Americans With Disabilities Act, Jill Anderson

Faculty Articles and Papers

Disability rights advocates and commentators agree that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has veered far off course from the Act's mandate of protecting people with actual or perceived disabilities from discrimination. They likewise agree that the fault lies in the language of the statute itself and in the courts' so-called literalist reading of its definition of disability. As a result, many disability rights advocates have pinned their hopes for doctrinal reform on the proposed ADA Restoration Act, now in congressional committee. Although the Act would likely be a boon to plaintiffs, its chances of passage are uncertain. This Article …

Employment & Disability Law—Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990—The Weight Of Personal Responsibility: Obesity, Causation, And Protected Physical Impairments, Matthew Glover

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

On July 26, 1990, Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which became effective two years later. Because the ADA lacked a list of all the disabilities it covered, courts have considered obesity and morbid obesity to be disabilities in some cases but not in others, notwithstanding the legislation’s desire for clarity and consistency in eliminating discrimination against the individuals with disabilities.

There seems to be a trend towards presuming that obesity is a matter of personal responsibility rather than a protected disability. The most recent developments in obesity jurisprudence have held that morbid obesity—absent evidence of physiological causation—was …

Deliberately Different: Bullying As A Denial Of A Free Appropriate Public Education Under The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, David E. Ferster

Georgia Law Review

Bullying is pervasive in America's public schools. Despite recent emphasis on character education programs and the passage of anti-bullying legislation, up to 30% of students are either bullies or victims, and over two-thirds of students believe their schools do not make sincere efforts to prevent bullying. Students with disabilities are particularly vulnerable; they are substantially more likely to be victims of bullying than their non-disabled peers, and the effects of bullying make these already at-risk students more likely to underperform academically and drop out of school. Student victims of certain types of bullying have had limited success in holding schools …

Data Note: Timeframe From Application To Closure In Integrated Employment For Vocational Rehabilitation Customers With Developmental Disabilities, Alberto Migliore, Frank A. Smith

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Getting a job promptly after applying for vocational rehabilitation (VR) services is important for a successful career. Rapid placement boosts self-confidence and prevents applicants from losing work skills as a consequence of inactivity. Moreover, employers may prefer candidates whose work history shows limited gaps in employment.

Disability, Vulnerability, And The Limits Of Antidiscrimination, Ani B. Satz

Faculty Articles

Despite the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), disabled Americans face substantial barriers to entry into the workplace, lack material supports including health care and transportation, and may not receive reasonable accommodation that best supports their functioning. In addition, individuals with impairments have difficulty qualifying as disabled for disability protections. In light of these problems, some commentators suggest that a civil rights or antidiscrimination approach to disability discrimination—an approach for which activists fought for twenty years prior to the enactment of the ADA—may not adequately address disability discrimination. Some critics advocate a return to the social …

Recruiting Sexual Minorities And People With Disabilities To Be Dean, Joan W. Howarth

Scholarly Works

As our day-to-day work lives make abundantly clear, a law faculty is a many-headed creature: an assortment of people with a variety of interests, strengths, foibles, personalities, and identities. Within the legal academy, a dominant consensus acknowledges that a strong faculty embodies diversity along multiple axes, including, for example, race, gender, religion, age, political ideology, research and teaching methodologies, and subject matter expertise.

The dean, however, stands alone, and stands above. Thus, issues of expectation, representation, comfort with and fear of difference operate quite differently when deans are selected, and when they do their jobs. The dean exercises authority over …

Independent Protection And Advocacy: Th E Role Of Counsel In Institutional Settings, Karen O. Talley

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trying To Protect Elderly And Mentally Incompetent Homeowners: One Tax Deed Case At A Time., Daniel Koen

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

“Equality, I Spoke Th At Word/As If A Wedding Vow”: Mental Disability Law And How We Treat Marginalized Persons, Michael J. Perlin, John Douard

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Involuntary Outpatient Commitment: Some Th Oughts On Promoting A Meaningful Dialogue Between Mental Health Advocates And Lawmakers, Henry A. Dlugacz

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tolling For The Luckless, The Abandoned And Forsaked: Community Safety, Therapeutic Jurisprudence And International Human Rights Law As Applied To Prisoners And Detainees, Michael L. Perlin, Astrid Birgden

Articles & Chapters

There has been an explosion of interest in therapeutic jurisprudence as both a filter and lens for viewing theextent to which the legal system serves therapeutic or anti therapeutic consequences. However, little attention has been paid to the impact of therapeutic jurisprudence on questions of international human rights law and the role of forensic psychologists. Human rights are based on legal, social, and moral rules. The paper will propose that human rights principles can add to the normative base of therapeutic jurisprudence, and in turn, therapeutic jurisprudence can assist forensic psychologists to actively address human rights. As duty bearers, forensic …