Disability Law Commons^™

When Courts Run Amuck: A Book Review Of Unequal: How America's Courts Undermine Discrimination Law By Sandra F. Sperino And Suja A. Thomas (Oxford 2017), Theresa M. Beiner

Texas A&M Law Review

In Unequal: How America’s Courts Undermine Discrimination Law (“Unequal”), law professors Sandra F. Sperino and Suja A. Thomas provide a point-by-point analysis of how the federal courts’ interpretations of federal anti-discrimination laws have undermined their efficacy to provide relief to workers whose employers have allegedly engaged in discrimination. The cases’ results are consistently pro-employer, even while the Supreme Court of the United States—a court not known for being particularly pro-plaintiff—has occasionally ruled in favor of plaintiff employees. The authors suggest some reasons for this apparent anti-plaintiff bias among the federal courts, although they do not settle on a particular reason …

The Heart Of K'É: Transforming Diné Special Education And Unsettling The Colonial Logics Of Disability, Sandra Yellowhorse

American Studies ETDs

This paper takes up the roles of ideology and spatiality as they impact Diné students and learners in understanding conceptions of normativity, neuro-diversity and bodily variance. I am concerned with how the movement and creation of Indigenous schools and their praxis still maintain and often times produce settler colonial ideologies of being, personhood, difference and ability. I illustrate the challenges that Diné planners and educators face in entrenching cultural knowledge and language into their educational initiatives, while some of the problematic manifestations and expressions of normativity present themselves through state polices, federal law and mainstream curriculum.

I focus on the …

Department Of Corrections V. Superior Court: Hear No Evil, Aaron T. Morel

Maine Law Review

On December 9, 1991, professional ethical and moral considerations prompted heated litigation in Department of Corrections v. Superior Court. Justice Donald G. Alexander of Maine's Superior Court displayed considerable foresight while sentencing two borderline mentally retarded child sex offenders. Although both defendants had committed repugnant crimes, Justice Alexander anticipated that they would be subjected to impermissible abuse if incarcerated in the Department of Corrections. He believed that preventive measures were necessary to ensure the safety of the defendants being sentenced and to avoid the potential that conditions of their incarceration would amount to cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Alexander subsequently …

Disart: Redefining The Construct Of Participation, Jennifer Fortuna

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

DisArt, an arts and culture organization based in Grand Rapids, MI, provided the cover art for the Spring 2018 issue of the Open Journal of Occupational Therapy (OJOT). The piece, a somatic sculpture by Petra Kuppers, was featured at the 2015 DisArt Festival in Grand Rapids. Kuppers is a disability culture activist and community performance artist who connects people, both disabled and nondisabled, in public spaces. DisArt’s mission is to increase the participation of disabled people in our communities through disability art exhibitions, cutting edge public events, and consultation. In a recent interview, DisArt co-founders and executive directors, Dr. Christopher …

Disability Rights Symposium Coverage, Human Rights Brief

Human Rights Brief Spring 2018 Regional Coverage

No abstract provided.

Working For Recovery: How The Americans With Disabilities Act And State Human Rights Laws Can Facilitiate Successful Rehabilitation For Alcoholics And Drug Addicts, Samuel Brown Petsonk, Anne Marie Lofaso

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Personhood Seeking New Life With Republican Control, Jonathan F. Will, I. Glenn Cohen, Eli Y. Adashi

Indiana Law Journal

Just three days prior to the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States, Representative Jody B. Hice (R-GA) introduced the Sanctity of Human Life Act (H.R. 586), which, if enacted, would provide that the rights associated with legal personhood begin at fertilization. Then, in October 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services released its draft strategic plan, which identifies a core policy of protecting Americans at every stage of life, beginning at conception. While often touted as a means to outlaw abortion, protecting the “lives” of single-celled zygotes may also have implications for the practice …

Compensating Work-Related Disability: Theory, Politics And History Of The Commodification-Decommodification Dialectic, Eric Tucker

Articles & Book Chapters

In 2015, the last year for which we have complete Canadian data, workers' compensation boards recognized that 852 Canadian workers died from work-related injuries and diseases and 232,629 workers experienced disabling injuries requiring them to take time off work. About 13 percent of those injured will have permanent disabilities of varying severity.These figures significantly underestimate the true burden of work-related disability for at least three reasons. First, the percentage of the paid Canadian workforce covered by workers' compensation has been shrinking. In 2008, it was estimated to stand at about 80 percent, although coverage bounced back to about 85 percent …

Stuck In Neutral: The Americans With Disabilities Act And The State Of Paratransit Service In New York City, Britney Wilson

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Remedial Authority Of Hearing And Review Officers Under The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act: The Latest Update, Perry A. Zirkel

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Paternalism And The Rise Of The Disability State, David W. Engel, Jeffrey S. Wolfe

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Mullin V. Ratheon Co.: The Threatened Vitality Of Disparate Impact Under The Adea, Miles F. Archer

Maine Law Review

Seven years after Congress enacted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), and four years after the enactment of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (the ADEA), the Supreme Court, in Griggs v. Duke Power Co., enunciated the doctrine of disparate impact as a means of establishing liability under Title VII. Since that time, the doctrine has evolved considerably and its application and contours have been redefined by the Court as well as by Congress. Within this evolution there has been a debate among the courts and commentators as to whether the doctrine may …

The Supreme Court Reverses The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Directive That Disability Determinations Should Be Made Without Regard To Mitigating Measures: Sutton V. United Airlines, Sara Gagne Holmes

Maine Law Review

In Sutton v. United Airlines, identical twin sisters with severe myopia, filed suit under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) alleging that United Airlines (United) discriminated against them on the basis of a disability, or because United regarded them as having a disability. This case invited the United States Supreme Court to decide for the first time whether mitigating measures such as glasses, medication or prosthetics should be considered when determining if an impairment is an “actual disability” under the ADA, and what constitutes a proper allegation for being “regarded as” disabled under the ADA. In a …

Mixed Messages: An Analysis Of The Conflicting Standards Used By The United States Circuit Courts Of Appeals When Awarding The Compensatory Education For A Violation Of The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, James C. Schwellenbach

Maine Law Review

With the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) of 1975, now titled the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA or the Act), each child with a disability was guaranteed the right to a free and appropriate public education. It fell to the public schools to provide that free and appropriate education to students with disabilities, many of whom had been denied access to public schools prior to that time. It was inevitable that parents would disagree with their local school district, or the state educational agency, as to whether their child was being provided the kind …

Collective Versus Individual Rights: The Able Worker And The Promotion Of Precarious Work For Persons With Disabilities Under Conflicting International Law Regimes, Paul Harpur

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sb 201 - Sick Leave, Mary Elizabeth D. Steinhaus, Chadwick L. Williams

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act amends Georgia’s general provisions relating to labor and industrial relations by adding a new provision that requires qualifying employers to allow their employees to use sick leave to care for immediate family members.

No Student Left Behind? Accommodating Students With Disabilities In Higher Education During The Trump Administration, Anne Marie Fristoe

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Puppies, Ponies, Pigs And Parrots: Policies, Practices, And Procedures In Pubs, Pads, Planes And Professions: Where We Live, Work, And Play, And How We Get There: Animal Accommodations In Public Places, Housing, Employment, And Transportation, Laura Rothstein

Brandeis School of Law Faculty Scholarship

This is an expanded and updated version of an article published in 23 ANIMAL L.13 (2018). It examines how disability discrimination policy clarifies when animals may be allowed as accommodations in various settings. It provides basic statutory and regulatory framework for these settings, administrative agency guidance, and judicial interpretations of these requirements in various settings. Major settings where animals might be an accommodation are addressed separately, with particular focus on higher education institutions and health care settings.

Structured Settlement Sales And Lead-Poisoned Sellers: Just Say No, Karen Czapanskiy

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Fallacy Of Choice: The Destructive Effect Of School Vouchers On Students With Disabilities, Ian Farrell, Cheslea Marx

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This Article addresses the impact of school voucher programs on students with disabilities. We show that for children with disabilities, the price of admission into so-called “school choice” programs is so high that it is effectively no real choice at all. School voucher programs require students with disabilities to sign away their robust federal rights and protections in the public school system. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)—the preeminent legislative safeguard for students with disabilities—these rights include the right to a “free and appropriate public education” delivered through an “individualized education plan.” By giving up these protections, children …

Stricken: The Need For Positive Statutory Law To Prevent Discriminatory Peremptory Strikes Of Disabled Jurors, Jordan Benson

Cornell Law Review

A representative jury ensures a truly impartial trial and that all groups are able to share in this valuable opportunity for civic engagement.Though the disabled constitute a minority of the population, their viewpoint is no less necessary to securing the benefits of a representative jury than that of groups already afforded protection from discriminatory strikes. As the disabled become more represented in many areas of society, their continued underrepresentation on juries will become even more difficult to justify. Discriminatory peremptory strikes are a significant, discretionary means by which the disabled can continue to be excluded from juries even when other …

Evaluating Intellectual Disability: Clinical Assessments In Atkins Cases, James W. Ellis, Caroline Everington, Ann M. Delpha

Faculty Scholarship

The intersection of intellectual disability and the death penalty is now clearly established. Both under the U.S. Supreme Court’s constitutional decisions and under the terms of many state statutes, individual defendants who have that disability cannot be sentenced to death or executed. It now falls to trial, appellate, and post-conviction courts to determine which individual criminal defendants are entitled to the law’s protection. This Article attempts to assist judges in performing that task. After a brief discussion of the Supreme Court’s decisions in Atkins v. Virginia, Hall v. Florida, and Moore v. Texas, it analyzes the component parts and terminology …

Too Stupid: Intellectual Disability As A Statutory Ground For Termination Of Parental Rights, Charlotte Jayne Cooper

The Modern American

No abstract provided.

The Ada And The Fight Against Employment Discrimination, 52 Uic J. Marshall L. Rev. 51 (2018), Brianne Perkins

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Traumatic Brain Injury And A Divergence Between Moral And Criminal Responsibility, Paul J. Litton

Faculty Publications

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), particularly in severe cases, can have such extraordinary effects on one's psychological capacities that it may be relevant to many kinds of legal claims in criminal proceedings. The focus of this essay is on claims related to an agent's status as a responsible agent. In other words, this essay will discuss the relationship between traumatic brain injury and claims that an individual does not have the capacities required to be fairly held accountable for wrongful actions. The law may hold most adults fully responsible for their crimes, but it may not hold responsible young children and …

Pursuing Inclusive Higher Education In Egypt And Beyond Through The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Janet E. Lord, Michael Stein

All Faculty Scholarship

Inclusive higher education is elusive for students with disabilities, especially in developing countries. The adoption and rapid ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) provides, if applied as its drafters intended, a “whole of institution” framework for its realization (CRPD Committee, 2016). Myriad legal, attitudinal, physical, and communication-based barriers limit or exclude participation. The individual impact of such discrimination is clear and carries lifelong consequences. Equally endemic are the broad societal and pedagogical effects of this exclusion. To illustrate: preventing persons with disabilities from Teacher Education courses impacts inclusive education in primary and secondary education; …

An Assessment Of Disability Access At The University Of Kentucky, Megan S. Coffinbargar

Oswald Research and Creativity Competition

This study assesses the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) compliance at the University of Kentucky. Twenty buildings frequently used by undergraduates at the University of Kentucky were evaluated using the ADA Checklist for Existing Facilities focusing on Title III, Public Accommodations, and Priority Two, Access to Goods and Services. Data was collected over two weeks (July 20, 2017-August 3, 2017) and then evaluated using descriptive analysis. Data was analyzed looking across checklist items, buildings, checklist categories, and construction dates. Looking across checklist items, compliance ranged from 12-20 buildings out of 20 possible with 18.485 buildings as the average. …

Online Businesses Beware: Ada Lawsuits Demand Website Accessibility For Blind Plaintiffs, Ricardo Alvarado

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Who Will Judge The Many When The Game Is Through: Considering The Profound Differences Between Mental Health Courts And Traditional Involuntary Civil Commitment Courts, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

This paper is an expansion of a presentation given by the author at the annual Therapeutic Jurisprudence Workshop at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 15, 2016. There is a developing robust literature about mental health courts (MHCrts) in the United States, and researchers have begun to focus on a broad range of empirical issues, such as the extent to which defendants are competent to waive their trial rights in such settings, the significance of diversion, etc. Also, advocates and other scholars have engaged in vigorous debates about the value of these courts, and the extent …

One Not Like The Other: An Examination Of The Use Of The Affirmative Action Analogy In Reasonable Accommodation Cases Under The Americans With Disabilities Act, Jamelia Morgan

Faculty Articles and Papers

This Article discusses the debate within the courts regarding the employer's affirmative obligations under the ADA's reasonable accommodation clause by focusing on the use of the affirmative action analogy. The purpose of this Article is to examine the evolution of the affirmative-action analogy in reasonable-accommodation case law over time and to decipher its meaning and relevance. At the onset, it is important to establish a few definitions and assumptions. First, the affirmative-action analogy refers to cases where courts liken or compare the plaintiff's reasonable-accommodation request to affirmative action. Specifically, the Article examines cases where the term "affirmative action" explicitly appears …