Disability Law Commons^™

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

Articles

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 …

Giving Voice In Court: Cushioning Adversarialism For Witnesses With Intellectual Disabilities, Prianka Nair

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

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

All Faculty Scholarship

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 …

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

All Faculty Scholarship

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. At the same time, I was working on a project looking at barriers to health care for people with disabilities. Some of the barriers are well known, such as lower average incomes, disproportionate poverty, and issues with insurance coverage, to name just a few. I was looking at barriers of a different type, however: those posed by physically inaccessible facilities and equipment. This was a new area for me. Like …

Race, Sex And Genes At Work: Uncovering The Lessons Of Norman-Bloodsaw, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (“GINA”) is the first federal, uniform protection against the use of genetic information in both the workplace and health insurance. Signed into law on May 21, 2008, GINA prohibits an employer or health insurer from acquiring or using an individual’s genetic information, with some exceptions. One of the goals of GINA is to eradicate actual, or perceived, discrimination based on genetic information in the workplace and in health insurance. Although the threat of genetic discrimination is often discussed in universal terms - as something that could happen to any of us - the …

Reviving Employee Rights - Recent And Upcoming Employment Discrimination Legislation: Proceedings Of The 2010 Annual Meeting Of The Association Of American Law Schools Section On Employment Discrimination Law, Scott A. Moss, Sandra Sperino, Robin R. Runge, Charles A. Sullivan

Publications

No abstract provided.

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

Articles

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

Articles

No abstract provided.

Health Care And The Un Disability Rights Convention, Michael Ashley Stein, Penelope J S Stein, Dorothy Weiss, Raymond Lang

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Data Note: Job Seekers With Disabilities At One-Stop Career Centers: An Examination Of Registration For Wagner-Peyser Funded Employment Services From 2002 To 2007, David Hoff, Frank A. Smith

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. Wagner-Peyser funds are a primary source of funding for the services of One-Stop Career Centers that provide employment services available to all people, including people with disabilities. This data note examines trends on a national and state-by-state basis in the number and percentage of job seekers who self-identified as having disabilities who register for Wagner-Peyser Employment Services.

Special Education Law, William H. Hurd, Stephen C. Piepgrass

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

When The Duty To Provide A Reasonable Accommodation Seems Unreasonable: Accommodating And Managing Employees With Episodic Impairments Or Impairments In Remission Under The Ada Amendments Act Of 2008, Gina M. Cook

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Thoughts On The Churn Law, Michael Halley

NULR Online

A grand alliance is forming, and new trenches are being dug on the old and hallowed battleground of the Constitution. Waving the stars and stripes of “constitutional design,” and richly equipping themselves with the weaponry of reason, scholars like Richard Fallon, Sanford Levinson, and Jack Balkin have taken the field to determine “what provisions for judicial review (if any) ought to exist in constitutions for all societies whose people and legislatures are seriously committed to respecting rights,” and to avoiding “constitutional crises” by “careful planning.” Fallon, a self-proclaimed “system-designer,” applauds himself for having “plowed rich ground.” Levinson and Balkin claim …

Technical Standards For Admission To Medical School: Deaf Candidates Don't Get No Respect, Michael Schwartz

Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Broken Promises: When Does A School's Failure To Implement An Individualized Education Program Deny A Disabled Student A Free And Appropriate Public Education, David Ferster

Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Ratify The Un Disability Treaty, Michael Ashley Stein, Janet E. Lord

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Data Note: Work Incentives And Ssi Recipients With Intellectual Disabilities, Frank A. Smith, John Butterworth

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Congress has enacted a number of work incentive programs for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients with disabilities after concluding additional incentives were necessary to help individuals become self-supporting. Moreover, Congress has noted that individuals who could work outside of sheltered workshops might have been discouraged from doing so by the fear of losing their benefits before they had established for themselves the capability for continued self-support. In this Data Note, we explore the degree to which SSI recipients with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) work and participate in these incentive programs.

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

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of Unspeakable: The Story Of Junius Wilson, Michael Ashley Stein, Aviam Soifer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Disability-Selective Abortion And The Americans With Disabilities Act, Dov Fox, Christopher L. Griffin Jr.

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the influence of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on affective attitudes toward children with disabilities and on the incidence of disability-selective abortion. Applying regression analysis to U.S. natality data, we find that the birthrate of children with Down syndrome declined significantly in the years following the ADA’s passage. Controlling for technological, demographic, and cultural variables suggests that the ADA may have encouraged prospective parents to prevent the existence of the very class of people it was designed to protect. We explain this paradox by showing the way in which specific ADA provisions could have given rise …

A Quality Life, Frances H. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

DEDICATION OF ISSUE TO ALLAN MACURDY

Allan Macurdy passed away June 23, 2008. Mr. Macurdy was a visiting associate professor at the Boston University School of Law and the director of Boston University’s Office of Disability Services. Mr. Macurdy was also a graduate of the Boston University College of Arts and Sciences (’84) and the School of Law (’86).

The following three pieces are memories of Mr. Macurdy by Professor Frances Miller, Professor Larry Yackle and William S. Richardson School of Law Dean Aviam Soifer. The tragedy of Mr. Macurdy’s passing, a noted disability rights advocate, was only underscored by …

Data Note: Indicators Of Labor Market Success For People With Intellectual Disabilities, Frank A. Smith, John Butterworth

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Reporting meaningful indicators of labor market success for individuals with disabilities, particularly Intellectual Disabilities (ID), is challenging for a number of reasons. Measures that allow people to indicate specific disabilities like ID are uncommon in large national data sets. Additionally, the use of the “traditional” unemployment rate reported by the Department of Labor as an indicator of labor market success for people with disabilities leaves people who are not in the labor force, a significant group when it comes to subpopulations of people with disabilities, out of the calculation. In this data note, we discuss the implications of using the …

Counting Working-Age People With Disabilities: What Current Data Tell Us And Options For Improvement, Andrew J. Houtenville Editor, David C. Stapleton Editor, Robert R. Weathers Editor, Richard V. Burkhauser Editor

Upjohn Press

This book offers a systematic review of what current statistics and data on working-age people with disabilities can and cannot tell us, and how the quality of the data can be improved to better inform policymakers, advocates, analysts, service providers, administrators, and others interested in this at-risk population.

Case Studies: Employment Data Systems: Florida's Agency For Persons With Disabilities, Allison Cohen Hall, Jean Winsor, John Butterworth

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The increasing emphasis on government accountability at the state and federal levels has increased interest in and use of outcome data. Moreover, research has found that high performing states in integrated employment generally have a clear and visible data collection system that provides individual outcome data (Hall et al, 2007). But what are the most important elements in designing and using a system? Stakeholders have raised questions regarding creating effective data collection systems, identifying variables with the most utility for influencing policy, and using data as a strategic planning tool. This series is intended to shed light on the successes …

Institute Brief: Advancing Parent-Professional Leadership: Effective Strategies For Building The Capacity Of Parent Advisory Councils In Special Education, Heike Boeltzig, Matthew Kusminsky, Susan M. Foley, Richard Robison, Barbara Popper, Marilyn Gutierrez-Wilson

The Institute Brief Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, last amended in 2004 (IDEA 2004), encourages parents and educators to work collaboratively, emphasizing that as a team they are uniquely suited to make decisions that help improve the educational experiences and outcomes of children with disabilities. The Advancing Parent-Professional Leadership in Education (APPLE) Project was funded to develop the leadership skills of parents individually and within their communities. The project took place in Massachusetts, where school districts are required to have a special education parent advisory council (SEPAC).

Jurors’ Perceptions Of Juvenile Defendants: The Influence Of Intellectual Disability, Abuse History, And Confession Evidence, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Bette L. Bottoms, Maria C. Vargas

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Understanding jurors’ perceptions of juvenile defendants has become increasingly important as more and more juvenile cases are being tried in adult criminal court rather than family or juvenile court. Intellectual disability and child maltreatment are overrepresented among juvenile delinquents, and juveniles (particularly disabled juveniles) are at heightened risk for falsely confessing to crimes. In two mock trial experiments, we examined the effects of disability, abuse history, and confession evidence on jurors’ perceptions of a juvenile defendant across several different crime scenarios. Abused juveniles were treated more leniently than nonabused juveniles only when the juvenile’s crime was motivated by self-defense against …

One Step Closer To Mental Health Parity, Lorraine Schmall

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Criminalization Of Mental Illness: How Theoretical Failures Create Real Problems In The Criminal Justice System, Georgia L. Sims

Vanderbilt Law Review

When Andrea Yates drowned her five children, she believed she was preventing Satan from infiltrating their souls. Rusty Yates blamed both the mental health system and the criminal justice system for his wife's actions and also for her initial conviction. Andrea Yates suffered from post-partum depression and psychosis; had attempted suicide twice; had been hospitalized on several occasions for psychiatric treatment; and was found not guilty by reason of insanity in her 2006 retrial.' Although Yates likely will spend the rest of her life in a mental institution, she will receive mental health treatment throughout her time at the facility. …

The Rights Of Parentally-Placed Private School Students Under The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act Of 2004 And The Need For Legislative Reform, Lewis M. Wasserman

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.

By Reason Thereof: Causation And Eligibility Under The Individuals With Disabilites Education Act, Katherine May

Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal

No abstract provided.