Antiracism & Social Justice Resources

This publication is a valuable resource for lawyers who are counseling clients who are considering the purchase of individual or group disability coverage, as it discusses all the many definitions of disability. It explains the types of coverage and the related terminology, as well as how to achieve full protection.

Richard A. Courtney is a Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation who also practices in areas including special needs planning, trusts and trust administration, and nursing home and disability rights. He has been named in Best Lawyers in America in Elder Law and Trusts & Estates since 2013. He is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Four decades ago, Courtney was thrust into the arena of special needs law on a personal basis as a parent of a child with disabilities. Since that time, he has gained substantial experience, personally and professionally, with the legal issues involved, such as Medicaid, SSI, housing, asset protection, special needs estate planning, and incapacity planning. This book gives general practitioners and less experienced special needs attorneys the background and basic information on these and other issues, as well as the planning techniques and legal strategies needed to counsel and assist clients with special needs. Book jacket.

The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 was hailed as revolutionary legislation, but in the ensuing years restrictive Supreme Court decisions have prompted accusations that the Court has betrayed the disability rights movement. The ADA can lay claim to notable successes, yet people with disabilities continue to be unemployed at extremely high rates. In this timely book, Samuel R. Bagenstos examines the history of the movement and discusses the various, often-conflicting projects of diverse participants. He argues that while the courts deserve some criticism, some may also be fairly aimed at the choices made by prominent disability rights activists as they crafted and argued for the ADA. The author concludes with an assessment of the limits of antidiscrimination law in integrating and empowering people with disabilities, and he suggests new policy directions to make these goals a reality.

"In Land Use Law and Disability, Robin Paul Malloy argues that our communities need better planning to be safely and easily navigated by people with mobility impairment and to facilitate intergenerational aging in place. To achieve this, communities will need to think of mobility impairment and inclusive design as land use and planning issues, in addition to understanding them as matters of civil and constitutional rights. Although much has been written about the rights of people with disabilities, little has been said about the interplay between disability and land use regulation. This book undertakes to explain mobility impairment, as one type of disability, in terms of planning and zoning. The goal is to advance our understanding of disability in terms of planning and zoning to facilitate cooperative engagement between disability rights advocates and land use professionals. This in turn should lead to improved community planning for accessibility and aging in place"--

"This book provides an overview of disability exceptions to copyright infringement and the international legal framework for disability rights and exceptions. The focus is on those exceptions as they apply to visual art, while the book presents a comprehensive study of copyright's disability exceptions per se, and the international human rights law framework in which they are situated."--

The book examines the basis of discrimination against people with disabilities, including the history of such discrimination and a review of studies that explore why people engage in this sort of discrimination. It examines the federal laws that culminated in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The book describes the ADA's definition of disability, how it has been interpreted and studied, and then reviews the three major titles of the ADA, including a review of the remedies available for various ADA claims and the procedures required to pursue them.

In this book, the author reveals a pattern of prejudice against mentally disabled individuals that keeps them from receiving equal treatment under the law. Sanism, like racism, is a prejudice against a minority population. This mostly hidden prejudice against mentally ill people has pervaded Western culture throughout history, and the author documents how sanism continues to affect our culture and legal system. Under the pretext of "improving" society, a judge, lawyer, or fact-finder may ignore faulty evidence. This testimonial dishonesty is often based on the false belief that the mentally disabled are not responsible or intelligent enough to deserve the full rights of citizenship. The author argues that these are sanist decisions and explores the roots and results of these decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved).

Now that curb cuts, braille elevator buttons, and closed caption television are commonplace, many people assume that disabled people are now full participants in American society. This book tells a rather different story. It tells how America's disabled mobilized to effect sweeping changes in public policy, not once but twice, and it suggests that the struggle is not yet over. The first edition of From Good Will to Civil Rights traced the changes in federal disability policy, focusing on the development and implementation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Richard K. Scotch's extensive interviews with policymakers, leaders of the disability rights movement, and other advocates, supplemented the sketchy official history of the legislation with the detailed, behind-the-scenes story, illuminating the role of the disability rights movement in shaping Section 504. Charting the shifts in policy and activist agendas through the 1990's, this new edition surveys the effects and disappointments associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, in the context of the continuing movement to secure civil rights for disabled people.

"Disabling Barriers analyzes issues relating to disability at different moments in Canadian and American history. In this volume, legal scholars, historians, and disability-rights activists demonstrate that disabled people can change their social status by transforming the political and legal discourse surrounding disablement. Traditionally, disabled people were regarded as objects of pity and condescension. The rise of the social model of disablement--which identifies barriers, rather than physiological impairments, as the main problem facing people with disabilities--has resulted in a dramatic reconfiguration of how we regard political and legal structures affecting people with disabilities. Employing tools from the fields of law and history, this volume explores how disabled people have been portrayed and treated in a variety of contexts, including within the labour market, the workers' compensation system, the immigration process, and the legal system (both as litigants and as lawyers). This original contribution deepens our knowledge of the role of people with disabilities within social movements in disability history. The contributors encourage us to rethink our understanding of both the systemic barriers disabled people face and the capacity of disabled people to effect positive societal change."--

Disability offers a new lens through which to view the effectiveness of access to justice, and the inclusiveness of the justice system as a whole. This book analyses the experience of people with disabilities through the entire justice system, from making a complaint, to investigation, and through the court/tribunal process. It also considers the participation of people with disabilities in a variety of roles in the justice system - as witness, defendant, complainant, plaintiff, lawyer, judge and juror. More broadly, it also critically examines the subtle barriers of access to justice which might exist in a given society - including barriers to grassroots disability advocacy, legal education and training, the right to vote and the right to stand for election which may apply to people with disabilities. The book is international and comparative in scope with a focus primarily on examples of legal practice and justice systems in common law countries. The work will be of interest to scholars working in the areas of human rights, equality and non-discrimination, disability rights activists and legal professionals who work with people with disabilities to achieve access to justice.

This text ventures into the area where law and disability intersect. Drawing on developments in the emerging field of disability studies and on a new-found human rights perspective on disability, the contributions traverse topics as wide-ranging as citizenship, feminism, eugenics, euthanasia, and sexual abuse of people with disabilities, and analyze disability law at both a domestic and international level. Informed by the social model of disability, this work brings together academics and disability activists from Australia, Europe and North America. The book is interdisciplinary in nature, with contributors coming from sociology, education, law, geography, philosophy, and cultural studies.

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CPRD) by the United Nations in 2006 is the first comprehensive and binding treaty on the rights of people with disabilities. It establishes the right of people with disabilities to equality, dignity, autonomy, full participation, as well as the right to live in the community, and the right to supported decision-making and inclusive education. Prior to the CRPD, international law had provided only limited protections to people with disabilities. This book analyses the development of disability rights as an international human rights movement. Focusing on the United States and countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East the book examines the status of people with disabilities under international law prior to the adoption of the CPRD, and follows the development of human rights protections through the convention's drafting process. Arlene Kanter argues that by including both new applications and entirely new approaches to human rights treaty enforcement, the CRPD is significant not only to people with disabilities but also to the general development of international human rights, by offering new human rights protections for all people. Taking a comparative perspective, the book explores how the success of the CRPD in achieving protections depends on the extent to which individual countries enforce domestic laws and policies, and the changing public attitudes towards people with disabilities. This book will be of excellent use and interest to researchers and students of human rights law, discrimination, and disability studies.

"This volume illuminates the unique challenges faced by deaf people when they are arrested, incarcerated, or navigating the court system"--

Crippled Justice, the first comprehensive intellectual history of disability policy in the workplace from World War II to the present, explains why American employers and judges, despite the Americans with Disabilities Act, have been so resistant to accommodating the disabled in the workplace. Ruth O'Brien traces the origins of this resistance to the postwar disability policies inspired by physicians and psychoanalysts that were based on the notion that disabled people should accommodate society rather than having society accommodate them. O'Brien shows how the remnants of postwar cultural values bogged down the rights-oriented policy in the 1970s and how they continue to permeate judicial interpretations of provisions under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In effect, O'Brien argues, these decisions have created a lose/lose situation for the very people the act was meant to protect. Covering developments up to the present, Crippled Justice is an eye-opening story of government officials and influential experts, and how our legislative and judicial institutions have responded to them.

Increasing numbers of people with autism and other developmental disabilities are being convicted of sex offences, resulting in draconian and public punishment. Yet even when evidence shows that people with these conditions often pose little threat to society, or lack a core understanding as to why their actions break the law, the "sex offender legal regime" doesn't allow any room to take the disability into account. This ground-breaking book offers a multi-disciplinary examination of how unjust sex offense laws trap vulnerable groups such as those with developmental disabilities. Drawing on research, empirical evidence and including case studies, experts from the fields of law, ethics, psychology and sociology explore what steps should be taken in order to ensure that laws are just and take into consideration factors such as the vulnerability of the perpetrators. Investigating the consequences caused by public hysteria over sex offenses, this book highlights the judicial failure to protect defendants with developmental disabilities in the context of the unjust and hyper-punishment of all those charged with sex offenses. Proposing a new way forward based on research and evidence-based sentencing for sex offenses, and elimination of the sex offender registry, this book offers an informed and compassionate view that is essential for all professionals working in this field.

In this groundbreaking work, leading philosophers, legal theorists, bioethicists, and policy makers offer incisive looks into the philosophical and moral foundations of disability law and policy.

Free download. Get the revised and expanded 2022-2023 State and Federal Accessibility Guidelines eBook, updated March 2023.

What does it take to win Social Security disability benefits? Join disability attorney Jonathan Ginsberg as he demystifies the disability approval process and offers proven tactics to help you win the benefits you deserve.

Rights Here, Rights Now! is a disAbility Law Center of Virginia podcast. The disAbility Law Center of Virginia is the protection and advocacy agency for people with disabilities in Virginia.

In this episode of The Forum Podcast, Ashley Oolman (Lifeworks) leads listeners through a discussion about how disability status may not be as protected as other classes in the workplace. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Anchor   Though there are laws dating back to 1938 ensuring access to resources, employment, and equal rights, people with

Listen to podcasts to help you better understand your social security disability benefits, social security income and PTSD disability claims.

The Disability Law Lowdown Podcast delivers the latest in disability rights information every other week.

Canada's only long-term disabiltiy law show on TV and radio in Ontario, BC and Alberta. with disability lawyer Sivan Tumarkin.

The Disability Law Center (DLC) is the Protection and Advocacy agency for Massachusetts. DLC is a private, non-profit organization responsible for providing protection and advocacy for the rights of Massachusetts residents with disabilities. DLC receives federal, state and private funding but is not part of the state or federal government

September 26, 2017 Disability Allied Law Students Association (DALSA) and the Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging To mark the thirtieth anniversary of the closure of Willowbrook State School—a New York institution infamous for abuse and neglect of children with disabilities—we invite you to a dialogue on strategies for advancing disability justice in the workplace. Panelists: Jack Callaghan, former resident of Willowbrook Roberta Mueller ‘85, Senior Supervising Counsel at NYLPI Disability Justice Program Rachel Pollock ‘84, General Counsel of Job Path Vilissa Thompson, LMSW, Founder and CEO of Ramp Your Voice! Moderator: Magistrate Judge Robert Levy '75

This training is designed to assist attorneys and advocates in a range of practice areas with issue-spotting for disability rights issues. The overview will provide basic information about the substantive requirements of significant federal and California disability nondiscrimination laws. Relevant federal laws include Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Relevant state laws include the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the California Disabled Persons Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and Cal. Gov. Code Section 11135. The overview will also include an introduction to civil rights definitions of “disability” under these laws. 1 hour of Elimination of Bias CLE. Presenter: Linda Kilb, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund To use this training for self-study MCLE credit, please complete the evaluation form on our website and submit it to trainings@laaconline.org in order to receive certification for your self-study records. If you would like to support LAAC’s videos and keep this service free for the community, please donate! This webinar is intended to provide legal information, not legal advice for the purposes of training only practicing attorneys. The legal information in this webinar is not intended to be a substitute for seeking personalized legal advice from an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction. Further, we do not intend to create an attorney-client relationship with any listener.

There are a lot of ways to stand up for disability rights. But only protection and advocacy agencies (P&As) are federally mandated to protect the basic human rights of people with disabilities. Did you know there's a P&A in all 57 U.S. states and territories? Did you know they serve people with all kinds of disabilities? Have you even heard of P&As? Let us explain in this new original Rooted in Rights video. To find the P&A in your state, please visit: http://www.ndrn.org/ndrn-member-agencies.html For more resources, visit: http://www.rootedinrights.org/videos/explainers/the-protection-advocacy-pa-system/ The following federal funding partners shared in the cost of producing this material: the Administration for Community Living ACL (Award #1601WAPADD); the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration SAMHSA (Award #16SMP05397); and the Rehabilitation Services Administration RSA (Award #H240A160048). These contents are the sole responsibility of Disability Rights Washington, the parent organization of Rooted in Rights, and do not necessarily represent the official views of ACL, SAMHSA or RSA.

Disability Benefits: Know Your Rights -- Jennifer Louise Fry, Esq- Get information and insight into how the Social Security Disability process works from an attorney who specializes in disability law. Understand what the Social Security Administration is looking for when they review your claim and how to maximize your chances for success. Discover which life events should prompt a review of your rights to these benefits. Our speaker also will provide essential information about private disability insurance benefits. Video Production: Magnus Media Group http://www.magnusmediausa.com (469) 252-9938

The ABA Commission on Disability Rights and the Law School Admission Council created this video, featuring disabled lawyers and law students as well as law school professionals, discussing why disability diversity and inclusion is so important, and why employers should recruit, hire, retain, and advance employees with disabilities. Speakers (in order of appearance): Chad Jerdee, Disability, Diversity, and Inclusion Advocate (Amputee) Belinda Dantley, Law School Diversity Staff Jared Allebest, Law Professional (Deaf) Evita Nwosu-Sylvester, Recent Law Graduate (Mild Cerebral Palsy) Spencer Hill, Law Professional (Visual Impairment) Mike Hatcher, Law Professional (Paralysis) Angelica Guevara, Law School Fellow (Neurodiverse) Amanda Pham Haines, Law Student (Depression, ADHD, PTSD) For further information, please visit our website at: http://ambar.org/disability

This disability rights timeline lists events relating to the civil rights of people with disabilities in the United States of America, including court decisions, the passage of legislation, activists' actions, significant abuses of people with disabilities, and the founding of various organizations. Although the disability rights movement itself began in the 1960s, advocacy for the rights of people with disabilities started much earlier and continues to the present.