Disability Rights: Laws And Their Historical Evolution

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on July 26, 1990. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability and requires local, state, and federal governments and programs to be accessible. It also requires employers with more than 15 employees to make reasonable accommodations for workers with disabilities.

The ADA was the result of decades of activism by disability rights organisations and individuals. In the 1980s, the National Council on Disability (then known as the National Council on the Handicapped), an independent federal agency, released a report titled Toward Independence: An Assessment of Federal Laws and Programs Affecting Persons with Disabilities - With Legislative Recommendations, which called for a comprehensive law to provide full opportunities and empowerment for persons with disabilities in the United States. This report formed the basis for the ADA.

The ADA was introduced in Congress in 1988 by Senator Lowell Weicker of Connecticut and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, and in the House of Representatives by Tony Coelho of California and Silvio Conte of Massachusetts. It was signed into law in 1990 and amended in 2008 to broaden the scope of who is considered disabled under the law.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

The Rehabilitation Act is comprised of several sections, each addressing specific aspects of disability rights:

• Section 501: This section prohibits employment discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the federal sector. It covers entities such as the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Regulatory Commission, and the Smithsonian Institution. Notably, there is no minimum employee requirement for an entity to be covered under this section.
• Section 503: Section 503 focuses on federal contractors and subcontractors, prohibiting discrimination against applicants and employees with disabilities. It also mandates affirmative steps to be taken by these entities to hire, retain, and promote individuals with disabilities.
• Section 504: This section ensures that people with disabilities are not subjected to discrimination in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance or conducted by a federal executive agency or the U.S. Postal Service. It protects applicants, employees, and program participants, regardless of the number of employees or specific entity requirements.
• Section 508: Addressing the realm of information technology, Section 508 requires federal agencies' information and communications technology to be accessible to people with disabilities. This includes both employees and members of the public, ensuring equal access to technological resources.

The implementation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was not immediate and required a significant push from the disability rights community. In 1977, disabled individuals occupied federal buildings in several cities, including a 25-day sit-in in San Francisco, demanding that President Carter sign the regulations into effect. This sit-in, known as the longest in US history, ultimately led to the signing of the regulations without changes.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. The ADA was passed with bipartisan support and represents a commitment to disability inclusion in multiple aspects of public life. It allows individuals with disabilities to challenge discrimination in employment, public services, and places of public use.

The ADA gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities, similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. The Act covers several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, and access to state and local government programs and services.

The ADA also establishes requirements for telecommunication relay services, which are covered under Title IV and regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Title IV ensures that people with hearing and speech disabilities can communicate over the telephone by requiring telephone and internet companies to provide a nationwide system of telecommunication relay services.

The ADA was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in July 1990. The law was passed after disability rights activists gathered on the steps of the United States Capitol building to demand its passage, in an event known as the "Capitol Crawl." This protest highlighted the daily struggles and physical barriers faced by individuals with disabilities.

Eugenics Sterilization Laws

The eugenics movement in the United States sought to “breed out” traits deemed undesirable, such as mental deficiency, deafness, blindness, and disease. The victims of state-mandated sterilization included those labeled as "mentally deficient," as well as members of socially disadvantaged groups. The sterilization laws were often justified on the basis of protecting society from "defective persons" and reducing the tax burden associated with public facilities for the "insane" and "feebleminded".

In 1927, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Buck v. Bell, upheld a state's right to forcibly sterilize individuals considered unfit to procreate, marking a victory for the eugenics movement. The decision included the infamous statement: "It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind…Three generations of imbeciles are enough."

The Buck v. Bell decision set a precedent for similar sterilization laws in other states and influenced the Nazi sterilization program, which served as a stepping stone to the Holocaust. Despite growing awareness of the horrors of eugenics, some U.S. states continued to sterilize residents into the 1970s. The legacy of eugenics sterilization laws and their impact on disabled individuals remains a dark chapter in American history.

The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968

The Act applies to a wide range of buildings and facilities, including post offices, national parks, VA hospitals, Social Security Administration offices, federal administration buildings, federal courthouses, and federal prisons. It also covers non-federal facilities built or altered with federal grants or loans, such as public housing and public transit systems.

The Administrator of General Services is responsible for prescribing standards for the design, construction, and alteration of buildings to ensure accessibility for individuals with physical disabilities. These standards include specific requirements for ramps, elevators, doors, toilets, fire alarms, and more. The Act has defined exceptions and limitations, and complaints about non-compliant buildings can be filed anonymously with the United States Access Board.

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975

The EHA had four main purposes:

• To ensure that all children with disabilities have access to a free and appropriate public education, with a focus on special education and related services tailored to their unique needs.
• To protect the rights of children with disabilities and their parents.
• To assist states and local authorities in providing education for all children with disabilities.
• To assess and ensure the effectiveness of educational efforts for children with disabilities.

To achieve these goals, the EHA mandated that all public schools accepting federal funds provide equal access to education and one free meal per day for children with physical and mental disabilities. Schools were required to evaluate students with disabilities, develop an educational plan with input from parents, and create an educational experience as similar as possible to that of non-disabled students. The act emphasized the inclusion of children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment, allowing them to interact with non-disabled students as much as possible. Separate schooling was permitted only when the nature or severity of the disability made it impossible to achieve instructional goals in a regular classroom.

The EHA also established administrative procedures for parents of disabled children to dispute decisions regarding their child's education. These procedures included a mandatory system of dispute resolution, which was designed to alleviate the financial burden of litigation under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Once administrative efforts were exhausted, parents could seek judicial review of the administration's decision.

The EHA represented a significant step forward in recognizing the rights of children with disabilities to access education and ensuring that their educational needs were met. It laid the groundwork for further advancements in disability rights and special education, with subsequent amendments and reauthorizations strengthening the law's impact.

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