Disability Law

This course will consider how law has constructed and defined disability and the role of law in shaping how disability has been conceptualized and used to stigmatize and criminalize. This course will explore statutes, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the 2 Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and case law interpreting these statutes. In doing so, this course explores the limitations of federal disability rights laws that guarantee equal access to and treatment of people with disabilities in, for example, prisons, jails, congregate residential settings, workplaces, and schools. This course will interrogate how disability rights framework fails to understand the experiences of people living at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities and will center principles of disability justice in advocacy. Grading and Method of Evaluation: Students will complete a paper that may be used for the Substantial ULWR. Letter grade only.