Home > Program Requirements > Minor Requirements and Courses > LSJ434
CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS LAW FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES:
National and International Perspectives
LSJ/CHID 434
University of Washington
Fall Quarter 2004
Monday and Wednesday 1:30-3:20 PM
042 Electrical Engineering
Instructor:
Sherrie Brown, J.D., Ed.D.
Research Associate Professor, College of Education
Adjunct Faculty, School of Law
University of Washington
South Building , Room 102
206-685-4010
sbrown@u.washington.eduOffice Hours : 12-1 PM on Monday and Wednesday in Smith 19 (call/email to schedule)
Course Overview:
Although societies around the world are increasingly recognizing that people with disabilities do indeed have rights, most academic courses on human or civil rights do not cover discrimination on the basis of disability. This course is designed for students who are interested in expanding their knowledge of civil and human rights for people with disabilities including the American perspective as well as various international models.
We will examine the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the American civil rights model in some detail, review the relevant United Nations International Human Rights treaties and documents that relate to people with disabilities, examine examples of other civil rights models around the world, and discuss--as time allows--select issues concerning disability rights.
Course Objectives :
On completion of this course you will, through written, verbal, sign and/or other forms of communication, be able to:
• Define human rights, civil rights and the complexities inherent in our western legal analysis of these concepts when applied to the rights of individuals with disabilities.
• Describe the legal treatment of people with disabilities in American history including the development of the civil rights movement for people with mental disabilities.
• Identify and describe the major international human rights instruments and American civil rights laws concerning people with disabilities.
• Compare and contrast other models of civil rights laws for people with disabilities with the American model.
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of the course materials through successful completion of weekly written assignments, case briefs, case analyses and a group or individual research presentation.
Methods:
The course content will be presented through lecture, assigned readings, class discussion, and student presentations.
You are expected to actively participate in class discussions and in addition, will be assigned responsibilities with others in small groups for assigned case presentations. You will also be evaluated on weekly written assignments and a group or individual research presentation. If you are uncomfortable talking in a group setting, PLEASE talk with me during the first week of the quarter rather than waiting until your grade has suffered.
There is a final exam consisting of 1 or 2 hypothetical "problems" and selected questions from earlier assignments. The grading is described in some detail below.
Students with disabilities need not disclose. To request academic accommodations due to disability; please contact Disability Resources for Students (DRS), 448 Schmitz, 206-543-8924.
Course Texts:
The course material includes a course pack available at Odegaard Library Copy Center and textbooks available at the University Bookstore.
The course pack, Civil And Human Rights Laws For People With Disabilities will be available in limited numbers by the end of the second week of the quarter--if you know you want a copy, please let the copy center know that now and they can be sure to make enough copies. The course pack includes required reading, but all is available on the web and you are encouraged to access the material that way. In other words, you are not required to purchase it if you would rather read and/or copy directly off the web.
We are reading selections from three excellent books that will be the background for the work we do on the American civil rights model. Since I have asked you to read the majority of two of these, they are required texts for the course. We are only reading one chapter in The Rehnquist Court , so whether you purchase that book or not is up to you. I have copies of the chapter that you can purchase from the copy center if you prefer.
Required Reading from the following :
• Who Qualifies for Rights ? By Judith Failer
• Crippled Justice By Ruth O'Brien
• The Rehnquist Court By Herman Schwartz
Class Assessments and Grading: There are a total of 200 points for the course. The points are assigned as indicated below:
Participation (including attendance) (30) 1 pt/class; 10 pts max/part.
Weekly Exercises (10 total) (50) 5 pts/exercise
Case Brief and Discussion (group) (30) 10/brief & 20/discussion
Group or Individual Research Presentation (40) 20/summary&20/presentation
Final Exam (50)
Participation and Attendance
Please read the assigned material prior to class and be prepared to discuss the question(s) distributed. Participation and attendance is worth 30 points. It is hard to participate in a discussion if you are not in class...so I expect to see you regularly and will take attendance. Life gets in the way at times, but if you know you will be out more than a week, please email and let me know.
Weekly Exercises (Reading Assignments)
There are assigned readings for each of the class meetings; these are indicated on the schedule. At the end of each week you will receive questions that relate to the assigned readings for the following week. During most weeks, your weekly exercise is to provide a short (1 page maximum) response to the daily questions and each assignment is due to me electronically by 1:30PM the day of the class for which they are assigned--or handed in hard-copy at the beginning of class. These questions will be the focus of our class discussions each session and therefore no credit is given if you turn the assignment in late. The range for grading is as follows: five (5) points for thorough, thoughtful responses that meets the page limitations to zero (0) points for either not turning assignment in and/or clearly not reading the material. Some weeks you will not have to turn in answers to the questions, but instead will have an alternative exercise--e.g., a case brief--to turn in. In total there are 10 assignments – a combination of case briefs and questions from the readings.
Case Brief and Discussion
You will learn how to "legally" read and "brief" legal decisions in this course. We will spend one class on useful approaches to dissecting court opinions, determining what's legally relevant, and what principles are important for future cases. As we study the ADA , you will all read 2-3 assigned cases a week. The first case listed for reading on the schedule is the one that everyone reads and briefs for a grade—this is in lieu of the weekly exercises described above. The 2-3 other cases listed on the schedule are the ones that the assigned small groups will brief and then lead the discussion in class. All of you will read these cases also, but will not be required to turn in written briefs for a grade. The group brief and discussion assignment is worth 30 points. Everyone in the group gets the same grade. Therefore, if you are allergic to group work assignments, PLEASE talk with me the first week of the quarter to arrange an individual case assignment.
Group or Individual Research Presentation
American law has a lot to learn from other countries. Therefore, in addition to studying the United Nations international law as applied to individuals with disabilities, one of the objectives of this course is to investigate disability laws other countries have developed and compare and contrast them with the American and human rights/United Nations approaches. In small groups of 4-5 students, you select a country and research the disability law. You can do an overview of the disability law or focus on one aspect--i.e., disability law in employment situations. NOTE: you must do a bit of preliminary work first to determine where disability laws exist.
You will prepare a presentation for the class on your findings, including a comparison/contrast with both the American model and the human rights/UN approach. As part of the presentation, brief summaries of your information, including the references you have used (maximum 2 pages), should be prepared for distribution to students. We will discuss this more as the quarter progresses, but the small groups will be assigned the second week of the quarter and you will have 15 minutes of class time to meet on Wednesday October 6. The first due date is October 27--groups must have selected a country to research by that date and turned it into me during class or via email. The outline of the presentation and resources used is due to me on November 15. We are not going to duplicate countries, so first come first serve. Examples of topics/countries from last year include:
• Disability Law in New Zealand
• Cuban Disability Law
• Rights of Mentally Ill Prisoners in the USA compared to the UN protections
• Swedish Disability Law
• Disability Rights for Deaf Germans
The written summary and the class presentation combined are worth 40 points. Again, everyone in a group gets the same grade. So if you wish to go solo, talk with me by October 16.
Final Exam – Hypothetical Case Analysis
You will demonstrate your understanding of the human rights and civil rights law that we study by applying it to one or two hypothetical cases. These cases will have specific questions that will require you to apply the law and concepts that we study. The exam also includes selected questions from previous assignments. The final exam is worth 50 points.
SCHEDULE and READING ASSIGNMENTS
UNIT ONE : Discrimination Towards People with Disabilities
29 September: Course Overview/Introductions
The "Problem" of Discrimination based on Disability
• Reading : The Disability Gulag (handout)
• In-class exercise--handout
4 October: Civil Commitment (Joyce Brown)
• Reading : Intro and Chapter 1 from Who Qualifies for Rights ?
"The Civil Commitment of Joyce Brown" (pgs. 1-28)
6 October: Joyce Brown, continued
• Reading : Chapter 2 from Who Qualifies for Rights?
"The Theory Behind Civil Commitment" (p. 29-55)
• Country Groups Assigned and Meet for 15 minutes
11 October: Joyce Brown, continued
• Reading: Chapter 3 from Who Qualifies for Rights?
"Legal Status and Civil Commitment" (p. 56-67)
13 October: Titicut Follies (video)
UNIT TWO: Addressing Discrimination Through International Human Rights Law
18 October: "Human Values: The Human Being as Subject and Not Object"
• Reading : Human Rights and Disability on-line reading Chapter 1 p. 13-28
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/
unpwdresources.htm (click on document under UNHCHR)
20 October: Human Rights: the Legal Framework
• Introduction to the UN system
• United Nations Bill of Rights and Relation to Disability Rights
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights & Disability
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Reading : Human Rights and Disability, pgs. 47-50; 53-59; 79-110; 172-178; 191-200
25 October: Persons with Disabilities and Specific UN documents
• Standard Rules in the Disability Field
• Standard Rules for the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities
• Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health
• Draft Convention on the Rights of People with Disability
• Reading : Human Rights and Disability, pgs. 29-46
• Reading : Draft UN Convention (read preamble & articles 1-7) http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/documents
/ahcwgreport.pdfStarting page 7 of the document on line.
UNIT THREE : Addressing the Discrimination Through American Civil Rights Law
27 October: History and Development of Rights for People with Disabilities-- USA
• Reading : Crippled Justice Chapter 4 (p. 107-136)
• Reading : Handout
• Country Choices Selections Due
1 November: Overview of the American Legal Framework
• Federal and State Statutes and Regulations
• Federal Constitutional Rights
• Reading : Crippled Justice (137-161)
3 November: Legal Analysis of Court Decisions and Legal Reasoning (Case Briefs)
• Reading : Southeastern Com. College v. Davis , 442 U.S. 397 (1979) http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=442
&invol=397• Reading : Crippled Justice (162-177)
8 November: Americans with Disabilities Act ( ADA )
• Defining Disability in the Civil Rights Context (who's covered)
• Basic structure and principals of the law
• Reading : Sutton, et. al. v. United Airlines , 527 U.S. 471 (1999)
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=97-1943#section1
• Reading/Presentation Group #1 : Toyota v. Williams , 534 U.S. 184 (2002)
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=00-1089#section1
• Reading : Crippled Justice (177-186)
10 November: ADA (Title I) -- Employment Discrimination
• Reading : Chevron v. Echazabal , 536 U.S. 73 (2002).
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=00-1406#section1
• Reading/Presentation Group #2 : U.S. Airways v. Barnett, 535 U.S. 391 (2002).
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-1250.ZO.html
• Reading : Crippled Justice (186-205)
15 November: ADA (Title II) -- Nondiscrimination in state and local government
• Reading : Henrietta D. v. Bloomberg , 331 F.3d 261 (2 nd Cir. 2003)
• Reading/Presentation Group #3: Fisher v. Oklahoma Health Care Authority , 335 F.3d 1175 (10 th Cir. 2003)
http://www.kscourts.org/ca10/cases/2003/07/02-5192.htm
• Reading/Presentation Group #4: Olmstead v. L.C . 527 U.S. 581 (1999) (OPINION)
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=98-536#section1
• Outline of Country Presentation Due
17 November: ADA (Title III) -- Discrimination in Public Accommodations
• Reading : Access Now, Inc. v. Southwest Airlines, Co. , 227 F.Supp.2d 1312 (S.D.Fla. 2002)
http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/docket/110402access-ruling.pdf
• Reading/Presentation Group #5: Dudley v. Hannaford Bros. Co., 333 F.3d 299 (1 st Cir. 2003).
http://www.med.uscourts.gov/Site/opinions/singal/2002/
GZS_03142002_1-01cv41_DUDLEY_v_HANNAFORD.pdf
22 November: Enforcement of the ADA (guest attorney from OCR)
• Administrative Agencies
• Court actions and remedies available
24 November: The significance of equality and non-discrimination for the protection of rights
• Reading : The Rehnquist Court “The Miserly Approach to Disability Rights”
UNIT FOUR: Selected International Models of Disability Civil Rights Laws
29 November: GROUP PRESENTATIONS (2)
1 December: GROUP PRESENTATIONS (2)
6 December: GROUP PRESENTATIONS (2)
8 December: Lana Rae Lenz from CIDR—course evaluation
13 December: Final Exam (as scheduled) 2:30-4:20 PM
28 September 2004