Prerequisites: None, but not open to students who have taken another course on American Disability Law.

Exam Type: No Exam

This is a course on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Fair Housing Act as it relates to persons with disabilities,  and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  We also study the constitutional rules the Supreme Court has developed so far.  We will focus on the complicated rules and decisions that govern disability today, many of them Supreme Court decisions, with an aim of understanding what the law is and seeking ways to improve upon it.

We will also discuss major themes such as the pros and cons of mainstreaming; the pros and cons of scientific efforts to eliminate disability by preventing persons with disabilities from being born; the social vs. the medical model of disability; and disability pride.

During the course students will choose paper topics and should submit a paper (instead of an exam).