Understanding Disability Law

Understanding Disability Law discusses important statutory and constitutional issues relating to disability discrimination. It is designed to help students in disability law courses synthesize and apply the materials they are learning. It is also designed to function as a compact treatise for practicing lawyers and those looking for an analysis of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Fair Housing Act Amendments, and other laws as they relate to the controversial issues of disability rights. The book discusses the leading cases on each of the major topics of disability law and suggests ways of thinking about unresolved questions and debates over legal policy.

The fourth edition adds new information on every important topic. It includes thorough discussion of the Supreme Court's Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller ruling about emotional distress damages in ADA, Section 504, and ACA cases, as well as the Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools decision concerning exhaustion of administrative remedies in special education cases. It provides new sources on the intersection of race and disability and on accommodations in family unification services for parents with disabilities.

Coverage remains as comprehensive and detailed as before and includes:

• Constitutional law bearing on disability discrimination;
• The controversy over who is a person with a disability for purposes of federal statutes;
• Employment discrimination rights and remedies;
• Educational discrimination, including special education law and higher education for students with disabilities;
• Discrimination in public accommodations;
• Discrimination by federal, state, and local governments; and
• Disability discrimination related to housing, transportation, and telecommunications.