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Sept./Oct. 2000

On Wed. Oct. 11, 2000, the U. S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case Board Of Trustees Of The University Of Alabama, Et Al., v. Patricia Garrett, Et Al. on whether Titles I and II of the Americans with Disabilities Act are "a proper exercise of Congress's power under Section 5 of the 14th Amendment." Is the ADA Constitutional? The material you are about to read comes from "friend of the court" briefs filed this summer, including a "historians' brief" filed by more than 100 scholars and historians "who want to ensure that the well-documented evidence of widespread state discrimination against persons with disabilities is not forgotten by this Court." Read about the briefs filed in the case What the Constitution says Alabama claims . . . States have historically denied persons with disabilities . . . the right to live in the community. . . . the right to vote. . . . the right to travel, to form families . . . . access to the courts . . . . the right to an education in childhood . . . . The scope of discrimination The likely causes of discrimination     The light-colored type running down the edge is a listing of the hundreds of state statutes, session laws, and constitutional provisions that illustrate pervasive state-sponsored discrimination against persons with disabilities, dating from the late nineteenth century through the time of the ADA's enactment and (in some cases) to the present. To read this list, click here. Back to our home page.