Disability Rights Community Sobered by Loss of Movement Leader, Supreme Court Decisions on ADA's 12th Anniversary

7/22/2002

From: William Stothers of the Center for an Accessible Society, 619-886-2727; or Lisa Magnino of Fenton Communications, 202-822-5200

WASHINGTON, July 22 -- Twelve years after the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, the mood in the disability community is somber as it approaches the ADA's anniversary on Friday, July 26. Three Supreme Court rulings this term continued a trend of employer victories, as the ADA's civil rights protections were narrowed. Census 2000 figures released this month show the unemployment rate at over 50 percent.

"On this anniversary, we celebrate that the ADA has helped create a society where curb cuts, ramps, lifts on buses, and other access designs are increasingly common. In the process, we have discovered that an accessible society is good for everyone, not just people with disabilities," said Cyndi Jones, director of the Center for an Accessible Society.

"However, it feels like this year that we've backtracked in how society views and accommodates its citizens with disabilities," continued Jones. "We are greatly saddened by the erosions of ADA provisions by the Supreme Court and the continued high rates of unemployment that we see from the recently-released Census data."

Adding to the sober mood is the recent death of Justin Dart, universally acknowledged as the "father of the ADA". "At a time when we need him most, the recent death of Justin Dart, a legendary leader, one of the great advocates of disability independence and empowerment who served several presidents, is a blow," said Jones.

Across the nation, in a "rolling memorial," events that commemorate the ADA's anniversary will honor Justin Dart's legacy.

Supreme Court Decisions Thwart Intent of ADA

The three Supreme Court rulings narrowing the parameters of the ADA this term have brought to a head a trend many believe are impeding efforts to create a more accessible society.

"We are at a high-water mark of the Supreme Court's articulation of the Americans with Disabilities Act," says Peter David Blanck, law professor at the University of Iowa and commissioner on the American Bar Association's Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law.

-- Mario Echazabal v. Chevron: On June 10, in a victory for Chevron, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers may deny a job to disabled workers who face serious risks to their own health or safety.

-- Toyota Manufacturing Corp. vs. Williams: On January 8, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled that carpal tunnel syndrome is not a disability: the "impairment" must prevent a person from performing tasks important to daily life before it can be considered a "disability" enabling an individual to sue for protection against disability discrimination.

-- US Airways v. Barnett: On April 29, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that employees with disabilities are not always entitled to jobs intended for workers with more seniority.

Law Professor Robert Burgdorf has written, "Fourteen years ago, as I drafted the original version of the Americans with Disabilities Act, I never dreamed that this landmark civil rights law would become so widely misunderstood and my words so badly misinterpreted particularly by the body meant to protect the very rights guaranteed by the law.

"I guess there's always hope that the Supreme Court will see the light, but I don't know how that would happen," continued Burgdorf, who also wrote for the National Council on Disability an analysis of Supreme Court Decisions Interpreting the Americans with Disabilities Act. "Whether the ADA can be fixed legislatively, and when the time would be right to do that, and exactly how to do that, I think, is a subject for a lot of future discussion."

Census 2000 Data Reveals Continuing Inequities

Census 2000 data released this month shows 49.7 million people in the U.S. age five and over have a disability -- nearly one in five U.S. residents, or 19 percent.

Census 2000 was the first Census to include on the long form questions on people with disabilities. Some of the data include:

-- 5.2 million were between the ages of five and 20, or eight percent of people in this age group. -- 30.6 million were between the ages of 21 and 64. -- 14 million were 65 and over. Those with disabilities comprised 42 percent of people in this age group.

-- 24 percent: Proportion of Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and West Virginia residents five and over who had a disability in 2000, among the highest rates in the nation. -- 15 percent: Proportion of Alaska, Minnesota and Utah who had a disability in 2000, among the lowest rates in the nation.

-- According to the March 2001 supplement to the Current Population Survey, the mean earnings in 2000 of year-round, full-time workers 16 to 64 with work disabilities was $33,109. By comparison, those without work disabilities earned an average of $43,269.

"According to the 2000 Census data, over 50 percent of people with disabilities are still unemployed," points out Jones. "Part of the problem is adverse court rulings and contradictory federal policies that actually make it difficult for people with disabilities to work."

Federal and state regulations are still biased in favor of nursing homes and institutional care providers over personal attendant services at home, which forces many people to live in nursing homes instead of at home, where they'd be easier able to obtain employment.

Still, there is hope that the more comprehensive Census data will point the way to better policymaking for people with disabilities.

"Disability is highly correlated with low education, poverty, low resources, communities and individuals with low resources," says Mitchell LaPlante, head of NIDRR's Disability Statistics Center. "It's very important to have a tool that can remind us of these things that are in part responsible for disability, and that need to be addressed. The Census is the only (national survey) that provides that."

"We can't tell whether low education and low socioeconomic status is a risk factor for the development of disability, or whether disability is a risk factor for poverty," adds Don Lollar, Ph.D., associate director, disability and health, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "This Census isn't going to tell us that. But it's important to have the visibility of disability as a variable in our national planning, and policy, and understanding."

------ The Center for an Accessible Society acts as a communications clearinghouse dedicated to expanding media coverage of critical disability-related issues. CAS is funded by a five-year grant H133A980045-00 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. http://www.accessiblesociety.org.