'''Americans The with Disabilities Act of 1990''' (ADA) is the short title of United States (USStatute10133610432719900726), codified at usc4212101 et seq., List of United States federal legislationsigned into law on July 26, 1990 by President George H. W. Bush. The ADA is a wideranging civil rights law that prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on Race (classification of human beings)race, religion, gendersex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal. Disability is defined as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity." The determination of whether any particular condition is considered a disability is made on a case by case basis. Certain specific conditions are excluded as disabilities, such as current substance abusers. Title I of the ADA was found unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in the case of ''Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett'' as violating the states' Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution sovereign immunity rights insofar as it allowed the states to be sued for money damages. ==Main Section== ===Title I - Employment=== :''See usc421211112117.'' The ADA states that a ''covered entity'' shall not discriminate against a ''qualified'' individual with a disability. This applies to job application procedures, hiring, advancement and discharge of employees, employee compensationworker's compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. ''Covered entity'' can refer to an employment agency, labor organization, or joint labormanagement committee, and is generally an employer engaged in interstate commerce and having 15 or more workers. Discrimination, among other things, may include limiting or classifying a job applicant or employee in an adverse way, denying employment opportunities to people who truly qualify, or not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of disabled employees, not advancing employees with disabilities in the business, and/or not providing needed accommodations in training. Employers can use medical entrance examinations for applicants, after making the job offer, only if ''all'' applicants (regardless of disability) must take it, and if it is treated as a confidential medical record. ''Qualified individuals'' do not include any employee or applicant who is currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs when that usage is the basis for the employer's actions. <ref>usc4212111</ref> === Title II - Public Services (and public transportation)=== :''See usc421213112165.'' Title II has two sections. One covers public agencies (local, county, state, etc., government and their units). That section generally requires the agencies to comply with regulations similar to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. These rules cover access to all programs offered by the entity. Access includes physical access described in the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards or the ADA Standards for
Accessible Design and access that might be obstructed by discriminatory policies or procedures of the entity. The other section of Title II is specific to public transportation provided by public entities. It includes the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, along with all other commuter authorities. This section requires the provision of paratransit services by public entities. Both sections state that a "public entity" can be any state or local government or any department or agency thereof. The lack of accessibility or certain services can be considered discrimination, regardless of who it actually affects. For example, a lack of wheelchair accessibility in passenger cars, or even the leasing of wheelchair inaccessible ones without a "good faith" attempt to lease wheelchair accessible ones is considered discrimination under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. <ref>usc4212131</ref> ===Title III - Public Accommodations (and Commercial Facilities)=== :''See usc421218112189.'' Image:Birmbarber.jpgrightthumb250pxA small business advertising the fact that it provides accommodations for disabled persons Under Title III, no individual may be discriminated against on the basis of disability with regards to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, or accommodations of any place of ''public accommodation'' by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of ''public accommodation''. "Public accommodations" include most places of lodging (such as inns and hotels), recreation, transportation, education, and dining, along with stores, care providers, and places of public displays, among other things. Most of the lawsuits filed under Title III of the ADA deal with the physical conditions or "accessibility" of physical places. Under Title III of the ADA, all "new construction" (construction, modification or alterations) after the effective date of the ADA (approximately July of 1992) must be fully compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines ("ADAAG") found in the Code of Federal Regulations at 28 C.F.R., Part 36, Appendix "A." Perhaps even more importantly is the fact that Title III also has application to already existing facilities. One of the definitions of "discrimination" under Title III of the ADA is a "failure to remove" architectural barriers in existing facilities. See uscsub4212182b2Aiv. This means that even facilities that have not been modified or altered in any way after the ADA was passed still have obligations. The standard is whether "removing barriers" (typically defined as bringing a condition into compliance with the ADAAG) is "readily achievable," defined as "easily accomplished without much difficulty or expense." The statutory definition of "readily achievable" calls for a balancing test between the cost of the proposed "fix" and the wherewithal of the business and/or owners of the business. Thus, what might be "readily
achievable" for a sophisticated and financially capable corporation might not be readily achievable for a small "mom-n-pop" outfit. There are exceptions to this title; many private clubs and religious organizations may not be bound by Title III. With regard to historic properties (those properties that are listed or that are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, or properties designated as historic under State or local law), those facilities must still comply with the provisions of Title III of the ADA to the "maximum extent feasible" but if following the usual standards would "threaten to destroy the historic significance of a feature of the building" then alternative standards may be used. Nonetheless, as Frank Bowe predicted when he testified as the lead witness on Title III in the Senate hearings leading up to enactment, the fact that Title III calls for accessibility in, and alterations to, many thousands of stores, restaurants, hotels, etc., in many thousands of communities across the U.S. means that this Title probably has had more effect on the lives of more Americans with disabilities than any other ADA title. <ref>usc4212162</ref> ===Title IV - Telecommunications=== Title IV of the ADA amended the landmark Communications Act of 1934 primarily by adding section usc47225. This section requires that all of the 1,600 some-odd telecommunications companies in the U.S. take steps to ensure functionally equivalent services for consumers with disabilities, notably those who are deaf or hard of hearing and those with speech impairments. When Title IV took effect in the early 1990s, it led to installation of public Teletypewriter (TTY) machines and other TDDs (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf). Title IV also led to creation, in all 50 States and the District of Columbia, of what were then called dual-party relay services and now are known as Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS). Today, many TRS-mediated calls are made over the Internet by consumers who use broadband connections. Some are video relay service (VRS) calls, while others are text calls. In either variation, communication assistants translate between the signed/typed words of a consumer and the spoken words of others. In 2006, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), VRS calls averaged two million minutes a month. That statistic captures the tremendous impact of Title IV. It has made it not only possible, but very easy, for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, and/or speech-impaired to call friends and coworkers, order a pizza, or make a doctor appointment. ===Title V - Miscellaneous Provisions=== :''See usc471220112213.'' Title V includes technical provisions. It discusses, for example, the fact that nothing in the ADA amends, overrides or cancels anything in Section 504. <ref>usc4712187</ref> ==Groups that worked to pass the ADA== The ADA is notable because many disparate groups came together for a common purpose. In addition, other civil rights groups outside the disability community helped. The late Justin Dart worked tirelessly,
traveling to all 50 States, to bring these many groups together in common cause. *AIDS Action Council *AIDS National InterFaith Network *American Civil Liberties Union *American Foundation for the Blind *Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) *Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Handicapped *Association for Retarded Citizens *Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities *Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund *Dole Foundation *Easter Seals *Eastern Paralyzed Veterans of America *Epilepsy Foundation of America *Human Rights Campaign Fund *Institution for Rehabilitation and Research *Leadership Conference on Civil Rights *Legal Action Center *Mental Health Law Project *National Association of the Deaf *National Association of Developmental Disabilities Councils *National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems *National Center for Law and the Deaf *National Council of Independent Living *National Council on Disability *National Disability Action Center *National Organization Responding AIDS to *National Organization on Disability *Paralyzed Veterans of America *President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities *Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality *Spina Bifida Association of America *United Cerebral Palsy Association ==Quote== On signing the measure, George H. W. Bush said: cquoteI know there may have been concerns that the ADA may be too vague or too costly, or may lead endlessly to litigation. But I want to reassure you right now that my administration and the United States Congress have carefully crafted this Act. We've all been determined to ensure that it gives flexibility, particularly in terms of the timetable of implementation; and we've been committed to containing the costs that may be incurred.... Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down."<ref>http://www.eeoc.gov/ada/bushspeech.html The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission </ref> ==Criticism== Unreferencedsectiondate=February 2007 The ADA is frequent target of criticism. For example, some claim that Individuals who are diagnosed with one of the, "lesser disabilities," including clinical depression or minor neck or back
pain (see neuropathy) are being accommodated when they should not be. Second, the ADA has created one "professional plaintiff" who makes a living out of collecting monetary damages from noncompliant businesses. The Miami attorney filed 700 complaints in a three-year period, typically settling each case for $3000 to $5000 dollars and a promise to remedy the violation. The criticism is limited, however, because the ADA allows private plaintiffs to receive only injunctive relief and attorney fees. Moreover, there is benefit to these "private attorney generals" who identify and compel the correction of illegal conditions. Even those who support the intent of the law worry that it might have unintended consequences. Among other arguments, they hypothesize that the Act creates additional legal risks for employers who then quietly avoid hiring people with disabilities to avoid this risk. And such researchers (e.g., DeLeire, 2000; Acemoglu & Angrist, 2001) claim to have documented a sharp drop in employment among Individuals with a disability after passage of the Act (see Schwochau & Blanck for counter arguments). Others (see Schall, 1998) believe that the law has been ineffectual; presumably, even stronger legislation (or legislation that crafts a different reward structure) is needed to achieve the Act's intended goals. Many libertarians believe accommodation (law)accommodation laws, like "wholesome food" laws, restrict the free market. Moreover, the ADA did not come with a guide for the cognitive, or, "mental," disabilities section and left employers and employees to fend for themselves. Psychologist Dr. John Fielder (1994) corrected this oversight by writing a manual for employers that has been used by many parties concerned with issues of cognitive disabilities." Many people think that one of the major flaws or weaknesses of the Americans with Disabilities Act is that it puts almost the entire burden of enforcement on individual persons with disabilities. Thousands of people have submitted requests to the Department of Justice for investigation of barriers in older buildings and design and construction errors in brand new facilities. Most of these are ignored, because even if the government wanted to investigate all of them, they lack the staff or budget to do so. If the individual wants action, he or she had to hire an attorney and bring a civil suit. Because most business owners realized after a while that there was little chance that the DOJ would come after them, and thus put off making changes to remove barriers, some persons with disabilities brought multiple suits. And some attorneys, anxious to make money, exploited these persons with disabilities. Many advocates, of access for all, believe that persons with disabilities are justified in being discouraged and disgusted with the slow pace of barrier removal and accessible construction since 1992, and are struggling to come up with ways to bring complaints against those who are deliberately violating their civil rights.
==Case Law== There have been some notable cases regarding the ADA. For example, Target Corp. a major retailer, was sued because their web designers failed to design its website to enable persons with low or no vision to use it <ref>http://www.dralegal.org/cases/private_business/nfb_v_target.ph p Disability Rights Advocates</ref>. In addition, a major hotel room marketer with its business presence on the internet is being sued because its customers with disabilities cannot reserve hotel rooms through its website without substantial extra efforts that persons without disabilities are not required to perform <ref>http://www.dralegal.org/search/ Disability Rights Advocates</ref>. These represent a major potential expansion of the ADA in that this, and other similar suits (known as "bricks vs. Clicks"), seeks to expand the ADA's authority to cyberspace where entities may not have actual physical facilities that are required to comply. Another example, ''Barden v. The City of Sacramento'', filed in March 1999, claimed that the City of Sacramento failed to comply with the ADA when, while making public street improvements, it did not bring its sidewalks into compliance with the ADA. Certain issues were resolved in Federal Court. One issue, whether sidewalks were covered by the ADA, was appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals which ruled that sidewalks were a "program" under ADA and must be made accessible to persons with disabilities. The ruling was later appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court which refused to hear the case, letting stand the ruling of the 9th Circuit Court. <ref>http://www.dralegal.org/cases/public_entities/barden_v_sacrame nto.php Barden v. Sacramento from Disability Rights Advocates</ref>. ''Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd.'' was a complicated case that was decided by the United States Supreme Court in 2005. The defendant argued that as a vessel flying the flag of a foreign nation was exempt from the requirements of the ADA. This argument was accepted by a federal court in Florida and, subsequently, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. However, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the lower courts on the basis that Norwegian Cruise Lines was a business headquartered in the United States whose clients were predominantly Americans and, more importantly, operated out of port facilities throughout the United States. ==Resources== *Acemoglu, Daron & Angrist, Joshua D. (2001). Consequences of Employment Protection? The Case of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Political Economy, volume 109 (2001), pages 915957. *Bush, George H. W., ''Remarks of President George Bush at the Signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act''. Available on-line at http://www.eeoc.gov/ada/bushspeech.html Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. *DeLeire, Thomas. (Autumn, 2000). The Wage and Employment Effects of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 693-715
*Fielder, J. F. ''Mental Disabilities and the Americans with Disabilities Act.'' Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 2004. *Hamilton Krieger, Linda, ed., ''Backlash Against the ADA: Reinterpreting Disability Rights'' Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003. *Johnson, Mary. (2000). ''Make Them Go Away: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Reeve & The Case Against Disability Rights.'' Louisville, KY: The Advocado Press. *Schall, Carol M. (Jun 1998). The Americans with Disabilities Act--Are We Keeping Our Promise? An Analysis of the Effect of the ADA on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, v10 n3 p191-203. *Schwochau, Susan & Blanck, Peter David. The Economics of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Part III: Does the ADA Disable the Disabled? BERKELEY JOURNAL OF EMPLOYMENT & LABOR LAW Vol. 21:271 *Switzer, Jacqueline Vaughn. ''Disabled Rights: American Disability Policy and the Fight for Equality''. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2003... *Weber, Mark C. ''Disability Harassment''. New York, NY: NYU Press, 2007. ==See also== *Accessibility *Developmental disability *American Disability rights movement *Casey Martin *List of disability rights activists — includes a list of people who helped pass the ADA *List of anti-discrimination acts ** Disability discrimination act ** Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 ===Related categories=== *:Category:Disability legislation *:Category:Disability rights ==External links== * http://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/toolkitmain.htm Compliance tool kits from the FDA * http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/statutes/ofccp/ada.htm Text of the Act from the U.S. Department of Labor *http://finduslaw.com/americans_with_disabilities_act_of_1990_ada_42_u_s_ code_chapter_126 Navigable text of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 - 42 U.S. Code Chapter 126 *http://www.ADAPortal.org Searchable collection of over 7,000 Federal ADA documents *http://www.adata.org Federally-funded technical assistance network *http://www.acluprocon.org/bin/procon/procon.cgi?database=5-H-Sub4Q.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=2&rnd=951.2914029720052 Is the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) a good law? * http://www.ericdigests.org/2002-1/ada.html Overview of ADA, IDEA, and Section 504: Update 2001 * http://www.ericdigests.org/1996-3/ada.htm Overview of ADA, IDEA, and Section 504 * http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-1/people.htm Employment of People with Disabilities
* http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-3/web.htm Accessible Web Design * http://www.ericdigests.org/1996-4/testing.htm Testing Students with Disabilities *http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/search.tkl?q=ada&amp;search_c rit=title&amp;search=Search&amp;date1=Anytime&amp;date2=Anytime&amp;type= form Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act * http://paratransitwatch.blogspot.com/ Paratransit Watch - Accessible Public Transportation News, Issues, and Resources. * http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm U.S. Department of Justice. ADA Info ==References== &lt;references /&gt; Category:1990 in law Category:United States federal civil rights legislation Category:Disability legislation Category:Disability rights ja:</text>