 |
Robert Burgdorf
|
1) What are the current challenges the disabled community faces today?
"One of the biggest is making sure that the ADA is fully enforced. There are big gaps in enforcement of the ADA’s requirements and some entities covered by the ADA have taken an I-won’t-do-anything-until-I’m-sued attitude toward the obligations imposed by the law. Every ADA lawsuit that is filed is an example of an instance in which some person with a disability believes that she or he has been subjected to illegal discrimination, and many people do not file lawsuits even though they have been treated illegally."
2) Why do you think the ADA Restoration Act bill was needed?
"One of the things that I have written a lot about is how, after the ADA was passed, many courts made very strict and harsh interpretations of what people needing to file a lawsuit under the law had to do to show that they had a disability so they could be protected by the ADA. By narrowing the class of people who are protected, the courts made a mess of the ADA; and, as a result, many people who experienced discrimination on the basis of disability could not win in court because courts ruled that they did not have a disability."
3) Do you think the ADA is a turning point in history? If so, how?
"I think it is a tremendously significant milestone. At the signing ceremony for the ADA, President George H.W. Bush described the Act as an “historic new civil rights Act . . . the world's first comprehensive declaration of equality for people with disabilities.” The Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights later described the Americans with Disabilities Act as "the most comprehensive civil rights measure in the past two and a half decades.” Senator Edward Kennedy termed the legislation a “bill of rights” and “an emancipation proclamation” for people with disabilities, and declared that it is "difficult to believe that this Congress will enact a more far-reaching or more important bill.
The ADA has accomplished many, but certainly not all, of the things we hoped it would when I wrote the original draft of the law for the National Council on Disability in 1987. In very fundamental ways, it has changed the basic societal perception and expectations of the role of people with disabilities in America, and of the country’s obligation to make accommodations to enable the fullest practicable participation of this segment of the population."
4) In early 2000’s there were several court cases taken to the Supreme Court where states have argued that Congress was exceeding its authority in enacting the ADA. What are your views on this and do you feel it weakened the ADA’s effectiveness?
"Such cases are scary but the Supreme Court decisions so far have not done much damage to the ADA. My view is that since 1990 the Supreme Court has totally changed its standards on the extent of congressional authority to enact such law – rejecting constitutional standards it had established many years ago. I am hoping the Court will not use such “new-fangled” analysis to restrict or invalidate parts of the ADA over twenty years after its enactment."
"One of the biggest is making sure that the ADA is fully enforced. There are big gaps in enforcement of the ADA’s requirements and some entities covered by the ADA have taken an I-won’t-do-anything-until-I’m-sued attitude toward the obligations imposed by the law. Every ADA lawsuit that is filed is an example of an instance in which some person with a disability believes that she or he has been subjected to illegal discrimination, and many people do not file lawsuits even though they have been treated illegally."
2) Why do you think the ADA Restoration Act bill was needed?
"One of the things that I have written a lot about is how, after the ADA was passed, many courts made very strict and harsh interpretations of what people needing to file a lawsuit under the law had to do to show that they had a disability so they could be protected by the ADA. By narrowing the class of people who are protected, the courts made a mess of the ADA; and, as a result, many people who experienced discrimination on the basis of disability could not win in court because courts ruled that they did not have a disability."
3) Do you think the ADA is a turning point in history? If so, how?
"I think it is a tremendously significant milestone. At the signing ceremony for the ADA, President George H.W. Bush described the Act as an “historic new civil rights Act . . . the world's first comprehensive declaration of equality for people with disabilities.” The Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights later described the Americans with Disabilities Act as "the most comprehensive civil rights measure in the past two and a half decades.” Senator Edward Kennedy termed the legislation a “bill of rights” and “an emancipation proclamation” for people with disabilities, and declared that it is "difficult to believe that this Congress will enact a more far-reaching or more important bill.
The ADA has accomplished many, but certainly not all, of the things we hoped it would when I wrote the original draft of the law for the National Council on Disability in 1987. In very fundamental ways, it has changed the basic societal perception and expectations of the role of people with disabilities in America, and of the country’s obligation to make accommodations to enable the fullest practicable participation of this segment of the population."
4) In early 2000’s there were several court cases taken to the Supreme Court where states have argued that Congress was exceeding its authority in enacting the ADA. What are your views on this and do you feel it weakened the ADA’s effectiveness?
"Such cases are scary but the Supreme Court decisions so far have not done much damage to the ADA. My view is that since 1990 the Supreme Court has totally changed its standards on the extent of congressional authority to enact such law – rejecting constitutional standards it had established many years ago. I am hoping the Court will not use such “new-fangled” analysis to restrict or invalidate parts of the ADA over twenty years after its enactment."
