Law

Disability Rights Secured by Landmark Supreme Court Decision Topic of April 1 Program at Law School

Five experts in disability civil rights will discuss the origin and continued impact of a landmark disabilities rights case at an April 1, 2015 program at Rutgers School of Law–Newark. The program is sponsored by the law school’s Public Interest Fellows, the Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and the Institute on Human Development and Disability at the University of Georgia. 
 
Olmstead v. L.C. and E.W. is commonly referred to as the Brown v. Board of Education of disability rights cases, yet few people outside of the disability community know much about the history, outcome, and positive effect on society. The U.S. Supreme Court held that, pursuant to the “least restrictive environment” provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a person with a disability has a right to live in community settings rather than in institutions. Today, thousands of people with cognitive and physical disabilities owe their freedom to this 1999 civil rights case. 
 
What: “The Olmstead Decision and Its Aftermath (Disability Civil Rights)”
Who: Eve Hill, Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
Susan Jamieson ’74, Lead Attorney in Olmstead v. L.C. and Disability Law Co-director, University of Georgia Institute on Human Development and Disability (UCEDD)
Joe Young, Executive Director, Disability Rights New Jersey (DRNJ)
Ruth Lowenkron, Senior Staff Attorney, DRNJ
Talley Wells, Director of the Disability Integration Project, Atlanta Legal Aid Society; creator, OlmsteadRights.org; and Disability Law Co-director, University of Georgia Institute on Human Development and Disability (UCEDD)
When: 4:30 – 6:30 pm, Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Where: Baker Trial Courtroom, Rutgers School of Law–Newark