American with Disabilities Act of 1990 - Case Study Example

? American with Disabilities Act of 1990 evolution Background of Proposal People with disabilities havebeen treated with discrimination throughout human history. In previous centuries it was common for disabled people to be considered as liabilities for the family. Many families saw disabled people as a source of shame or as a possible means of the devil’s manifestation. Hence it was common to hide or disown disabled individuals to the extent that most of them died. It was not until the later part of the nineteenth century that some form of organised governmental effort came forward to address this issue. Government sponsored care facilities were created but these were often understaffed, overcrowded and filled with instances of abuse and neglect. It was not considered that disabled people could actually contribute positively to society with their efforts through proper training and support. A major change occurred after the First World War when veterans with disabilities returned from the war in the 1920’s. The massive amounts of people who were rendered disabled by the war could just not be left out in the streets to starve to death and neither could the government afford to care for such a large number of people. Moreover the number of people rendered disabled due to industrial accidents was also on the rise as industry was not promoting safety in operations to drive profit margins up. The Second World War and the immediate aftermath of the Korean War witnessed a greater amount of disabled persons trying to become members of the normal society again. Although certain institutions and training efforts had been put in place after the First World War but the structural framework was not strong enough to support the weight of new entrants. Another major noticeable issue here is that efforts to help out disabled people were focused largely on people disabled during military or industrial service and not people born with disability. (ADA, 2009) As the numbers of disabled persons trying to renter society increased, there was a marked increase in the number of welfare and entitlement programs that were presented as alternatives to total care institutions. Another major factor was the advancements in medical technologies that enabled a number of people to survive disease and otherwise fatal accidents that again led to an increase in the numbers of disabled people. The foundations for rehabilitation based professions were laid down around this time. However most of the people involved in rehabilitation and other such programs were often non disabled persons and hence their comprehension of the problems was largely superficial. Most of the organisations that evolved in this fashion began to push for legislative and policy based changes so that there were some segregated and sheltered changes allowed for people with disabilities. However the impact of these changes was not widely felt. This phase also gave rise to charities that began to support the cause of disabled people. In a sense this signalled the formation of a movement that would later transform into a coherent force to fight for the rights of disabled people. Following the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, the disabled factions of society were also spurred into action to claim their rights and privileges. The movement for the rights of disabled people gathered greater momentum after most of its leaders and spokespersons originated from the disabled people themselves. The first national cross disability organisation emerged as a result in the 1970’s which served to further the rights of disabled people by a substantial degree. Perhaps the greatest achievement of this movement was to reject all kinds of paternalistic treatment meted out to disabled individuals. This enabled the disabled people to reject formerly delivered “charitable” treatment and to realise their full potential. The real strides in legislative and policy matters on disability can be traced back to this change. (Job Accomodation Network, 2001) The first major legislative change can be traced back to 1968 when a series of laws were passed in order to integrate disabled people into society by providing them with meaningful opportunities. A number of these statues provided the right to use some public transportation and public facilities. This was followed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This Act established comprehensive programs based on vocational rehabilitation as well as totally independent living. A federal board was also created in an effort to coordinate and monitor the issues of access to public transport and public buildings for disabled people. Moreover discrimination in hiring disabled people in the federal government’s Executive Branch was prohibited and affirmative action was made mandatory to hire disabled people in federal agencies as well as their contractors. Federal financial assistance was also provided in an effort to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities and this was adopted as a national agenda. The last provision of this Act better known as Section 504 served as the cornerstone for the future ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) and many of its provisions were modelled accordingly. (ilru, 2011) This was followed closely by The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1974 which provided solid ground to educate all children within the same class framework whether they be disabled or not. Moreover the cost of education for disabled children was to be borne by the federal government in tandem with the state government. Further legislative action was taken to pass a bill of rights that included people with developmental disabilities into mainstream society through integrative efforts. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was also amended in 1988 in order to protect people with disabilities by providing them with housing opportunities on a more reasonable scale. Based on the evidence presented above it is obvious that before the ADA was taken into legislation there were already strong grounds to install it. The two decades leading up to the ADA were instrumental in shaping public opinion over disability. The changed opinion of people as per disability recognised that disabled individuals possess human potential and are competent enough to govern their own lives. The goals of public policy were changed consequently to create meaningful equal opportunity for disabled people. The focus of the movement was to mitigate or eliminate any communication, physical, attitude based, transportation policy barriers that might inhibit the integration of disabled people into normal society. Formal Policy Proposal The ADA was first introduced to the 100th Congress. It aimed to eliminate discrimination against disabled people in society in the spheres of employment, public accommodation, public services, transportation and telecommunications. The current version of the ADA underwent multiple drafts, revisions, amendments and negotiations before the first version was introduced in 1988. The process was initiated by a draft bill that had been prepared by the National Council on Disability. This council was an independent federal agency whose members were appointed by the President himself. The first version was made available to the 100th Congress by Senator Weicker and Representative Caelho in 1988. The disability community was quick to take cue and it began to educate the general masses over the issue. Evidence was also gathered on a massive scale to augment the efforts for the ADA. A nationwide campaign was initiated by the disabilities community to write “disability / discrimination diaries” which documented instances on a daily basis where they were subject to discrimination or inaccessibility. These diaries were gathered later and served the important function of serving as testaments to discrimination against disabled people. The other important function served by these diaries was to raise awareness about various discriminatory practices that disabled people were faced with on a daily basis. Previously such barriers to disabled people were considered normal and routine issues that were just part of the ordinary life of disabled people. Previously it had been recognised that disabilities were not just the way things were but were rather used as discrimination against disabled people. Now these discriminations were documented and presented to the working committee of Congress. The Chair for the Congressional Task Force on the Rights and Empowerment of People with Disabilities, Justin Dart put in a lot of effort by going around the entire nation in order to appraise the problems of disabled people personally. He conducted public hearings that were attended by thousands of people including disabled people, their family and friends and activists. These hearings documented various forms of injustice and discrimination that disabled people had to live with on a daily basis. The Policy Process A joint hearing was held before the Senate’s Subcommittee on Disability Policy and the House Subcommittee on Select Education in September 1988. The hearing included a wide variety of disabled people such as blind, deaf, dumb, HIV infected and others. The parents of children suffering disabilities as well as friends and activists testified. The major focus lay on various architectural and communication barriers that prevented disabled people to integrate with society. Moreover various aspects of prejudice and stereotyping against disabled individuals were also highlighted. The room where the hearing was conducted could seat only 700 people and was overflowing with people as the hearing went on. On completion of the hearing, the Chair for Labour and Human Resources Committee, Senator Kennedy and the Chair of the Subcommittee on Disability Policy, Senator Harkin as well as Representative Owens from the House Subcommittee on Select Education placed a form commitment that a comprehensive civil rights bill regarding disability would be put up as the biggest priority of the next Congress. Subsequently the Presidential hopefuls Vice President George Bush Senior and Governor Dukakis endorsed disabled people’s rights as cornerstones for their presidential campaigns. The ADA was introduced to the 101st Congress jointly by Senators Harkin and Durrenberger as well as Representatives Fish and Coelho on May 9th 1989. The disability groups spurred into action and a large coalition was created between the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) as well as various civic, religious and labour organisations. One of the greatest strengths of the disability community was that it did not pursue this bill through various classes of disabled people but rather as a joint community. There were suggestions to exclude certain classes of disabled people such as those with HIV but the disability community resisted any such attempts even at the expense of losing the bill altogether. To carry the bill to passage a lot of work was required on the part of various groups and professionals. A large team of advocates and lawyers was commissioned to draft the legal sides of the bill as well as to resolve various legal complexities that arose. Various other top level negotiators as well as policy analysts were commissioned to form a workable interface with members of Congress and their staffs. Disability communities and organisations rallied their members from around the entire country. A complete system was developed for lobbying by members of the national disability community to present themselves as witnesses before Congress. Moreover answers were prepared by lawyers to deal with various questions by members of Congress as well as businesses. Myriad task forces were formed. Protests and rallies were conducted throughout the country to express the ultimate object of getting the ADA passed through Congress. In this respect the very first hearing for the ADA in the 101st Congress was a landmark event. It served to set the direction for all future efforts on the ADA. The hearing was initiated by the primary sponsors who spoke of their own experiences with disability. Senator Harkin related that his brother was deaf while Senator Kennedy talked about his son who was leg had to be amputated. Representative Coelho related that he suffered from epilepsy and that the accompanying discrimination took him to the point of destruction. Given the multitude of efforts put in by the members of the disabled community as well as various professionals and legislators it was little surprise that the ADA was eventually adopted as a comprehensive piece of legislation. The ADA was signed into law on July 26th 1990 by President George Bush the senior. The Act’s final regulations for Title One were issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on July 26th 1991. The final regulations for Title Two and Title Three were also issued on the very same day by the Department of Justice. (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2011) The Dynamics of the Process Although the ADA can be seen as something that would be acceptable to everyone in society but there were certain groups that posed as impediments in the passage of the bill. In contrast roughly more than one hundred different disability rights, social justice and civil rights groups worked together to secure the passage of this act. Certain religious groups were opposed to the passage of the ADA such as the Association of Christian Schools International. (Lawton, 1990) Groups such as the ASCI were opposed to the ADA in its original form because it declared various religious institutions as “public accommodations”. This in turn would have meant that churches would have had to undergo costly structural changes in order to accommodate disabled people. (Congressional Digest, 1989a) The insistence of the ASCI and other such religious groups to avoid incurring such costs meant that religious institutions were not labelled as public accommodations. Instead churches around the country were allowed to choose if they wanted to provide access to disabled people and hence incur these costs. Other than this some other religious groups such as the National Association of Evangelicals also opposed the passage of the ADA although for different reasons. These groups were opposed to the ADA’s Title One which they felt was against religious liberty because it interfered with the church’s internal affairs too much. A joint statement by these groups outlined the problem by stating that the ADA was an improper intrusion being pursued by the federal government. (Lawton, 1990) Another bulwark of opposition to the ADA originated from members of the business community. Most business people felt that the passage of the ADA would incur large costs for providing access for disabled people. Moreover some businesses felt that employing disabled people would negatively affect their business operations. As an example Greyhound Bus Lines testified against the ADA in Congress. Their argument stated that imposing the ADA would rob millions of ordinary people from an affordable bus service. In a similar fashion the US Chamber of Commerce opposed the passage of the ADA by arguing that the costs imposed by the ADA would ruin many small and struggling businesses and could potentially limit their chances of surviving. (Congressional Digest, 1989b) Small businesses also emerged with their lobbies such as the National Federation of Independent Businesses in order to arrest the bill. The NFIB termed the ADA “a disaster for small business” (Mandel, 1990) expressing its disapproval for the ADA. This line of action was also joined by the various pro business analyst community members who argued that the ADA did not have the potential to augment the life standard of disabled people. Moreover this faction also argued that the ADA would incur large costs for little to no benefit. It was also argued that these costs would decrease the standard of living for millions of ordinary citizens who would indirectly have to pay for these costs. (Doherty, 1995) These and other similar groups struggled continually to somehow lessen the scope of the ADA or to arrest its passage altogether. However, the concentrated efforts of millions of disabled people and their supporters ensured that the entire bill passed without much effective opposition from the legislature. The Outcomes The disabilities movement had become a unified force to be contended with in political circles. Members of the disabled community had educated the public enough to alter their opinions on the matter and to finally convince Congress to adopt a comprehensive disabilities rights and privileges bill. The Senate passed the bill with a wide margin of 76 votes to 8 votes on September 7th 1989 and the bill was forwarded to the House where a total of four Committees scrutinised it. Each of the four Committees had an additional subcommittee which conducted its own hearing. A wide array of amendments had to be meticulously explained, lobbied for and against and defeated in order to make the bill a reality. As the bill’s passage drew nearer there was an increased need to organise the disabled community at the grass roots level because businesses were increasingly lobbying to arrest the development of the bill. However it must be appreciated that the disabled community never faltered and never branched off into smaller factions. There were tries to create splits in the disabilities movement by providing certain forms of disabled people some privileges at the expense of other groups but none of these attempts succeeded. The final bill was a comprehensive piece of legislation that encompassed nearly all aspects of the disabled people’s problems. Historically there have been few amendments required to the ADA which speaks volumes of its legislative robustness. The ADA is a one of a kind piece of legislation that prompts various businesses to consider disabled people both in terms of employment and in terms of access to services. Moreover the older image of disabled people being limited because of their disabilities is giving way to a newer image that sees discrimination against disabilities as unacceptable. The human capabilities of disabled people and their potential to contribute to society are also being reinforced through this act. Disabled people have been provided with avenues and methods that suit their specific needs so that they can become more effective members of society. Disabled people have been provided with a legislative guarantee as being treated equally. Behaving well with and facilitating disabled persons is not a matter of charity anymore but rather an issue concerned with basic civil rights. Bibliography ADA. (2009, June 14). ADA - Findings, Purpose, and History. Retrieved September 7, 2011, from ADA Anniversary: http://adaanniversary.org/2009/ap02_ada_findings_history/ap02_ada_findings_history_09_natl.html The ADA National Network provides information, guidance and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), tailored to meet the needs of business, government and individuals at local, regional and national levels. The ADA National Network consists of ten Regional ADA National Network Centers located throughout the United States that provides personalized, local assistance to ensure that the ADA is implemented wherever possible. We are not an enforcement or regulatory agency, but a helpful resource supporting the ADA’s mission to “make it possible for everyone with a disability to live a life of freedom and equality.” Congressional Digest. (1989a). Should the Senate Approve the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1989? Congressional Digest , 297. Congressional Digest, published by Congressional Digest Corporation, is an independent monthly publication with offices in Washington, DC. Congressional Digest was founded in 1921 by suffragette Alice Gram Robinson with the goal of presenting, in her words, “an impartial view of controversial issues.” Congressional Digest. (1989b). Should the Senate Approve the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1989? Congressional Digest December , 208. Doherty, B. (1995). Financial ruin. Reason 27(4) , 18. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2011, September 1). Celebrating the Americans with Disabilities Act: Looking Back, Moving Forward. Retrieved September 7, 2011, from EEOC: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/45th/ada20/celebrating.cfm ilru. (2011, August 20). Americans with Disabilities Act: Findings and Purposes. Retrieved September 7, 2011, from ilru: http://www.dlrp.org/html/topical/adafindingspurposes.html The DBTAC Southwest ADA Center is the Southwest's leading resource on the Americans with Disabilities Act and related disability rights laws. The Center is one of the DBTAC National Network of Centers funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) of the Department of Education. Job Accomodation Network. (2001, November 28). History. Retrieved September 7, 2011, from Ask Jan: http://askjan.org/media/ADAHandbook/HIST.txt The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is the leading source of free, expert, and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and disability employment issues.  Working toward practical solutions that benefit both employer and employee, JAN helps people with disabilities enhance their employability, and shows employers how to capitalize on the value and talent that people with disabilities add to the workplace. Lawton, K. A. (1990). Passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Christianity Today 34(14) , 71. Christianity Today continues as a leader in providing informative editorial on current events, news from a Christian perspective, Christian doctrine and issues. Mandel, S. (1990). Disabling the GOP. The National Review 42(11) , 23-24. National Review (NR) is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion." Read More