Future prospects for the united nations convention on the rights of persons with disabilities

International Studies in Human Rights

Volumn 100, Issue , 2009, Pages 17-40

  Stein, Michael Ashley ^a   Lord, Janet E ^b  

^a NEW YORK UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b AMERICAN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84940646204     PISSN: 09244751     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book Series    
DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004169715.i-320.14     Document Type: Review

References (116)

1. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, G. A. Res. 61/106 (2007) [hereinafter CRPD].
2. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, G. A. Res. 61/106(2007), entered into force 3 May 2008 [hereinafter Optional Protocol].
3. See General Assembly Adopts Groundbreaking Convention, Optional Protocol on Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Delegations, Civil Society Hail First Human Rights Treaty of Twenty-First Century, GA/105554 (United Nations Department of Public Information December 13, 2006), available online at .
4. The CRPD text, along with its drafting history, resolutions, and updated list of States Parties is posted on the United Nations Enable website, available online at .
5. Gerard Quinn & Theresia Degener, Human Rights and Disability: The Current Use and Future Potential of United Nations Human Rights Instruments in the Context of Disability 1(2002), available online at .
6. For earlier accounts that were drawn upon for this chapter, see Janet E. Lord & Michael Ashley Stein, The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in The United Nations and Human Rights: A Critical Appraisal - (Philip Alston & Frédéric Mégret eds., forthcoming Oxford University Press);
7. Michael Ashley Stein, Disability Human Rights, 95 Cal. L. Rev. 75 (2007).
8. Prior to the adoption of the CRPD, which represents the eighth UN hard law treaty, the core human rights treaties included: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G. A. Res. 2200 A (XXI), U. N. GAOR, Supp. No. 16 at 52, U. N. Doc. A/6316 (1966) [hereinafter ICCPR];
9. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, G. A. Res. 2200A (XXI), U. N. GAOR, Supp. No. 16 at 49, U. N. Doc. A/6316 (1966) [hereinafter ICESCR];
10. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, G. A. Res. 39/46, U. N. GAOR, 39th Sess., Annex, Supp. No. 51 at 197, U. N. Doc. A/39/51 (1984) [hereinafter CAT];
11. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, G. A. Res. 34/180, U. N. GAOR, 34th Sess., Supp. No. 46, at 193, U. N. Doc. A/34/46 (1981) [hereinafter CEDAW];
12. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, G. A. Res. 2106 (XX), U. N. GAOR, Supp. No. 14, at 47, U. N. Doc. A/6014 (1966) [hereinafter CERD];
13. International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, G. A. Res. 45/158 of 18 December 1990 [hereinafter ICRMW];
14. Convention on the Rights of the Child, G. A. Res. 44/25, U. N. GAOR, 44th Sess., Supp. No. 49, at 16, U. N. Doc. A/44/49 (1989) [hereinafter CRC].
15. A ninth core convention has also recently been adopted but not yet entered into force: International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, G. A. Res. 61/177, 20 December 2006.
16. For example, in the decade 1994-2003, seventeen disability-related complaints were asserted under the seven core United Nations instruments, but thirteen were declared inadmissible by their respective monitoring committees. The website maintained by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) contains detailed information on the operation of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies, and is available online at .
17. The general comments of the human rights treaty bodies and other work product may be accessed through the OHCHR website, as well as the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights web page, available online at .
18. See generally Gerard Quinn, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Disability: A Conceptual Framework, in Human Rights and Disabled Persons 69 (Theresia Degener & Yolan Koster-Dreese eds., Kluwer Academic Publishers 1995) [hereinafter Human Rights and Disabled Persons];
19. Philip Alston, Disability and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, in Human Rights and Disabled Persons, id., at 94;
20. Manfred Nowak & Walter Suntinger, The Right of Disabled People Not to be Subjected to Torture, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, in Human Rights and Disabled Persons, id., at 117.
21. See, e.g., ICESCR, supra note 8, at art. 2, para. 2 (the rights enumerated in the ICESCR "will be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour... or other status").
22. See, e.g., CAT, supra note 8, at art. 1 (1) (implicitly covering disability-based discrimination within its definition of torture which is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of committing, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind.") [emphasis added].
23. For a discussion of the application of existing human rights obligations to persons with disabilities, see National Council on Disability, A White Paper - Understanding the Role of an International Convention on the Human Rights of People with Disabilities (Janet E. Lord, principal author, Washington DC, June 12, 2002), available online at .
24. See, e.g., CERD, supra note 8, at art. 1 (implicitly prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities who face racial discrimination defined as "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.")
25. See, e.g., CEDAW, supra note 8, at arts. 1-2 (implicitly covering discrimination against women with disabilities insofar as Article 2 of CEDAW provides that "States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms" and defines the term "discrimination against women" in Article 1 as "any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.")
26. See, e.g., CRC, supra note 8, at art. 2 (providing that the rights of the child in the CRC are to be respected and ensured "without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status.").
27. See, e.g., ICRMW, supra note 8, at art. 7 (providing that the rights of "all migrant workers and members of their families" should be respected and ensured "without distinction of any kind such as to sex, race, colour, language, religion or conviction, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, nationality, age, economic position, property, marital status, birth or other status.")
28. See World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia & Related Intolerance, Aug. 31-Sept. 8, 2001, Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, U. N. Doc. No. A/CONF.189/12, available online at .
29. See CRC, supra note 8, at art. 23, para. 1. (States Parties must recognize the rights of children with disabilities to enjoy "full and decent" lives and participate in their communities.). However, this obligation is tempered by the relative financial constraints of States Parties, and also does not mandate that children with disabilities be treated or considered equal to children without disabilities.
30. See generally Thomas Hammarberg, The Rights of Disabled Children - The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in Human Rights and Disabled Persons, supra note 10, at 147.
31. Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons, G. A. Res. 2856 (XXVI), U. N. GAOR, Supp. No. 29 at 93, U. N. Doc. A/8429 (1971).
32. Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, G. A. Res. 3447 (XXX), U. N. GAOR, Supp. No. 34 at 88, U. N. Doc. A/10034 (1975).
33. International Year of Disabled Persons, G. A. Res. 36/77, U. N. GAOR, 36th Sess., Supp. No. 77 at 176, U. N. Doc. A/RES/36/77 (1981).
34. Implementation of the World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons, G. A. Res. 37/53, U. N. GAOR, 37th Sess., Supp. No. 53 at 186-87, para. 11, U. N. Doc. A/RES/37/53 (1982).
35. World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons, G. A. Res. 37/52, U. N. GAOR, 37th Sess., Supp. No. 51 at 185, U. N. Doc. A/RES/37/52 (1982).
36. Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons With Disabilities, G. A. Res. 48/96, at 202, U. N. GAOR, 48th Sess, Supp. No. 49 at 68, U. N. Doc. A/RES/48/96 (1993) [hereinafter Standard Rules].
37. See generally United Nations Enable, The Special Rapporteur on Disability of the Commission for Social Development, available online at .
38. For an insider's perspective on the role of the Special Rapporteur, see Bengt Lindqvist, Standard Rules in the Disability Field - A New United Nations Instrument, in Human Rights and Disabled Persons, supra note 10, at 63.
39. Whether human rights treaties are actually enforceable is the subject of heated academic debate. Compare, e.g., Oona A. Hathaway, The Cost of Commitment, 55 Stan. L. Rev. 1821 (2003) (maintaining that traditional understandings of treaty ratification do not adequately account for the likelihood of State compliance);
40. Oona A. Hathaway, Do Human Rights Treaties Make a Difference?, 111 Yale L. J. 1935 (2002) (asserting that some number of States ratify human rights treaties as a means of avoiding observance)
41. with Ryan Goodman & Derek Jinks, How to Influence States: Socialization and International Human Rights Law, 54 Duke L. J. 621 (2004) (arguing that international human rights treaties encourage domestic legal norm changes);
42. Ryan Goodman & Derek Jinks, Measuring the Effects of Human Rights Treaties, 13 Euro. J. Int'l. L. 171 (2003) (same, while also critiquing the empirical evidence upon which Hathaway based her conclusions).
43. For a harmonizing approach, see Alex Geisinger & Michael Ashley Stein, A Theory of Expressive International Law, 60 Vand. L. Rev. 77 (2007).
44. Leandro Despouy, Report on Human Rights and Disabled Persons paras. 280-81(1993), available online at (noting that "persons with disabilities are going to find themselves in a legal disadvantage in relation to other vulnerable groups" because "unlike the other vulnerable groups, they do not have an international control body to provide them with particular and specific protection").
45. Notably, in 1987, Italy proffered a convention draft during the forty-second session of the General Assembly. See U. N. GAOR, 42nd Sess., 16th mtg., U. N. Doc. A/C.3/42/SR.16 (Oct. 19, 1987).
46. U. N. GAOR, 44th Sess., 16th mtg., U. N. Doc. A/C.3/44/SR.16 (Oct. 24, 1989).
47. Comprehensive and Integral International Convention to Promote and Protect the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, G. A. Res. 56/168, U. N GAOR, 56th Sess., Supp. No. 168, U. N. Doc. A/RES/56/168 (Dec. 19, 2001).
48. A detailed description of the political process behind the United Nations decision to go forward with a disability human rights convention is set forth in the National Council on Disability, Newsroom, UN Disability Convention - Topics at a Glance: History of the Process, available online at .
49. The Ad Hoc Committee held eight negotiating sessions in total, in addition to the January 2004 Working Group meeting. The sessions ran from 2002 until August 2006, after which the adopted draft Convention was submitted to a technical drafting committee to be reviewed and "cleaned" and made ready for submission to the entire General Assembly. The Convention was officially adopted by the General Assembly on Dec. 13, 2006. More on each session of the Ad Hoc Committee sessions is available online at: .
50. See generally Henry J. Steiner & Philip Alston, International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals 136-322 (2d ed., Oxford University Press 2000).
51. Declaration on the Right to Development, G. A. Res. 41/128, Annex, U. N. GAOR, 41st Sess., Supp. No. 53 at 183, U. N. Doc. A/RES/41/128 (1986).
52. Subsequently, the 1993 Vienna Declaration proclaimed the right to development was "a universal and inalienable right" as well as "an integral part of fundamental human rights." World Conference on Human Rights, June 14-25, 1993, Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, U. N. Doc A/CONF. 157/23, para. 10 (July 12, 1993), available online at [hereinafter Vienna Declaration].
53. See generally Philip Alston, Making Space for New Human Rights: The Case of the Right to Development, 1 Harv. Hum. Rts. Y. B. 3 (1988);
54. Stephen P. Marks, Emerging Human Rights: A New Generation for the 1980s?, 33 Rutgers L. Rev. 435 (1981).
55. Michael Ashley Stein & Penelope J. S. Stein, Beyond Disability Civil Rights, 58 Hastings L. J. 1203, 1212-14 (2007).
56. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 9 May 1992, entered into force 24 March 1994, reprinted in 31 I. L. M. 849(1992), Article 4 (1) (i), and other framework conventions, for instance the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, UN Doc. A56/8. Geneva: WHO, 2003 art 3, available online at .
57. Lisa Waddington, Implementing the Disability Provisions of the Framework Employment Directive: Room for Exercising National Discretion, in Disability Rights in Europe: From Theory to Practice 107, 109 (Anna Lawson & Caroline Gooding eds., Hart Publishing 2005) ("EC directives set goals which Member States are obliged to achieve within a given period, but leave Member States free to select the most appropriate means of achieving those goals.").
58. See, e.g., Equal Treatment Commission (Commissie Gelijke Behandeling) 1. NL. 117, Opinion 2004-67.
59. See CRPD, supra note 1, at art 2.
60. CRPD, at art. 5 (1).
61. Michelle A. Travis, Perceived Disabilities, Social Cognition, and "Innocent Mistakes", 55 Vand. L. Rev. 481, 489-490 (2002).
62. See, e.g., Equal Treatment Commission (Commissie Gelijke Behandeling) Opinion 2004-67, 1. NL. 117;
63. see also Cases, Materials and Text on National, Supranational and International Non-Discrimination Law 166-67 (Dagmar Schiek et al. eds., Hart Publishing 2007).
64. See CRPD, supra note 1, at art. 6.
65. See, e.g., CEDAW, art. 5, supra note 8
66. ICERD, supra note 8 at art. 7
67. See CRPD, supra note 1, at art. 10.
68. A recurrent theme echoed throughout the Convention negotiations was the notion that the draft text did not reflect "new" rights but instead articulated existing human rights within the specific context of disability. This view is summarized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its question and answer resource on the Convention which states: "The convention does not create any 'new rights' or 'entitlements.' What the convention does, however, is express existing rights in a manner that addresses the needs and situation of persons with disabilities." Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Why a Convention?, available online at
69. See CRPD, supra note 1, at art. 19.
70. See CRPD, supra note 1, at arts. 31-40.
71. CRPD, supra note 1, at 35 (4)
72. See Statement by H. E. Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, President of the United Nations General Assembly, at the Adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, United Nations Headquarters, New York, New York, 13 December 2006, available online at: ("The adoption of this Convention is a great opportunity to celebrate the emergence of comprehensive guidelines the world so urgently needs. It is an opportunity to reaffirm our universal commitment to the rights and dignity of all people without discrimination. The Convention can also provide the much needed impetus for wider cultural changes in the way that the world perceives disabled people.").
73. See, e.g., Robert Cooter, Expressive Law and Economics, 27 J. Legal Stud. 585 (1998)
74. Richard H. McAdams, An Attitudinal Theory of Expressive Law, 79 Or. L. Rev. 339 (2000) (highlighting the power of the approval or disapproval of law in shaping behavior);
75. see also Lawrence Lessig, The Regulation of Social Meaning, 62 U. Chi. L. Rev. 943 (1998);
76. Cass R. Sunstein, On the Expressive Function of Law, 144 U. Pa. L. Rev. 2021 (1996).
77. See generally Alex Geisinger, A Belief Change Theory of Expressive Law, 88 Iowa L. Rev. 35 (2002).
78. Michael Ashley Stein, Under the Empirical Radar: An Initial Expressive Law Analysis of the ADA, 90 U. Va. L. Rev. 1151 (2004).
79. Hugo Grotius, De Jure Belli ac Pacis: Libre Tres (1625) in Classics of International Law (J. B. Scott, ed., Oxford University Press 1925).
80. Myres McDougal & Florentino Feliciano, Law and Minimum World Public Order: The Legal Regulation of International Coercion (Yale University Press, 1961);
81. Harold Lasswell & Myres McDougal, Jurisprudence for a Free Society (New Haven Press, 1992).
82. On the understanding of international law as a process, see especially Rosalyn Higgins, Problems and Process: International Law and How We Use It (Clarendon Press, 1994).
83. Alexander Wendt, Constructing International Politics, 20 Int'l. Security 71, 73 (1995) (positing that systems of shared ideas, beliefs and values work to influence social and political action within and across multilateral law-making processes).
84. See also Christian Reus-Smit, Constructivism, in Theories of International Relations 209, 218 (Scott Burchill et al. eds., 2d ed. Palgrave MacMillan, 2001) (noting that "[i]nstitutionalized norms and ideas... condition what actors' consider necessary and possible, both in practical and ethical terms.").
85. See, e.g., Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G. A. Res. 217A (III), arts. 1-2, U. N. GAOR, 3d Sess., U. N. Doc. A/810 (1948) (proclaiming that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights" and are "entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.").
86. See UN Millennium Declaration, UN GA res. 55/2(2000), available online at [hereinafter Millennium Declaration].
87. The official UN website for the MDGs sets forth all eight MDGs as derived from the Millennium Declaration and identifies key targets and benchmarks, along with successes and is available online at: .
88. For the perspective of the Chair of the MDGs, from which disability also is absent, see Jeffrey D. Sachs, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time (Penguin Press, 2005).
89. Janet E. Lord & Katherine N. Guernsey, Inclusive Development and the Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities (IDDC Task Group in the UN Convention, January 2005), available online at:
90. See Lauding Disability Convention as "Dawn of a New Era", UN urges Speedy Ratification" (UN Press Release 13 Dec. 2006), available online at: (summarizing statements made on the adoption of the Convention and heralding its significance for persons with disabilities and for the development of international human rights law.
91. See also UN Secretary General KofiAnnan Statement, Secretary-General Hails Adoption of Landmark Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 13 Dec. 2006, UN Doc. SG/SM/10797 HR/4911 L/T/4400, available online at: ("This Convention is a remarkable and forward-looking document. While it focuses on the rights and development of people with disabilities, it also speaks about our societies as a whole - and about the need to enable every person to contribute to the best of their abilities and potential.").
92. See, e.g., CRPD, supra note 1, art. 8 (requiring States Parties "to adopt immediate, effective and appropriate measures... [t]o raise awareness throughout society, including at the family level, regarding persons with disabilities, and to foster respect for the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities...")
93. See Louis B. Sohn, The New International Law: Protection of the Rights of Individuals Rather than States, 32 Am. U. L. Rev. 1, 16-17 (1982).
94. See also Gerald J. Postema, Custom in International Law: A Normative Practice Account, in The Nature of Customary Law: Legal, Historical and Philosophical Perspectives 279 (Amanda Perreau-Saussine & James Bernard Murphy eds., Cambridge University Press 2007);
95. John Tasioulas, Customary International Law and the Quest for Global Justice, in id. at 307.
96. Theresia Degener & Gerard Quinn, A Survey of International, Comparative and Regional Disability Law Reform, in Disability Rights Law and Policy: International and National Perspectives 3 (Mary Lou Breslin & Sylvia Yee eds. Transnational Publishers 2002), provides a catalogue.
97. See Secrétariat a'Etat Chargé de la Famille, de l'Enfance et des Personnes Handicapées, Programme National de Réadaptation a Base Communitaire au Profit des Personnes Handicapées 2006-2008 (2006).
98. See CRPD, supra note 1, at art. 33 (1) (obligating States Parties to "designate one or more focal points within government" for "matters relating to the implementation of the present Convention"); art. 33 (2) (requiring States Parties to "maintain, strengthen, designate or establish" one or more independent mechanisms to "promote, protect and monitor implementation" of the CRPD); and art. 33 (1) (further requiring States to "give due consideration to the establishment or designation of a coordination mechanism within government to facilitate related action in different sectors and at different levels.").
99. See US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (Washington, DC, March 6, 2007), available online at: (emphasizing in the section entitled "Persons with Disabilities" that "[t]here were no laws prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities nor any laws mandating accessibility for persons with disabilities, and such persons encountered discrimination in employment and denial of access to schools.").
100. See Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter, This Ability: An International Legal Analysis of Disability Discrimination 100-20 (Ashgate, 2007).
101. See Katia D'Artigues, Mexico, Farol de la Calle, Oscuridad en Casa?, El Universal (26 Oct. 2007), at A19 (describing the critiques offered by Professors Gerard Quinn and Michael Stein to the General Assembly of Human Rights Institutions of the Americas).
102. Fiona Geist, et. al., Disability Law in Germany, 24 Comp. LAb. L. & Pol'y J. 563 (2003).
103. CRPD, supra note 1 at art. 2 (defining reasonable accommodation as "necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.").
104. See also Tennessee v. Lane, 541 U. S. 509 (2004)
105. Bill Albert, Is Disability Really on the Development Agenda?: A Review of Official Disability Policies of the Major Governmental and International Development Agencies (September 2004), available online at:
106. See CRPD, supra note 1 at art. 33 (providing that "States Parties recognize the importance of international cooperation and its promotion, in support of national efforts for the realization of the purpose and objectives of the present Convention, and will undertake appropriate and effective measures in this regard, between and among States... [which] measures could include... [e]nsuring that international cooperation, including international development programmes, is inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities.").
107. Amy T. Wilson, The Effectiveness of International Development Assistance from American Organizations to Deaf Communities in Jamaica, 150 Am. Annals of the Deaf 292, 298 (2005) (describing how USAID, in working "on behalf" of deaf-based development, did not work in conjunction with the local deaf community).
108. See British Council of Disabled People's International Committee Improving DFID's Engagement with the UK Disability Movement, report prepared for the Department for International Development 4 (March 2005), available online at: (emphasizing that "[t]he disability movement in the UK has been concerned for some time about DFID's approach to disability" and detailing the following areas of concern: (i) "disability is not afforded the importance it merits nor is it mainstreamed within DFID"; (ii) "DFID does not have disabled people represented in its work force"; (iii) "DFID does not have policies and procedures to ensure that disability is included either in its HR or development practice"; (iv) "where it is included, disability is addressed without the engagement of the disability movement and the involvement of disabled people from both the North and the South"; (v) "without the meaningful inclusion of these disabled people and their organisations as well as a more deliberate approach to disability issues it is unlikely that the MDG's, particularly the headline goal of poverty reduction, will be met.").
109. Donor governments are beginning to adopt inclusive development policies. See, e.g., U. S. Agency for International Development, USAID Disability Policy Paper (1997) available online at .
110. See also U. S. Agency for International Development, USAID Disability Policy - Assistance (2004), available online at ;
111. U. S. Agency for International Development, USAID Acquisition and Assistance Disability Policy Directive (2004), available online at ;
112. U. S. Agency for International Development, USAID Acquisition and Assistance Policy Directive (Disability Policy on New Construction) (2005), available online at: ;
113. U. K. Department for International Development, Disability, Poverty and Development, (London, UK, February 2000), available online at: .
114. National Council on Disability, The Impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act: Assessing the Progress Toward Achieving the Goals of the ADA (July 26, 2007), available online at: .
115. Jonathan C. Drimmer, Cripples, Overcomers, and Civil Rights: Tracing the Evolution of Federal Legislation and Social Policy For People With Disabilities, 40 UCLA L. Rev. 1341 (1993)
116. Michael E. Waterstone & Michael Ashley Stein, Disabling Prejudice, 102 NW. U. L. Rev. 1351 (2008).