Disability Justice Symposium: Reimagining Disability Advocacy: A Multi-disciplinary Conversation about the Past, Present, and Future of Disability Justice
About the Symposium
Over the past three years, a series of decisions from the Supreme Court and other federal courts have whittled away at federal anti-discrimination legislation. In Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, the Court held that emotional distress damages were not available under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Court overturned the long-standing principle of Chevron deference to administrative agencies. In U.S. v. Mississippi, the Fifth Circuit narrowed its interpretation of the integration mandate enshrined in section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. These decisions appear to indicate that anti-discrimination laws have served their purpose and their work is done.
But, we are still in transition from an ableist past into the anti-carceral, abolitionist future imagined by disability justice activists. The chipping away of federal anti-discrimination protections has its roots in a history of eugenics, carcerality, and the pathologization of disability. Understanding this history is critical to imagining what justice might look like in the future. The purpose of this symposium is to bring together legal practitioners, academics and the disability community in a multi-disciplinary conversation about the past, present and future of disability advocacy. How do we advocate effectively within this changing legal landscape? How can we heal historical injustices committed against people with disabilities by state and private entities? And what could the future of disability advocacy look like?
Agenda and more information are forthcoming.
Individuals with disabilities, legal advocates, family members, community organizations, and government entities are encouraged to attend.
Sponsored by the Disability and Civil Rights Clinic, Journal of Law and Policy, and the Center for Health, Science and Public Policy.
9 a.m. (ET): Registration and breakfast
9:15 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Program
Registration
Please use the RSVP button to register by March 24.
More Information
For general inquiries regarding this event, please contact the Brooklyn Law School Office of Events at events@brooklaw.edu or (718) 780-0321.
Requests for a reasonable accommodation based on a disability to attend this event should be made to the Law School’s reasonable accommodations coordinator: accommodations@brooklaw.edu. Please make your request at least 10 days before the event. We will do our best to address accommodation requests made after the 10 days.