State Anti-Discrimination Law as a Model for Amending the Americans with Disabilities Act

Alex Long, University of Tennessee College of Law

Abstract

Despite the initial promise of the ADA, the overwhelming consensus among scholars is that the Act has not lived up to its potential. In light of the increasing calls for judicial re-evaluation or legislative amendment of the ADA, it seems appropriate to pause to consider the fact that discrimination against individuals with disabilities is not exclusively a federal problem. Nor is the federal government necessarily the only source capable of effectively dealing with the problem of discrimination against the disabled. While a number of states have amended their disability discrimination statutes to bring them into harmony with federal law, a sizable minority continue to chart their own course by eschewing reliance on the federal model.This Article examines the extent to which state anti-discrimination law can serve as a model for federal reform in light of the growing criticisms of federal law. It catalogs the federal government's evolving approach toward disability discrimination and discusses the Supreme Court's interpretations of the ADA and the negative reaction and dissatisfaction that Court's pronouncements on the Act have produced among commentators. In addition, it discusses some of the suggested modifications to the ADA and its protected-class approach that commentators have offered. The Article then surveys state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability and discusses the different approaches taken by the states. Finally, it examines in greater depth some of the state statutes that take an approach to disability discrimination entirely different than that taken by the ADA. It compares the alternative approaches offered by some commentators with the actual working models present in some states and makes some preliminary evaluations as to their overall potential to serve as models for federal reform.