Course Schedule

This overview course will principally focus on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the most important federal law prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities. We will discuss the ADA’s place in the disability-rights and disability-justice movements, and its analytical relationship with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and with the antidiscrimination provisions in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. We will also explore the Act’s definition of disability (including the subsequent ADA Amendments Act of 2008), and the provisions outlawing discrimination, and requiring accommodations, by employers (Title I), government services and programs (Title II), and private businesses (Title III). To sample the breadth of the ADA, we will discuss the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision guaranteeing community integration, as well as the ADA’s application in the contexts of, e.g., education, housing, healthcare, the criminal legal and carceral systems, immigration, and technology.

This overview course will principally focus on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the most important federal law prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities. We will discuss the ADA’s place in the disability-rights and disability-justice movements, and its analytical relationship with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and with the antidiscrimination provisions in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. We will also explore the Act’s definition of disability (including the subsequent ADA Amendments Act of 2008), and the provisions outlawing discrimination, and requiring accommodations, by employers (Title I), government services and programs (Title II), and private businesses (Title III). To sample the breadth of the ADA, we will discuss the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision guaranteeing community integration, as well as the ADA’s application in the contexts of, e.g., education, housing, healthcare, the criminal legal and carceral systems, immigration, and technology.

This course will provide an in-depth examination of the battered women’s movement and its impact on the legal system’s response to domestic violence. We begin with law and the social context of battering, including how the experience of abuse and the response to abuse is shaped by race, cultural identity, economic status, sexual orientation, and disabilities. Criminal law aspects are addressed within the role of protective orders, prosecution, and defense (including self-defense for victims and ethical representation of batterers). We next view how civil family law recognizes domestic violence in custody, divorce, visitation, and child protection matters. Among other topics, the course will examine specialized areas of the law, which include tort liability for batterers and third parties (police, employers, etc.) and federal remedies under the Violence Against Women Act. The class will discuss emerging issues like violence against women as a human rights violation and evolving sexual assault laws to identify the challenges of theory vs. practice. The focus of the class is to examine current gaps and barriers in the legal response to intimate partner violence and propose systemic change through a social justice lens.

This course will provide an in-depth examination of the battered women’s movement and its impact on the legal system’s response to domestic violence. We begin with law and the social context of battering, including how the experience of abuse and the response to abuse is shaped by race, cultural identity, economic status, sexual orientation, and disabilities. Criminal law aspects are addressed within the role of protective orders, prosecution, and defense (including self-defense for victims and ethical representation of batterers). We next view how civil family law recognizes domestic violence in custody, divorce, visitation, and child protection matters. Among other topics, the course will examine specialized areas of the law, which include tort liability for batterers and third parties (police, employers, etc.) and federal remedies under the Violence Against Women Act. The class will discuss emerging issues like violence against women as a human rights violation and evolving sexual assault laws to identify the challenges of theory vs. practice. The focus of the class is to examine current gaps and barriers in the legal response to intimate partner violence and propose systemic change through a social justice lens.

This course will provide an in-depth examination of the battered women’s movement and its impact on the legal system’s response to domestic violence. We begin with law and the social context of battering, including how the experience of abuse and the response to abuse is shaped by race, cultural identity, economic status, sexual orientation, and disabilities. Criminal law aspects are addressed within the role of protective orders, prosecution, and defense (including self-defense for victims and ethical representation of batterers). We next view how civil family law recognizes domestic violence in custody, divorce, visitation, and child protection matters. Among other topics, the course will examine specialized areas of the law, which include tort liability for batterers and third parties (police, employers, etc.) and federal remedies under the Violence Against Women Act. The class will discuss emerging issues like violence against women as a human rights violation and evolving sexual assault laws to identify the challenges of theory vs. practice. The focus of the class is to examine current gaps and barriers in the legal response to intimate partner violence and propose systemic change through a social justice lens.