SOCIAL JUSTICE BLOG

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No Way Out: Class Action Seeks Integration of People with Disabilities in Utah
ADA, Class Actions Teddy Basham-Witherington ADA, Class Actions Teddy Basham-Witherington

No Way Out: Class Action Seeks Integration of People with Disabilities in Utah

Over the last 4 years, staff from the Disability Law Center of Utah (DLC) have, under their federal authority, visited individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) living in private institutions, called intermediate care facilities (ICFs).  The message was clear: People desperately wanted out. 

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Disability Rights, 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper, ADA Teddy Basham-Witherington Disability Rights, 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper, ADA Teddy Basham-Witherington

SHAME ON YOU, ANDERSON COOPER: 60 Minutes Mocking the ADA

Anderson Cooper would be the first to call out Donald Trump’s ridicule of a reporter with a disability with righteous indignation. Yet, on December 4, 2016 Cooper used the 60 Minutes broadcast to throw people with disabilities under the bus in the name of journalism. He used his power and prestige to denigrate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the honorable lawyers that enforce it. Cooper could not have been more successful, if his intent was to lead the parade of horribles against the ADA. I suggest that presenting a skewed piece of journalism which serves only to undermine the first national law providing civil rights protections for people with disabilities is at least as harmful as mocking a reporter with a disability.

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