Gonzaga University Law School
Contact/Student Resource Center
The Disability Access office in the Center for Student Academic Success at Gonzaga University establishes accommodations for students with disabilities as well as supports faculty and staff in providing those accommodations.
Disability Access is a part of the Center for Student Academic Success (CSAS), our front office is located on the 2nd floor of the Foley Center Library in room 208 (south east corner).
Mailing Address
Disability Access
Gonzaga University
502 E Boone - AD Box 19
Spokane, WA 99258
Telephone/Fax Information
- On-campus: ext. 4134
- Off-campus: (509) 313-4134
- Office fax: (509) 313-5523
E-mail Address: [email protected]
Courses
Disability Law: For decades, American law has developed to advance the civil rights of underprivileged groups. While classifications such as race, religion and sex have been most prominent, disability is increasingly salient to our rights and interests in public spaces. This course introduces students to the law governing issues of disability, and the relationship between law, medicine and social justice. Throughout the term, students will be encouraged to problematize the adequacy of legal tools that aim to serve all relevant stakeholders to meet the financial, social, medical and emotional burdens of disability marginalization. The topics covered in the course are illustrative of the concerns of disability law, rather than cover the scope of the field. The materials, which comprise of a casebook and supplemental sources, enable students to develop a fuller appreciation of the intricacies of the theory and jurisprudence affecting the rights and lived experiences of people with disabilities. Students will be required to participate in online discussions and write an exam.
Employment Discrimination: This course focuses on the laws that prohibit discrimination in employment and what is and is not unlawful discrimination. It covers the laws regarding discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, disability, sexual orientation, age, and physical and mental disability, in particular Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Class participation is an important element in this course. Employment Law is not a prerequisite.
Intersection of Mental Disabilities and the Criminal Justice System: This course explores the intersection of mental disabilities and the criminal justice system. In this class, “mental disabilities” is a global term encompassing mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, as well as intellectual/developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder. This course will follow the anatomy of a criminal case from arrest, to charging decisions, to assessments for competency and sanity, through sentencing and final disposition.
Mental Disability Law: This course explores the relevant legal processes and the civil, constitutional, and criminal issues affecting persons with mental disabilities. Topics include involuntary civil commitment, institutional rights, the right to refuse treatment, deinstitutionalization, the Americans with Disabilities Act, competencies, the insanity defense, sexually violent predator acts, and the impact of mental disability in the criminal trial process on issues such as confessions and sentencing.
Seattle University School of Law
Contact/Student Resource Center
It is Seattle University and Seattle U Law policy that no qualified person, on the basis of disability, be excluded from participation, denied benefits or subject to discrimination in any university job, facility, program or activity. Seattle U Law provides reasonable accommodations for students with a disability.
CONTACT
Erin Fullner
Associate Dean for Student Development
Sullivan Hall
206-398-4103
[email protected]
Alexander Mentkowski
Disability Services Coordinator
Sullivan Hall
Phone: (206) 317-7343
Email: [email protected]
Clinics
Estate and Disability Planning Clinic: Students represent low-income elder or disabled clients who are in need of planning for end of life/death, a possible future inability to make health care or financial decisions, and options for planning for financing costly long term care needs. Students advise clients facing difficult medical diagnoses and work with them to draft and execute documents that meet their estate planning goals. Documents generally include preparation of wills, powers of attorney, disposition of remains, special needs trusts, and health care advance directives.
Externships
Students can complete externships at Disability Rights Washington, as well as an array of other legal services organizations that focus on representation of clients with disabilities.
Courses
Landlord Tenant Law (POVL-350): The class will focus on the landlord-tenant relationship including common law principles, the Residential Landlord Tenant Act, and the Unlawful Detainer Process. The class will also deal with public housing, the Fair Housing Act, and the American with Disabilities Act. Finally, the class will look at the interaction of housing law and the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Lawyering for Social Change (JURS-382): Lawyers have long played key roles in ushering in social change. From the early abolitionists to civil rights lawyers who lent their skills to the NAACP’s campaign against segregation, to those litigating today on behalf of prisoners, immigration detainees, children caught in a school-to-prison pipeline, victims of police shootings, and the disabled, lawyers have served as vital agents of social change.
Policing, Imprisonment and Justice (JURS-354): Since Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014, discourse about racially targeted policing and imprisonment in the US has proliferated. This course will put current debates in context by exploring interdisciplinary materials that provide critical perspectives on policing, imprisonment and proposals for reform. We will examine policing and imprisonment in criminal punishment systems, immigration systems and psychiatric and medical systems, looking for overlaps and distinctions between how these systems implement policing and imprisonment. We will draw from intersectional feminist scholarship, critical disability studies, anti-colonial scholarship, critical ethnic studies, critical legal studies and queer and trans studies. We will examine contemporary debates about approaches to reforming policing and imprisonment and the role of grassroots social movements in analyzing these systems, building pressure for change, and developing alternatives.
Disability Law (DSBL-300): The goal of this course is to create a critical dialogue about how US law and legal systems affect and respond to disability. We will be reading and learning from interdisciplinary materials, including case law, academic articles and personal memoir, to deepen our understanding of disability law and discrimination. Our discussions will include critical analysis of how law and legal systems impact individuals and communities that exist at the intersections of disability, racism, heteropatriarchy, and class. We will examine specific areas of law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Fair Housing Act Amendments, as well as legal systems that impact people with disabilities, including the systems of criminalization and involuntary treatment. The class will engage in analysis about the possible roles for lawyers and litigation in disability rights, broader social change and the movement for disability justice. As applicable, we will examine and discuss law, policy, and legal practice specific to Washington State.
Employment Discrimination (EMPL-315): This course covers legal prohibitions against employment discrimination based on one’s race, color, religion, sex, origin, age, and mental or physical ability. Sweeping changes have been made recently in the law of workplace discrimination. A large percent of the Supreme Court’s docket in recent terms consisted of employment and labor cases. The world’s first comprehensive declaration of equal treatment for persons with disabilities, the Americans with Disabilities Act, added 43,000,000 Americans to the groups protected against job discrimination and is profoundly impacting hiring and job assignment. There are differing opinions about what it means to “discriminate” based on factors such as sex, age, and race. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 triggers passionate response from proponents and opponents, and now provides for compensatory and punitive damages. This course addresses such issues arising from legislation forbidding employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, and physical ability.
Housing, Homelessness and Social Justice (JURS-347): This survey course examines contemporary legal, policy, regulatory, and social justice issues concerning housing instability and homelessness through an interdisciplinary lens. Rather than focusing on a single doctrine, the course challenges students to see connections across various legal doctrines, policies, and practices that affect housing and homelessness. Topics may include property, disability, poverty, constitutional, criminal, civil, administrative, health, land use, and zoning laws. The course will also challenge students to consider the role of social justice lawyering in addressing housing instability and homelessness.
Student Organizations
University of Washington School of Law
Contact/Student Resource Center
The Office of Law Student Life has a team of dedicated staff to support you in your UW Law School experience including the Associate Dean for Student Affairs, Manager of Student Life, and Mental Health Therapist. If you have general inquiries about various components of your experience, please email [email protected]. Learn more about each team member below and how they provide specific support to students.
- Email: [email protected]
- Make an appointment with Dean Endter online
- Office: Drop by the Dean’s Suite to schedule an appointment
Courses
Disability Law and Policy (AW H 530): The course will explore a wide range of policies and law, including employment and public accommodation under the ADA, special education rights under the IDEA, guardianship, and substitute decision making, deinstitutionalization and conditions of confinement and treatment, housing and homelessness, and international disability rights and policy. Students will study a combination of case law, statutes, policy-based articles, current events, and modern disability literature to consider how disability is defined, which rights exist for people with disabilities, and areas for future progress.
Mental Health And The Law (LAW H 534): This course will deal with both civil and criminal aspects of mental health and the law. First, the course will present the definitions of mental illness and mental disability, and outline the issues for providers of mental health services including psychiatrist-patient privilege. The course will then focus on civil aspects of mental health law, such as standards and procedures for involuntary commitment; consent for, and informed refusal of, treatment; and deinstitutionalization/community-based treatment. Next, the course will focus on the mental health issues in criminal law, such as the insanity defense, competency to stand trial, and punishment of the mentally ill. Special attention will be given to both the current Washington and U.S. Supreme Court litigation over the sexually violent predator law and current issues with juvenile offenders. If there is additional time, the course will also cover the practice issues for providers of treatment, such as suits against psychotherapists.
Student Organizations
Alliance for Disability Law & Justice: The Alliance for Disability Law and Justice (ADLJ) at UW Law advocates for a more inclusive, accessible, and holistic approach to law school from a foundation of anti-racism, intersectionality, and anti-ableism. ADLJ is guided by a vision of a legal profession that centers and celebrates the perspectives of all people, particularly those that have been marginalized by the legal system. As an intersectional feminist organization, ADLJ is committed to fighting ableism and oppression in our community, advocating for positive change and accessibility, and collaborating throughout the process. The mission of the Alliance is to create a UW Law community that acknowledges barriers to authentic inclusion, removes them as they arise and guarantees accessibility and inclusion for everyone.