The USA Today has a piece slamming the ADA. This is a DO NOT LINK URL, so as not to give it more attention than it deserves. It’s the usual libertarian dreamworld in which accessibility just magically happens and no one has to do anything. And he picks egregious examples of lawsuits under the ADA – lawsuits that were almost uniformly thrown out or decided against the plaintiff – and blames the ADA for it. Americans like to make up reasons to sue. Courts usually handle such things fine.
It’s useful, though, amidst all the unity and community surrounding the ADA celebration, to remember that this argument (I call it the Sununu argument, after GHWB’s Chief of Staff who did everything he could to stop, or at least gut, the ADA) is still going strong.
In fact, every time an otherwise good person identifies themselves to you as a libertarian, you should ask them about disability policy. I’ve been looking for a libertarian answer to disability rights for a few years now and haven’t found one.
The ADA is the kind of law that makes me a progressive. I believe it takes federal regulations to make certain kinds of change happen, and I believe that the ADA is a major example of that. We have much more to do.