THE AMERICANS-WITH-DISABILITIES-ACT - AN ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE AS THE LAW DEVELOPS

It has been 5 years since one of the most important civil rights laws was enacted. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into la w on July 26, 1990, was passed to give individuals with disabilities t he 'opportunity to compete on an equal basis and to pursue those oppor tunities for which our free society is justifiably famous...' Because the discrimination faced by people with disabilities is unique in many aspects, the Act is comprehensive and detailed. The obligation not to discriminate against individuals with disabilities, as with people fr om other minority groups, is placed on society. As a result of these p recepts, and the specific measures they entail, the ADA has become the subject of heated debate. The role of government in enacting this typ e of legislation is questioned as are many aspects of the act itself. The authors of this piece debate the legitimacy of the ADA from an eth ical perspective. In addition, they evaluate the values inherent in so me of the cases that have come down under the ADA. They conclude that the Act was structured to balance competing interests in order to ensu re that the rights of people with disabilities are an important factor in societal decision-making.