Disability Rights: Past Lessons, Present Challenges, and the Future of Autonomy | Chair Chat

Professors Robert Dinerstein and Jasmine Harris trace the arc of disability rights from the era of institutionalization and Section 504 through the ADA, Olmstead, and the modern shift toward community integration and legal capacity. They explore how statutory models, constitutional doctrines, and lived experience have shaped the movement’s evolution and exposed long-standing tensions in employment, public accommodation, privacy, and state power.

Their discussion turns to today’s defining issues: narrowing definitions of disability, long-COVID and gender dysphoria cases, evolving Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, and the push toward supported decision-making. Together, they map where the movement has been, where it is now, and what autonomy and justice must look like in the decades ahead.

Jasmine E. Harris – Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Robert D. Dinerstein (Moderator) – Co-Chair, Disability Rights Committee, ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice; Professor of Law Emeritus, American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL)

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During the 2025–26 Bar Year, Section Chair Mario A. Sullivan continues CRSJ’s Chair Chat – bringing together leading lawyers, scholars, advocates, and organizers to tackle the most urgent civil rights and rule-of-law issues and share practical strategies for impact. New episodes premiere every other Thursday at 2:00 p.m. ET on our YouTube channel. Subscribe for updates and catch past conversations on-demand.

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