Signed into law in July 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
became effective two years later, and court decisions about the law
began to multiply in the middle of the decade. In The Disability
Pendulum, Ruth Colker presents the first legislative history of the
enactment of the ADA in Congress and analyzes the first decade of
judicial decisions under the act. She assesses the success and failure
of the first ten years of litigation under the ADA, focusing on its
three major titles: employment, public entities, and public
accommodations.
The Disability Pendulum argues that despite an initial atmosphere of
bipartisan support with the expectation that the ADA would make a
significant difference in the lives of individuals with disabilities,
judicial decisions have not been consistent with Congress' intentions.
The courts have operated like a pendulum, at times swinging to a
pro-disabled plaintiff and then back again to a pro-defendant stance.
Colker, whose work on the ADA has been cited by the Supreme Court,
offers insightful and practical suggestions on where to amend the act to
make it more effective in defending disability rights, and also explains
judicial hostility toward enforcing the act.