2021 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium Archive

Race, Diversity, and Inclusion, and the Right to Live in the World

Wednesday, March 24 through Friday, March 26, 2021, Virtual

Sponsors

Gold: Brown, Goldstein & Levy, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP
Silver: Digital Accessibility Legal Summit, Derby, McGuinness & Goldsmith, LLP, Pearson
Bronze: AARP Foundation, American Bar Association: Diversity and Inclusion Center, Burton Blatt Institute: Syracuse University, LSAC: The Law School Admission Council, Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, LLP
White Cane: Disability Rights Advocates, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Goldstein Borgen Dardarian & Ho, Law Office of John F. Waldo

2021 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium: Presentations, Transcripts, and Materials

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Mark Riccobono, President, National Federation of the Blind

Round Table Discussion—Reframing the Conversation

Facilitator: Milton Reynolds, Educator, Activist, Founder, Milton Reynolds Consulting

Lunch Keynote Speaker

Kathy Martinez, President/Chief Executive Officer, Disability Rights Advocates

Round Table Discussion—Interrogating the Quest for “Fitness”: A National Project

Facilitator: Milton Reynolds, Educator, Activist, Founder, Milton Reynolds Consulting

Disability Identity and Intersectionality

Moderator: Lydia X. Z. Brown, Policy Counsel, Center for Democracy & Technology, Privacy & Data Project; Director of Policy, Advocacy, & External Affairs, Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Presenters: Zainab Alkebsi, Policy Counsel, National Association of the Deaf; Gabe Cazares, Director, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Houston, Texas; Sharon daVanport, Founding Executive Director, Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network

Race and Gender Issues in the Civil Commitment Process

Facilitator: Alexander S. Brown, Executive Director, Friedman Place

Perspectives on Disability in US Muslim Communities

Facilitators: Nashiru Abdulai, President, Global Deaf Muslim; Mariyam Cementwala, US Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom; Safaya Fawzi, Associate Director, Diversity and Inclusion Center, American Bar Association; Zaheer Maskatia, Associate Counsel, VA Board of Veterans’ Appeals; Ronza Othman, EEO Specialist, Department of Health and Human Services

Speed Networking

Facilitators: Michael Nunez, Associate Attorney, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP; Cara Trapani, Associate Attorney, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP

Independent Living through Accessible Communication and Video Programming

Facilitators: Eliot Greenwald, Deputy Chief, Disability Rights Office (DRO), Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGAB), Federal Communications Commission (FCC); Will Schell, Attorney-Advisor, DRO, CGAB, FCC; Suzy Rosen Singleton, Chief, DRO, CGAB, FCC

Lunch, Film, and Discussion: The Importance of Intersectional Accessibility in Activism, Hayden Kristal

Facilitator: Catherine J. Kudlick, Director, Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability, Professor of History, San Francisco State University

Plenary Session: Impacts and Outcomes of Marginalization and Intersectionality on Mental and Physical Health

Moderator: Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum, Managing Partner, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP; Presenters: Samantha Crane, Legal Director, Director of Public Policy, Autistic Self Advocacy Network; Danielle L. Beatty Moody, Associate Professor, Behavioral Medicine & Community Psychology Subprograms, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán, Senior Policy Manager, AIDS United

Connecting Disability Work with Broader Diversity and Inclusion Work

Facilitators: Lydia X. Z. Brown, Policy Counsel, Center for Democracy & Technology, Privacy & Data Project; Director of Policy, Advocacy, & External Affairs, Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network; Safaya Fawzi, Associate Director, Diversity and Inclusion Center, American Bar Association; Salomon Chiquiar-Rabinovich, Chair of Attorneys with Disabilities Committee, Boston Bar Association, Of Counsel, Moreno Law

Disability Discrimination in Housing: An Unrelenting Crisis

Facilitators: Angela Groves, Attorney, Relman Colfax PLLC; Jeanine LaFratta, Trial Attorney, Office of General Counsel, US Department of Housing and Urban Development; Alexandria Lippincot, Attorney, US Department of Housing and Urban Development; Shira Wakschlag, Senior Director of Legal Advocacy and General Counsel, The Arc; Yiyang Wu, Counsel, Relman, Colfax PLLC

Keeping Our Schools Safe: Addressing Restraint and Seclusion in Schools

Facilitators: Selene Almazan, Legal Director, Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.; Kelly Israel, Policy Analyst, Autistic Self Advocacy Network; Leslie Seid Margolis, Managing Attorney, Disability Rights Maryland Jessie Weber, Partner, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP

Next Stop—Full Accessibility: Litigating Access to the Most Popular and Least Accessible Subway System

Facilitators: Emily Seelenfreund, Staff Attorney, Disability Rights Advocates; Rebecca Serbin, Staff Attorney, Disability Rights Advocates

Essential Functions under Title I of the ADA

Facilitator: Michal Shinnar, Senior Associate Attorney, Gilbert Employment Law, P.C.

Developing Effective Mental Health Crisis Services to Prevent Unnecessary Institutionalization

Facilitators: David W. Covington, CEO & President, RI International; Steven Dettwyler, Public Health Analyst, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Deena Fox, Trial Attorney, Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice (DOJ); Regan Rush, Acting Principal Deputy, Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division, DOJ; Lisa St. George, Vice President, Peer Support and Empowerment, RI International; Melody A. Worsham, MDMH Certified Peer Support Specialist, Mental Health Association of South Mississippi

LSAC—Lessons Learned from the Consent Decree and the Pandemic: From Pipeline to the Profession—Join the Mission to Diversify the Legal Profession to Build a Just and Prosperous World

Facilitators: Michelle M. Goldberg, Manager, Accommodated Testing Department, Law School Admission Council; Fe LopezGaetke, Director, Educational Equity Initiatives, Law School Admission Council; Katherine A. Pérez, Visiting Professor of Law, Loyola Law School; Kellye Testy, President, Chief Executive Officer, Law School Admission Council; Leanne M. Shank, Senior Vice President for Legal & Corporate Affairs, General Counsel, Office of Legal and Corporate Affairs, Law School Admission Council

Digital Accessibility—Developing Guidelines for Attorneys on Both Sides

Facilitators: Timothy Elder, Principal, TRE Legal Practice, LLC; Kristina M. Launey, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP; Chris M. Law, President, Accessibility Track Consulting, LLC

CL v. Del Amo Hospital: A Psychiatric Service Animal Case Study

Facilitators: Peter Blanck, Professor, Chairman, Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University; Christopher H. Knauf, Director of Litigation, Disability Rights Legal Center; Jennifer Mathis, Deputy Legal Director and Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; Celia McGuinness, Disability Rights Attorney, Derby McGuinness & Goldsmith, LLP

The Disparate Impact of Changes to Immigration Policy on Asylum Seekers with Disabilities: Strategies to Fight Back

Facilitators: Charlene D’Cruz, Director, Project Corazon, Matamoros/Lawyers for Good Government; Katharine Gordon, Staff Attorney, Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition

The Jenny Hatch Justice Project: Ways to Advance Supported Decision-Making for People with Developmental Disabilities

Facilitators: Holly Ceasar, Staff Attorney, Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities; Leonard Stevens, Consultant, Project ACTION!; Morgan K. Whitlatch, Director, Lead Project Director, Quality Trust Legal, National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making

Using Disability Justice Approaches to Protect Disability Rights throughout Disasters

Facilitators: Justice Shorter, Disaster Protection Advisor, National Disability Rights Network; Valerie Novack, Policy and Research Professional, Center for American Progress

Voting as if Your Life Depends on It—without Risking Your Life: Voting Accessibility in the Age of COVID and Beyond

Facilitator: Kristen Aeillo, Managing Attorney, Civil Rights Advocacy, Disability Rights Maine; Christina Brandt-Young, Managing Attorney, Disability Rights Advocates, New York; Lia Sifuentes Davis, Senior Litigation Attorney, Disability Rights Texas; Kobie Flowers, Partner, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP; Eve Hill, Partner, Brown, Goldstein & Levy, LLP

  • Voting as if Your Life Depends on It—without Risking Your Life: Voting Accessibility in the Age of COVID and Beyond (YouTube)
  • Transcript

Audio Description under the CVAA and Other Statutes

Facilitator: Michal J. Nowicki, Associate Attorney, Marashlian & Donahue, PLLC

What Do You Want? A New Approach to Corporate Disability Inclusion

Facilitator: Daniel Goldstein, Disability Rights Attorney, retired; Mary Rainer-Skala, Director of Special Initiatives, International Association of Accessibility Professionals; Glenda Sims, Director of Accessibility Services, Deque

Legal Strategies to Obtain Testing Accommodations for High-Achieving Immigrants with Learning and Vision Disorders

Facilitators: Allison Hertog, Founder and Students Rights’ Attorney, Making School Work, P.L.; San Zhang, Physician

Accessibility Laws and How They Apply to Health Plans

Facilitator: Morissa Fregeau, Senior Associate Counsel, Aflac, Inc.