2023 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium

The Right of People with Disabilities to Live in the World of a Changing Legal and Policy Landscape

Thursday, March 23, 2023 through Friday, March 24, 2023

Sponsors

  • Gold: Level Access, and Rosen, Bien, Galvan & Grunfeld
  • Silver: Derby, McGuinness & Goldsmith
  • Bronze: Burton Blatt Institute, Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, the Law School Admission Council, and Whiteford Taylor Preston.
  • White Cane: The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. 
  • Platinum: Enhanced Voting  

2023 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium: Presentations, Transcripts, and Materials

Welcome, Introductions, and Opening Remarks 

Mark Riccobono, President, National Federation of the Blind 

The Disability Docket: What’s at Stake at the Supreme Court for People with Disabilities 

Facilitators: Shira Wakschlag, Senior Director, Legal Advocacy & General Counsel, The Arc; Ruth Colker, Distinguished University Professor and Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law; Jasmine Harris, Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School; Karen Tani, Seaman Family University Professor, University of Pennsylvania Law School; Karla Gilbride, Co-Director, Access to Justice Project ;Jalyn Radziminski, Director of Engagement, Bazelon Center 

Using the ADA to Bring Justice to the Criminal System 

Facilitators: Eve Hill, Brown Goldstein & Levy; Kobie Flowers, Brown Goldstein & Levy; Catherine Hanssens, Center for HIV Law & Policy  

Advancing Disability Rights for Immigrant Children Within and Outside Government Custody 

Facilitators: Anne Kelsey, Disability Policy Analyst at the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights; Amy Leipziger, Project Director of the Peter Cicchino Youth Project at Urban Justice Center 

Marriage Barriers for SSA Benefits 

Facilitators:  Kate Lang, Director, Federal Income Security, Justice in Aging; Ayesha Elaine Lewis, Staff Attorney & Leadership Team at Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) 

Directly-Impacted Constituents: Patrice Jetter, Special Olympics Medalist; Lori Long, Promoter of #LoriesLaw; Melissa Shang, Disability Activist and Harvard Student 

Building Resilience Through Meditation 

Facilitator:  Caroline Jackson, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld, LLP 

  • Transcript

Disability Discrimination and the Right of Air Travel 

Facilitators: Heather Ansley, Esquire, MSW; Danica Gonzalves, Esquire, Paralyzed Veterans of America; Lee Page, Senior Associate Advocacy Director for the Paralyzed Veterans of America; Zainab Alkebsi, Esquire, Policy Counsel, Law and Advocacy Center, National Association of the Deaf 

Advocating from the Intersections: How Lived Experiences of Intersectionality Can and Should Inform Disability Advocacy on Behalf of Members of the LGBTQ+ Community 

Facilitators:  Sasha Buchert, Senior Attorney, Director, Non-Binary and Transgender Rights Project, Lambda Legal; M. Geron Gadd, Senior Attorney, National Health Law Program 

The Department of Justice and the ADA’s Integration Mandate: A Year in Review 

Facilitators:  Beth Kurtz, Trial Attorney, Special Litigation Section;  Julia Graff, Trial Attorney, Disability Rights Section, US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division 

The Balancing Act: Ethical and Zealous Representation When Collaborating for Equal Access Without Litigation 

Facilitators: Morissa S. Fregeau, Corporate Counsel, Aflac; Kristina Launey, Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP; Timothy Elder, Attorney TRE Legal Practice 

Tribute to Scott LaBarre

Mark Riccobono, President, National Federation of the Blind 

Raising the Bar: Best Practices for Disabled Voters 

Facilitators:  Elizabeth M. Yang, Policy Chair, ABA Standing Committee on Election Law;  Denise Avant, Board of Governors Liaison, ABA Commission on Disability Rights;  Jason D. Kaune, Chair, ABA Standing Committee on Election Law 

The ADA in the Criminal Justice Setting and The Arc’s Pathways to Justice Program 

Facilitators:  Steven Gordon, Assistant United States Attorney, Civil Rights Enforcement Coordinator, Eastern District of Virginia;  Leigh Ann Davis, M.S.S.W., M.P.A., Senior Director, Disability & Justice Initiatives, The Arc of the United States;  Melissa Heifetz, Executive Director, The Arc of Northern Virginia 

The Americans with Disabilities Act in the Criminal Justice System (DOJ) 

Facilitators:  Deena Fox, Deputy Chief, Special Litigation Section;  Victoria Thomas, Trial Attorney, Disability Rights Section, US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division;  Jean Zachariasiewicz, Trial Attorney, Police Practice Group, US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, Litigation Section 

Olmstead in 2023: Protecting the Right of Older Americans with Disabilities to Live in the Community 

Facilitators:  Kelly Bagby, Vice President of Litigation, AARP Foundation;  Maame Gyamfi, Senior Attorney, AARP Foundation 

Accessible COVID Testing: A Multi-faceted Approach to Accessible Public Health 

Facilitators: Kaitlin Banner, Deputy Legal Director, The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs; Margaret Hart, Senior Counsel, The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs;  Clark Rachfal, American Council of the Blind 

In the Know: Shelter in Place or Evacuate 

Facilitators: Shari Myers, National Disability Integration Coordinator; Nancy Mayer, Attorney, Nancy Mayer Law Firm and Regional Lead for Disability Integration, Eastern Region of North Carolina, American Red Cross 

Overview of United States' Consent Decree with UC Berkeley: Digital Accessibility in Web, Video, Audio and Education Platforms Under Title II of the ADA 

Facilitators:  Charlotte Lanvers, Trial Attorney, US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section (DRS);  Christine Kim, Trial Attorney, US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section (DRS) 

Accessible Voting Roundup 

Facilitators: Eve Hill, Partner, Brown Goldstein & Levy; Stuart Seaborn, Disability Rights Advocates; Lucia Romano, Supervising Attorney, Disability Rights Texas; Lou Ann Blake, Director of Research Programs, National Federation of the Blind; Aaron Wilson, Founder and CEO, Enhanced Voting; Douglas George Towne,  Chair and CEO, Access Ready, Inc. 

The Disability Law Pipeline in a Changing Legal and Policy Landscape 

Facilitators: Katherine Perez, Executive Director, The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy and Innovation; Angelica Vega, Alumnus, The Coelho Center, Law Fellowship Program; Nira Nova, Alumnus, The Coelho Center, Law Fellowship Program; Angela Winfield, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Law School Admission Council; Robert D. Dinerstein, Chair, ABA Commission on Disability Rights, Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law, Director, Disability Rights Law Clinic 

Voting Rights of People with Psychiatric Labels  

Facilitators:  Kristin Aiello, Esquire, Aiello Law LLC, former Senior Attorney at Disability Rights Maine; Jennifer Mathis, Department of Justice, former attorney at Bazelon Center for Mental Health 

Protecting Access to Services in an Increasingly Hostile Environment 

Facilitators:  Elizabeth Edwards, Senior Attorney, National Health Law Program; M. Geron Gadd, Senior Attorney, National Health Law Program 

Recent Advocacy for Blind and Low-Vision Incarcerated People 

Facilitators: Jacob Hutt, Staff Attorney, Prison Law Office; Michael Nunez, Senior Counsel, Rosen, Bien, Galvan & Grunfeld LLP; Monica Basche, Associate, Brown Goldstein & Levy 

Effective Communication in Hospital Settings: Lessons Learned from Bone v. University of North Carolina Health Care System 

Facilitators: Dr. Megan Morris, Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Anshutz Medical Campus; Dennis Quon, Director of Document Accessibility Solutions at Crawford Technologies; Jamie Strawbridge, Brown, Goldstein & Levy; Chris Hodgson, Disability Rights North Carolina 

Latest Accessibility Developments from the Federal Communications Commission 

Facilitators: Eliot Greenwald, Deputy Chief, Disability Rights Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission;  Will Schell, Deputy Chief, Disability Rights Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission;  Joshua Mendelsohn, Attorney Advisor, Disability Rights Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Federal Communications Commission 

Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act

Facilitators:  John Wodatch, President and Board Member, National Association of ADA Coordinators 

Presenters: John Paré, Executive Director, National Federation of the Blind; Stephanie Enyart, Chief Public Policy and Research Officer, American Foundation for the Blind; Clark Rachfal, Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, American Council of the Blind 

  • Transcript

The Changing Medical Cannabis Landscape: What People with Disabilities Need to Know

Facilitator:  Maame Gyamfi, Esquire 

  • Transcript

Accessible Information and Effective Communication in Healthcare Settings 

Facilitators: John Thompson, Civil Rights Analyst, HHS Office for Civil Rights; Lisa Bothwell, Program Analyst, HHS Administration for Community Living; Steven Gordon, Assistant United State Attorney, Civil Rights Enforcement Coordinator, Eastern District of Virginia 

Final Remarks