Research On The Legal System Of Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities Of The Rehabilitation Act Of The United States

The problem of the disabled has existed since ancient times.Since the day of the birth of human society,it has been accompanied by the unchanging problem of how to recognize and treat persons with disabilities.In the process of the gradual improvement of social productivity and social civilization,human’s understanding of disability has roughly experienced the gradual development track of moral charity model,medical rehabilitation model and social rights model,and entered the stage of national and government-led protection of the rights and interests of the disabled and anti-discrimination against the disabled.It has become the consensus of most countries that disabled people have equal rights with able-bodied people,that society is responsible for removing obstacles and preventing discrimination,and that the realization of equal rights for disabled people is guaranteed.At the present stage,the development of the cause of the disabled is the inherent requirement of building a community with a shared future for mankind.Protecting the rights and interests of persons with disabilities is the essential pursuit of comprehensively implementing the rule of law.Research on discrimination against the disabled is an integral part of human rights governance in today’s world.Retrospective studies of the American legal system of discrimination against the disables is a specific application of Marxist dialectical historical materialism.In recent years,the protection of the rights and interests of persons with disabilities and the study of discrimination against persons with disabilities have gradually emerged in China.Research on the rights of persons with disabilities is booming.The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has become a unique perspective.The basic theory research of anti-discrimination law develops rapidly.The study of reasonable accommodation system in anti-discrimination is unique.Research on discrimination against employment of the disabled is in the ascendant.The comparative research on the legal system and anti-discrimination law of persons with disabilities outside China is changing rapidly.Based on previous research and academic accumulation,this study tries to sort out and summarize the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities of the Rehabilitation Act of the United States from the perspective of legal history.The first chapter,guided by the historical dialectical materialism of Marxism,examines the profound conceptual basis,social basis,organizational basis and legal basis behind the emergence and development of the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities of the Rehabilitation Act.In terms of ideology,people’s views on disability gradually shift from the mode of moral charity and medical rehabilitation to the mode of social rights,which lays a conceptual foundation for the formation of the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities.In terms of social system,the vocational rehabilitation system derived from the workers’ compensation system provides the institutional basis for the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities.In terms of social movements and rights movement organizations,they have developed from loosely structured,stigmatized and represented social movement organizations for the disabled to closely connected,rights-based,independent and spontaneous disability rights movement organizations,laying a solid organizational foundation for the effective implementation of the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities.In terms of the legal system,with the development of the disability rights movement,case law,statutory law and legal aid system concerning the rights of persons with disabilities continue to expand,laying a legal foundation for the gradual maturity of the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities.An in-depth analysis of the legislative background of the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act of the United States is helpful to objectively grasp the economic root,social conditions and ideological foundation of the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act.Chapter two studies the content framework and legislative process of the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities of the Rehabilitation Act of the United States.Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 1973 is the disability Discrimination clause,which prohibits any federally funded program or activity,or any program or activity conducted by a federal executive agency or the United States Postal Service,from excluding,denying interest of,or discriminating against persons with disabilities solely on the basis of their disability.Since the promulgation of this section,the main agencies responsible for implementing the law-the Health,Education and Welfare Department,the Justice Department and many other agencies have successively issued implementation regulations,coordinated regulations and policy interpretation.Through the establishment of an overall barrier-free institutional environment for the disabled,the disabled group can fully and effectively participate in projects and activities,and integrate into social life.The formulation of the above administrative regulations has experienced a long administrative procedure.There is considerable evidence that the costs of providing an accessible institutional environment for the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities are overstated.In fact,both materially and spiritually,the benefits to people with disabilities far outweigh the costs.This chapter also introduces in detail the relevant provisions of the 1974 Amendment and the 1978 Amendment of the Rehabilitation Act,which were most influential among the previous amendments.In general,the disability discrimination provisions of the Rehabilitation Act,the administrative regulations of the Health,Education and Welfare Department,and the amendments of 1974 and 1978 constitute the research object of this paper--the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities of the Rehabilitation Act of the United States.The third chapter discusses the definition of disabled persons in the Rehabilitation Act of the United States,the scope of legal application,discrimination against qualified disabled persons,civil private litigation rights and relief respectively.From the perspective of legal history,this paper explores the theoretical structure,principle change and mode transformation of the legal system of discrimination against disability of the Rehabilitation Act of the United States.With the deepening of human society’s understanding of the connotation of equality,the demand for guaranteeing equality by means of anti-discrimination becomes more and more intense.In the primary stage of safeguarding equality and anti-discrimination,the main task is to fight against acts of direct and obvious infringement of equal rights,mainly oppose acts of direct discrimination,and mainly safeguard formal equality.At this time,people tend to have a new problem,that is,the same treatment ignores the natural differences between people,and the seemingly equal provisions sometimes cause the actual inequality.Therefore,in the advanced stage of safeguarding equality and anti-discrimination,the main task is to fight against covert and indirect violations of equal rights,mainly oppose indirect discrimination,and safeguard substantive equality.The development and improvement of the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities in the Rehabilitation Act of the United States from birth to amendment,from substantive rules to procedural rules,from legal enactment to legal implementation,from the establishment of rights to the relief of rights,coincide with the deepening understanding of the meaning of equality in the American society in the 1970 s.The theoretical basis of anti-discrimination legal system has been established and enriched with the active judicial activities and the gradual increase of case law.Chapter four analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the legal system of disability discrimination in the Rehabilitation Act of the United States,and objectively evaluates its social value and legal contribution from the perspective of historical materialism and dialectical materialism.On the positive side,the establishment of the disability discrimination clause in the Rehabilitation Act has promoted the development of the legal system of disability discrimination and enhanced the influence of the disabled to a certain extent.It is the most important first step towards the national policy level of disability discrimination.The legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act creates an administrative solution in the area of guaranteeing the equal rights of persons with disabilities.This study illustrates the various ways in which the administration responds to the sub-legislative authorization of the Congress from three aspects: the upgrading of legislative ideas,the setting of compliance standards,and the establishment of law enforcement mechanisms,as well as the profound impact on the recipients of federal funds and the disabled in nature.On the negative side,the legal system of discrimination against persons with disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act has not been effectively enforced by government agencies with enforcement responsibilities.By reviewing a series of classic cases and complaint handling related to the administrative enforcement of disability discrimination in the 1980 s,the two historical materials all reflect the great difficulties encountered in the enforcement of the disability discrimination legal system of the Rehabilitation Act of the United States.The civil Rights Office of the Health,Education and Welfare Department and its subordinate agencies,which are responsible for handling complaints,are overwhelmed,and the deadline for handling complaints has to be extended indefinitely.The civil rights offices set up in different places have different understanding of the legal norms of discrimination against persons with disabilities,and different grasp of principles and application of specific rules in handling specific complaint cases.A large proportion of complaint cases are not properly resolved.Essentially,the United States adopt the mode of legislation to safeguard the rights and interests of disabled persons,from which we can draw some lessons,but the essential attribute of the system of capitalism determines that discrimination policy against persons with disabilities is a tool by which capitalist maintain their rule and employment relationship with disabled workers,and detente class contradictions with disabled workers.Capitalist is not the defender of disabled workers.Therefore,well-designed policies and laws cannot withstand the test of practical operation,and the legislative goal of the legal system of disability discrimination is far from its actual effect.The fifth chapter reveals the important influence of the anti-disability discrimination legal system of the Rehabilitation Act on the subsequent ADA through the analogy of the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA,and further explains the historical status of the anti-disability discrimination legal system of the Rehabilitation Act from the perspective of legal history.The most significant difference between the two is that the former only prohibits discrimination based on disability in federally funded programs and activities,while the latter develops the former provision and prohibits discrimination based on disability in private entities.At the same time,there are many similarities between the two laws in core concepts,important concepts,basic theories and specific provisions,and they have a continuous relationship.This study focuses on the in-depth investigation of the specific content of the two laws,and strives to present the comparative study in detail,completeness and strictness.First of all,this paper analyzes and compares the main contents of each chapter of the ADA with the relevant provisions of the Rehabilitation Act.Objective expression of differences and similarities in basic principles,employment of persons with disabilities,participation of persons with disabilities in public and private entities,accessibility of communications,accessibility of transportation,procedures and remedies,etc.Secondly,since employment discrimination against persons with disabilities is a key factor in the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities and the core content of the legal system of employment discrimination against persons with disabilities,this paper compares the relevant provisions of employment discrimination against persons with disabilities of the ADA with the relevant content of the Rehabilitation Act.Rational description is made on the evolution of specific provisions such as the definition of the disabled,the system of qualified disabled persons,the identification standard of discrimination,the system of reasonable accommodation,and the employer’s defense.Chapter six discusses that under the background of China’s comprehensive implementation of the rule of law,the development and perfection of the legal system for the protection of the rights and interests of the disabled cannot be achieved without the establishment of the legal system of discrimination against the disabled.Based on the current domestic academic research results on reasonable accommodation system and suitable disability system,this study tries to deduce the logical main line of disability discrimination legal system by investigating the relevant provisions of the disability discrimination legal system in the Rehabilitation Act of the United States.It is pointed out that the system of qualified disabled persons is like a chain between the system of reasonable accommodation and the system of discrimination against disabled persons.It makes reasonable accommodation a legal obligation,and makes refusal to provide reasonable accommodation and refusal to provide reasonable accommodation precisely a discriminatory behavior with legal consequences.After the concept of "reasonable accommodation" and the concept of "prohibition of discrimination based on disability" have been adopted in China’s legal system for the protection of the rights and interests of the disabled,it is inevitable to establish a matching system for the disabled as soon as possible,so that reasonable accommodation really becomes a legal obligation.This chapter intends to draw lessons from the theoretical results and practical experience of the discrimination law system of the United States Rehabilitation Act,through the perspective of the two basic aspects--reasonable accommodation system and qualified disabled people system,in combination with the current disability rights safeguard legal system in China,to discuss how to perfect and develop China’s legal system,strengthen the ability of law enforcement,guarantee the effect of law enforcement,and promote equal employment and social participation of persons with disabilities.