Date of Award
Spring 5-2-2025
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Department/Major
Criminal Justice
Additional Department
Landscape Architecture
First Advisor
Dr. April Carrillo
Second Advisor
Dr. Bob Welch
Third Advisor
Dr. Angela Jackson
Keywords
Americans with Disabilities Act, Pre-Law Students, Accessibility, Disability Justice
Subject Categories
Disability Law | Other Legal Studies
Abstract
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990 with the intention to help disabled people integrate into workplaces and public spaces. Despite the importance of the ADA to make the United States more accessible, it has been met with controversy ever since. This is especially true of Title 3, which focuses on making public spaces accessible and allows for injunctive lawsuits when the legal standards are not met. The controversy of this law revolves around the news coverage of these suits, depicting the suits as unnecessary and the people filing them as greedy. This misunderstanding of the ADA has the potential to put it at risk, which can be increased if these beliefs are held in legal spaces. To explore the opinions of future legal practitioners, this study was conducted with a mixed methods approach that combined a survey and a qualitative interview. Results indicated general support for the use of ADA, but there were some findings that could indicate opposition. Overall, this study investigated important areas for future research to best understand and prepare spaces for disabled people in the future through the eyes of future legal actors.
Recommended Citation
Branham, Ella Rose, "Ability, Advocacy, and Access: Pre-Law Students and the Americans with Disabilities Act" (2025). Honors Thesis. 389.
https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis/389