The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is the short title of
United States Public Law 101-336, 104 Stat. 327 (July 26, 1990), codified at et seq.,
signed into law on
July 26,
1990 by President
George H. W. Bush. The ADA is a wide-ranging
civil rights law that prohibits, under certain circumstances,
discrimination based on
disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to
Americans with disabilities as the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on
race,
religion,
sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal. Disability is defined as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity." The determination of whether any particular condition is considered a disability is made on a case by case basis. Certain specific conditions are excluded as disabilities, such as current substance abusers and
transsexuality. Title I of the ADA was found unconstitutional by the
United States Supreme Court in the case of
Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett as violating the states'
Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution sovereign immunity rights insofar as it allowed the states to be sued for money damages.
See more at Wikipedia.org...