Arlene B. Mayerson

Arlene B. Mayerson
Arlene smiling for the camera
Born
Cincinnati
NationalityUnited States
OccupationCivil Rights Attorney
Known forAmericans with Disabilities Act

Arlene B. Mayerson is an American civil rights attorney focused on disability rights. She is the Directing Attorney of Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF),[1] a position she has held since 1981. She has provided representation, consultation to counsel, and coordination of amicus briefs on key disability rights cases before all levels of federal court, including the U.S. Supreme Court. She was appointed by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education to the Civil Rights Reviewing Authority, responsible for reviewing civil rights decisions of the Department.[2][circular reference]

Ms. Mayerson has been called upon to give testimony to several committees of Congress on both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).[3] Scholar Lennard J. Davis noted Ms. Mayerson’s contributions as the “brains behind the Americans with Disabilities Act.”[4]

  1. ^ Stefani, Kim (November 29, 2019). "National Association of the Deaf Reaches Settlement with Harvard to Make Online Resources More Accessible". The Hearing Review. ProQuest 2319828953. Retrieved April 9, 2024 – via ProQuest.
  2. ^ "Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund: The 1980s". Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  3. ^ Young, Jonathan M (1997). Equality of Opportunity: The Making of the Americans with Disabilities Act (PDF). National Council on Disability. Retrieved August 31, 2020. The lead attorney for the disability community, and the one who most often testified before Congress on behalf of the ADA, was Arlene Mayerson of DREDF. She had worked extensively on the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act, Civil Rights Restoration Act, and Fair Housing Amendments Act, and had submitted countless briefs to various committees and courts. Especially significant was her role in passing the Handicapped Children's Protection Act.
  4. ^ Davis, Lennard (2016). Enabling Acts. Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807059296.