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95 Iowa L. Rev. 1315 (2009-2010)
Cybernetic-Enhancement Technology and the Future of Disability Law

handle is hein.journals/ilr95 and id is 1323 raw text is: Cybernetic-Enhancement Technology and the Future of Disability Law Collin 1. Bockman* ABSTRACT: Cybernetic devices-extensions, replacements, and upgrades that interface directly with the human nervous system-are becoming increasingly advanced and commonplace. Impending developments in neuroscience technology, including brain-computer interfaces and robotic prosthetics that surpass levels of ordinary human functionality, will raise novel legal and ethical questions. This Note argues that these enhancement technologies will create problems for people covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA ). Congress recently amended the ADA to bar courts from taking mitigating factors into account when determining whether a claimant is ADA-protected. The ADA and its amendments embody disability by legislating the existence of disability as within the body of the disabled, rather than as a social construct determined by societal norms. This Note suggests changes to the ADA that would help prepare the ADA for the increasingly broad spectrum of ability that will accompany humanity through the twenty-first century. I. INTRO DUCTIO N ..................................................................................... 1317 II. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN AMERICAN DISABILITY LAW AND CYBERNETIC-ENHANCEMENT TECHNOLOGIES ...................................... 1320 A. HISTORY OFDISABILITY LEGiSLATION .............................................. 1320 1. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ....................... 1320 2. The 2008 Amendments to the ADA ..................................... 1322 B. WE CAN REBUILD HIM, WE HA VE THE TECHNOLOGY: CURRENT REPLACEMENTS AND UPGRADES FOR HUMANBODYPARTS ................ 1323 1. Joints and Internal O rgans ................................................... 1323 2. Brain Implants and Brain-Computer Interfaces ................ 1324 3. Advanced Prosthetic Lim bs .................................................. 1327 * J.D. Candidate, The University of Iowa College of Law, 2010; Singularity University Graduate Studies Program, 2009. The author would like to thank the editorial boards of Volumes 94 and 95 for their cooperation and assistance, Dr. Ray Kurzweil for a great deal of inspiration, and technology pioneers everywhere for creating such an interesting and vibrant world to live in. 1315