Ugly law
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From the late 1860s until the 1970s, several American cities had ugly laws making it illegal for persons with "unsightly or disgusting" disabilities to appear in public. Some of these laws were called unsightly beggar ordinances.
Examples
The first appearance of the ordinance seems to date to 1867 in San Francisco, California.[1] The ordinance seems to have been welcomed particularly from the 1880s in Western and particularly Midwestern cities with strong, networked cultures of reform, towns bound to each other and the rest of the nation by railroad ties. Its zone extended eastward, too. The state of Pennsylvania passed a state version of the law in the early 1890s. Some New Yorkers, inspired by Pennsylvania, made an unsuccessful attempt to get a city ordinance passed in 1895.[2]
- California.[2]
- Paris, Illinois. The most commonly cited ugly law is that of the "City of Paris Ordinance, 1911" which is often unsourced.[3] However, the Paris Municipal Code, sec. 36034 did include an ordinance that provided:
No person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object or improper person to be allowed in or on the public ways or other public places in this city, or shall therein or thereon expose himself to public view, under a penalty of not less than one dollar nor more than fifty dollars for each offense.[4]
- Columbus, Ohio. General Offense Code, sec. 2387.04.[5]
- Omaha. Unsightly Beggar Ordinance Nebraska Municipal Code of 1941, sec. 25.[6]
Punishments for being caught in public ranged from incarceration to fines of up to $50 for each offense.
Repeal
Many ugly laws were not repealed until the mid-1970s.[7] Omaha repealed its ugly law in 1967. Columbus withdrew its in 1972. Chicago, Illinois was the last to repeal its ugly law in 1974.[8]
Americans with Disabilities Act
The recantation of ugly laws preceded the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 where certain rights were granted to people with disabilities:
Individuals with disabilities are a discrete and insular minority who have been faced with restrictions and limitations, subjected to a history of purposeful unequal treatment, and relegated to a position of political powerlessness in our society, based on characteristics that are beyond the control of such individuals and resulting from stereotypic assumptions not truly indicative of the individual ability of such individuals to participate in, and contribute to, society.
See also
References
- ↑ Schweik, Susan. The ugly laws (NYU Press 2009)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Brown, Patricia Leigh. "Viewing Ahab and Barbie Through the Lens of Disability." New York Times (August 20, 2000) as quoted by http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-29736932_ITM
- ↑ Begging the question: disability, mendicancy, speech and the law.(Viewpoint essay), 01-JAN-07, Schweik, Susan, Ohio State University Press
- ↑ Paris Municipal Code, sec. 36034 (repealed 1974).
- ↑ Columbus, Ohio General Offense Code, sec. 2387.04 (1972).
- ↑ Unsightly Beggar Ordinance, Omaha, Nebraska Municipal Code of 1941, sec. 25 (1967).
- ↑ Marcia Pearce Burgdorf and Robert Burgdorf, Jr., “A History of Unequal Treatment: The Qualifications of Handicapped Persons as a Suspect Class Under the Equal Protection Clause,” Santa Clara Lawyer 15:4 (1975) 855-910.
- ↑ "Disability History: Timeline". Ncld-youth.info. 1939-07-04. Retrieved 2015-02-13.