Syracuse Sun

Katherine Macfarlane, a leading expert on disability law, civil procedure, and civil rights litigation, joined the College of Law last summer to lead the Disability Law and Policy (DLPP) program. The program was founded and led by Professor Emerita Arlene Kanter, who retired in June after 35 years of teaching.

Macfarlane’s research and advocacy focus on reasonable accommodations in the workplace and higher education. She is herself a person with disabilities, having had rheumatoid arthritis since childhood. Her lived experience with disability motivates her to direct the DLPP program.

Before joining the faculty as an associate professor last August, Macfarlane served as special counsel for disability rights in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. This appointment was supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation’s U.S. Disability Rights Program. She previously held academic positions at Southern University Law Center and the University of Idaho College of Law and worked as an assistant corporation counsel in the New York City Law Department.

In addition to her disability law research, Macfarlane writes at the intersection of federal civil procedure and civil rights litigation. Her article about 42 U.S.C. § 1983 has been cited twice by U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves.

Macfarlane appreciates that Kanter’s groundwork has provided an understanding of disability law at Syracuse University. “The University’s understanding of what it takes to support people with disabilities means I can jump right into the kind of programming I want to do,” she said.

At DLPP, Macfarlane aims to empower law students to see themselves as disability law scholars and future academics. She plans to make this year’s inaugural student scholarship-focused symposium a yearly tradition and continue hosting discussions with cutting-edge disability law scholars and advocates.

“I want for us as a university to think beyond compliance,” she says. “That means we need to think through the experience of people with disabilities from the minute they arrive on campus.”

Macfarlane's interest in law began early; she lived in Canada and Italy before moving to the U.S., where she was inspired by civil rights movements. Congressman John Lewis is one of her heroes.

“I have been disabled for as long as I can remember," she says, "but in law school, I was too self-conscious to identify with the disability community or focus on disability law."

People with disabilities are underrepresented in both legal practice and academia, according to Macfarlane. “Not only is there a real need for people with disability law experience,” she says, “there is also an absolute need for people with disabilities to go into this area of law.”

DLPP provides a forum for achieving these objectives, says Macfarlane: “I also love that I can expose students with disabilities to this area of law and advocacy.”

She notes that monitoring litigation and Supreme Court decisions is crucial for guarding against declines in disability rights: “That’s why DLPP’s efforts are essential,” she concludes.

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