Ruth Colker, B.A., J.D.
Distinguished University Professor of Law, Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law, Professor of Law Emerita
Education
- BA, Harvard University, Social Studies, 1978 (cum laude)
- JD, Harvard Law School, 1981
Biography
Ruth Colker is a Distinguished University Professor and the Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law. One of the country's preeminent scholars in constitutional law and disability discrimination, she has published at least one edition of 17 books and more than 90 law review articles. Professor Colker's work has twice been cited by the United States Supreme Court.
Before joining the faculty at Ohio State, Professor Colker taught at Tulane University, the University of Toronto, the University of Pittsburgh, and in the Women’s Studies graduate program at George Washington University. She also spent four years working as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, where she received two awards for outstanding performance.
Professor Colker has held several service and leadership positions. Currently, she serves on the national board of directors for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Links to Professor Colker’s publications can be found on both her CV and her blog.
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Ruth Colker, Tyranny of Personhood, 86 Ohio St. L.J. 235 (2025)
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Ruth Colker, The Hypocrisy of Sex or Pregnancy-Based Affirmative Action, 25 Geo. J. Gender & L. 1139 (2024)
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Ruth Colker, Christian Domination, 73 Am. U. L. Rev. 1717 (2024)
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Ruth Colker, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, AND THE LAW IN A NUTSHELL ((3rd ed., 2024)
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Ruth Colker, Overmedicalization?, 46 Harv. J.L. & Gender 205 (2023)
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Ruth Colker, Disability Misappopriation, 72 Am. U. L. Rev. 1619 (2023)
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Ruth Colker, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and the Law in a Nutshell ((2d ed., 2022)
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Ruth Colker, The Reactive Model of Reasonable Accommodation, LPE PROJECT (Oct. 11, 2022)
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Ruth Colker, The Americans with Disabilities Act’s Unreasonable Focus on the Individual, 170 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1813 (2022)
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Ruth Colker, Towards Universal Design in the Classroom, 71 J. Legal Educ. 57 (Fall 2021)
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Ruth Colker, The Public Insult Playbook: How Abusers in Power Undermine Civil Rights Reform ((2021)
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Ruth Colker, The White Supremacist Constitution, 2022 Utah L. Rev. 651 (2021)
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Ruth Colker, Uninformed Consent, 101 B.U. L. Rev. 431 (2021)
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Ruth Colker, The Power of Insults, 100 B.U. L. Rev. 1 (2020)
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Ruth Colker, Federal Disability in a Nutshell ((6th ed., 2019)
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Ruth Colker, Test Validity: Faster Is Not Necessarily Better, 49 Seton Hall L. Rev. 679 (2019)
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Monte Smith, Ruth Colker, Ellen Deason, Deborah Jones Merritt & Abigail Shoben, Formative Assessments: A Law School Case Study, 94 U. Det. Mercy L. Rev. 387 (2018)
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Ruth Colker, Special Education in a Nutshell ((2018)
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Ruth Colker, Reply to Sarah Burns, 13 Harv. Women's L.J. 207 (1990)
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Ruth Colker, The Anti-Subordination Principle: Applications, 3 Wis. Women's L.J. 59 (1987)
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Ruth Colker, Public Restrooms: Flipping the Default Rules, 78 Ohio St. L.J. 145 (2017)
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Ruth Colker, Universal Design: Stop Banning Laptops!, 39 Cardozo L. Rev. 483 (2017)
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Ruth Colker, The Freedom to Choose to Marry, 30 Colum. J. Gender & L. 383 (2016)
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Ruth Colker, The Americans with Disabilities Act Is Outdated, 63 Drake L. Rev. 787 (2015)
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Ruth Colker, Blaming Mothers: A Disability Perspective, 95 B.U. L. Rev. 1205 (2015)
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Ruth Colker, Religious Accommodation for County Clerks?, 76 Ohio St. L.J.: Furthermore 87 (2015)
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Ruth Colker & Paul Grossman, The Law of Disability Discrimination for Higher Education Professionals ((2014)
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Ruth Colker, Special Education Complaint Resolution: Ohio, 29 Ohio St. J. on Disp. Resol. 371 (2014)
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Ruth Colker, California Year in Review: 2013 Special Education ALJ Decisions, 34 J. Nat'l Ass'n Admin. L. Jud. 47 (2014)
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Ruth Colker, Disabled Education: A Critical Analysis of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ((2013)
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Ruth Colker & Paul Grossman, The Law of Disability Discrimination Handbook: Statutes and Regulatory Guidance ((8th ed., 2013)
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Ruth Colker & Paul Grossman, The Law of Disability Discrimination ((8th ed., 2013)
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Ruth Colker, California Hearing Officer Decisions, 32 J. Nat'l Ass'n Admin. L. Jud. 463 (2013)
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Ruth Colker, Politics Trump Science: The Collision Between No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 42 J. L. & Educ. 585 (2013)
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Ruth Colker, Response: Hybrid Revisited, 100 Geo. L.J. 1069 (2012)
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Ruth Colker & Julie Waterstone, Special Education Advocacy ((2011)
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Ruth Colker, Speculation About Judicial Outcomes Under 2008 ADA Amendments: Cause for Concern, 2010 Utah L. Rev. 1029 (2010)
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Ruth Colker, When Is Separate Unequal?: A Disability Perspective ((2009)
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Ruth Colker, Extra Time as an Accommodation, 69 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 413 (2008)
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Ruth Colker, Reflections on Race: The Limits of Formal Equality, 69 Ohio St. L.J. 1089 (2008)
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Ruth Colker, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's Friends, 68 Ohio St. L.J. 517 (2007)
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Daniel P. Tokaji & Ruth Colker, Absentee Voting by People with Disabilities: Promoting Access and Integrity, 38 McGeorge L. Rev. 1015 (2007)
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Ruth Colker, The Disability Integration Presumption: Thirty Years Later, 154 U. Pa. L. Rev. 789 (2006)
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Ruth Colker, Marriage Mimicry: The Law of Domestic Violence, 47 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1841 (2006)
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Ruth Colker, Rehnquist and Federalism: An Empirical Perspective, in The Rehnquist Legacy (2005)
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Ruth Colker, The Disability Pendulum: The First Decade of the Americans with Disabilities Act ((2005)
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Ruth Colker & Adam Milani, Everyday Law for Individuals with Disabilities ((2005)
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Ruth Colker, Homophobia, HIV Hysteria, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, 8 J. Gender Race & Just. 33 (2004)
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Ruth Colker, The ADA's Journey Through Congress, 39 Wake Forest L. Rev. 1 (2004)
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Ruth Colker, The Death of Section 504, in Backlash Against the ADA: Reinterpreting Disability Rights (2003)
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Ruth Colker, City of Boerne Revisited, 70 U. Cin. L. Rev. 455 (2002)
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Ruth Colker, Middle-Class White Privilege, 6 Rev. Const. Stud. 324 (2002)
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Ruth Colker & Adam Milani, The Post-Garrett World: Insufficient State Protection Against Disability Discrimination, 53 Ala. L. Rev. 1075 (2002)
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Ruth Colker & Kevin M. Scott, Dissing States?: Invalidation of State Action During the Rehnquist Era, 88 Va. L. Rev. 1301 (2002)
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Ruth Colker, The Supreme Court’s Historical Errors in City of Boerne v. Flores, 43 B.C. L. Rev. 783 (2002)
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Ruth Colker, Winning and Losing Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 62 Ohio St. L.J. 239 (2001)
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Ruth Colker & James J. Brudney, Dissing Congress, 100 Mich. L. Rev. 80 (2001)
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Ruth Colker, The Section Five Quagmire, 47 UCLA L. Rev. 653 (2000)
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Ruth Colker, ADA Title III: A Fragile Compromise, in Americans with Disabilities: Exploring the Implications of the Law for Individuals and Institutions (2000)
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Ruth Colker, The Americans with Disabilities Act: A Windfall for Defendants, 34 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 99 (1999)
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Ruth Colker, American Law in the Age of Hypercapitalism: The Worker, the Family, and the State ((1998)
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Ruth Colker, Affirmative Action, Reasonable Accommodation and Capitalism: An Irreconcilable Conflict?, in Justice for People with Disabilities: Legal and Institutional Issues (1998)
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Ruth Colker, Affirmative Protection for People with Disabilities, Illness and Parenting Responsibilities Under United States Law, 9 Yale J.L. & Feminism 213 (1997)
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Ruth Colker, Hybrid: Bisexuals, Multiracials, and Other Misfits Under American Law ((1996)
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Ruth Colker, An Embodied Bisexual Perspective, 7 Yale J.L. & Human. 139 (1995)
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Ruth Colker, Whores, Fags, Dumb Ass Women, Surly Blacks, and Competent Heterosexual White Men: The Sexual and Racial Morality Underlying Anti-Discrimination Doctrine, 7 Yale J.L. & Feminism 196 (1995)
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Ruth Colker, Pregnant Men: Practice, Theory, and the Law ((1994)
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Ruth Colker, Abortion and Violence, 1 Wm. & Mary Women's L.J. 93 (1994)
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Ruth Colker, Disembodiment: Abortion and Gay Rights, in Radical Philosophy of Law: Contemporary Challenges to Mainstream Legal Theory and Practice (1994)
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Ruth Colker, Teaching From a Feminist Perspective: An Occupational Hazard?, 1 Va. J. Soc. Pol'y & L. 153 (1993)
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Ruth Colker, Equality Theory and Reproductive Freedom, 3 Tex. J. Women & L. 99 (1993)
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Ruth Colker, Section 1, Contextuality, and the Anti-Disadvantage Principle, 42 U. Toronto L.J. 77 (1992)
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Ruth Colker, Reflections on Abortion: A Roll of the Dice in Louisiana, 46 S.M.U. L. Rev. 47 (1992)
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Ruth Colker, The Example of Lesbians: A Posthumous Reply to Professor Mary Joe Frug, 105 Harv. L. Rev. 1084 (1992)
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Ruth Colker, Abortion and Dialogue: Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, and American Law ((1992)
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Ruth Colker, Feminism, Sexuality and Authenticity, in At the Boundaries of Law: Feminism and Legal Theory (1991)
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Ruth Colker, Feminist Litigation: An Oxymoron?, 13 Harv. Women's L.J. 137 (1990)
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Ruth Colker, Feminist Consciousness and the State: A Basis for Cautious Optimism, 90 Colum. L. Rev. 1146 (1990)
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Ruth Colker, Equality as Compassion, in The Evolving U.S. Constitution 1787-1987 (1989)
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Ruth Colker, Feminism, Theology, and Abortion: Toward Love, Compassion, and Wisdom, , 77 Cal. L. Rev. 1011 (1989)
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Ruth Colker, Abortion and Dialogue, 63 Tul. L. Rev. 1363 (1989)
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Ruth Colker, Published Consentless Sexual Portrayals: A Proposed Framework for Analysis, 35 Buff. L. Rev. 39 (1986)
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Ruth Colker, Rank-Order Physical Abilities Selection Devices for Traditionally Male Occupations as Sex-Based Employment Discrimination, 19 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 761 (1986)
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Ruth Colker, Anti-Subordination Above All: Sex, Race, and Equal Protection, 61 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1003 (1986)
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Ruth Colker, Legislative Remedies for Unauthorized Sexual Portrayals, 20 New Eng. L. Rev. 687 (1985)
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Ruth Colker, Pornography & Privacy: Towards the Development of a Group-Based Theory for Sex-Based Intrusions of Privacy, 1 Law & Ineq. 191 (1983)