The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently released an alarming memo minimizing the importance of Olmstead v. L.C. and rolling back decades of federal support for the idea that individuals with disabilities have the right to live in community settings. Disability Rights Washington unequivocally condemns this memo and all attempts to force individuals with disabilities into institutions.
Nearly 30 years ago, in Olmstead v. L.C. the Supreme Court held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits unjustified segregation of individuals with disabilities. Since Olmstead, the federal government has supported these rights in many important ways: publishing federal regulations that contain an integration mandate, issuing guidance to states that explained their obligation to provide services in the community, creating programs within Medicaid to allow individuals with disabilities to receive their services in the community, and investigating or even suing states that continued to isolate members of our community in institutions.
This memo signals a massive retreat from this position. In the memo, DOJ claims that everyone from the federal courts to state governments, to DOJ itself, has been reading Olmstead too broadly. It denies that Olmstead created an integration mandate. It argues that the current ADA and Section 504 regulations, which contain integration mandates, incorrectly interpret those statutes and are unlawful. It directs federal agencies to rescind these regulations and any related guidance.
However, DOJ cannot and did not change existing law with this memo. The DOJ cannot overturn court decisions, including Olmstead itself, and the Ninth Circuit decisions interpreting it. And the DOJ cannot rescind federal regulations with a memo. Federal agencies must go through notice and comment on rulemaking to withdraw published regulations.
The fight for the future of Olmstead and the integration mandate will take place in the courts, in Congress, and at federal agencies and will call on all of us to protect this hard-won civil right. Disability Rights Washington has been proud to fight for the right of people with disabilities to live in the community. We will continue that fight.
You can learn more about Olmstead from this video by Disability Rights Washington or read about it at OlmsteadRights.org (Olmstead Decision) and the National Health Law Program (Reflections on the 25th Anniversary of the Olmstead Decision).
Advocates across the country also condemn the DOJ’s Memo. You can see their statements here:
- Disability Rights California: Disability Rights California Condemns Federal Legal Opinion Attacking the Right of Disabled People to Live in the Community | Disability Rights California
- Disability Law Center: DLC Statement and Information on Recent DOJ Memorandum Threatening the Rights of People with Disabilities – Disability Law Center, Utah
- Disability Rights North Carolina: Olmstead response – DRNC
- Center for Public Representation: https://www.centerforpublicrep.org/news/cpr-condemns-administration-attack-on-the-rights-of-individuals-with-disabilities-to-be-integrated-in-their-communities/
- Autistic Self Advocacy Network: ASAN Condemns OLC Memo Threatening Community Living
- National Council on Independent Living: NCIL Statement Condemning and Rejecting the Department of Justice’s Memo Attempting to Undermine Disability Civil Rights – National Council on Independent Living
- American Council of the Blind: Memorandum Released Regarding the Integration Mandate | American Council of the Blind
- American Association of People with Disabilities: DOJ Memo Is Attempting to Turn Back the Clock on Integration and Olmstead’s Promise – AAPD
- National Down Syndrome Society: Why the Department of Justice Memorandum on Olmstead and Community Integration Matters | National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS)
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: NAMI Statement on DOJ Olmstead Opinion and Threat to Community-Based Care | NAMI