CW: Institutionalization
Yesterday marked the 27th anniversary of the Olmstead decision, a landmark ruling that guaranteed disabled people’s right to live in the most integrated setting possible. This anniversary is more important than ever. The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) has issued a new opinion that puts the future of community living at stake.
Olmstead v. L.C. required states to end the unnecessary segregation of disabled people. It stated clearly that people should receive care in their own communities and not have to be institutionalized. The case started in Georgia with two disabled women, Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson, who wished to live at home but were in nursing homes. The state denied their requests, and attorney Susan Jamieson of Atlanta Legal Aid filed a lawsuit on their behalf. They changed the lives of Americans and the trajectory of disability rights.
Last week, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion stating that the federal government has taken the Olmstead decision beyond what the Supreme Court intended. The opinion says the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has forced deinstitutionalization in states under its guidance through injunctions, settlement agreements and remedial orders, applying the integration requirement of the ADA. The Office of Legal Counsel says that such a level of enforcement goes beyond the original scope of the Court’s duties.
However, disability advocates have a different perspective. This isn’t a legal or academic discussion for us. It is about real people, real lives. It is about whether disabled people will continue to have the right to live in their community or whether states will go back to forcing us into institutions.
I know what is at stake because I use home and community services. My quality of life wouldn’t be the same if I lived in a nursing home or institution. Residing there means losing freedoms that many people take for granted: meal choices, visitors, and having my own schedule. Living in the community shouldn’t be a luxury.
Millions of disabled people rely on the promise of Olmstead: the promise that we are not forgotten behind institutional walls, that we belong with our families and friends in our communities. If this promise is not upheld by enforcing it, it would be a heartbreaking setback and jeopardize the lives of countless people.
It’s been 27 years since this historic decision, and as we remember this important milestone, we need to keep in mind what Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson fought for: the right to live a life for themselves, in their own community. This battle is far from over. But with this new opinion from the DOJ, the pressure is mounting.
Sources:
“How Two Women Changed Thousands of Lives.” Disability Rights Texas, 17 June 2019, http://www.disabilityrightstx.org/en/2019/06/17/olmstead20th/.
Lynch, Sarah N. “States Aren’t Required to Provide Community-Based Care for People with Disabilities, New DOJ Opinion Claims.” CBS News, 18 June 2026, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doj-disability-opinion-community-care/
Shapiro, Joseph. “Lois Curtis, Who Won a Landmark Civil Rights Case for People with Disabilities, Died.” NPR, 5 Nov. 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/11/05/1134426128/lois-curtis-who-won-a-landmark-civil-rights-case-for-people-with-disabilities-di.