States not required to give community-based care for those with disabilities: DOJ opinion
Summary
The Justice Department issued a legal opinion stating that states are not required by law to provide community-based care for people with disabilities. This opinion challenges a previous Supreme Court ruling that supported the right of disabled people to receive care in home or community settings instead of institutions.Key Facts
- The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) released this opinion on Thursday.
- The opinion reinterprets the 1999 Supreme Court case Olmstead v. LC.
- Olmstead v. LC said people with disabilities have the right to live in community settings, not just institutions.
- The new opinion claims the original Supreme Court ruling did not require community integration, only that unjustified institutional isolation is discrimination.
- The OLC opinion suggests the DOJ's previous efforts to push states to deinstitutionalize people with disabilities were too broad.
- The opinion itself does not change existing law or act as legal precedent.
- Disability rights advocates warn this opinion could weaken protections that allow disabled people to live in their communities.
- The move is part of broader efforts by the Trump administration to reduce federal involvement in disability-related enforcement.
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