Maine Advocates Criticize Federal Memo on Institutionalizing People with Disabilities
The memo could weaken federal enforcement and leave states freer to cut home care, advocates and legal experts said.
- On June 18, the U.S. Department of Justice released a memo questioning the binding nature of the disability 'integration mandate,' reinterpreting the 1999 Supreme Court decision Olmstead v. L.C. to suggest it does not require community-based care for all individuals.
- For nearly 30 years, the Olmstead decision has informed public policy, affirming that people with disabilities must be served in the most integrated setting possible; the DOJ's new opinion breaks with this decades-long federal position.
- National Alliance on Mental Illness official Hannah Wesolowski warned the memo 'threatens the progress we have made,' while Jennifer Mathis of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law called the shift 'potentially devastating' for disability rights.
- States may now scale back community-based services, as the Trump administration's memo signals a retreat from enforcing Olmstead claims amid ongoing Medicaid funding cuts.
- Although lacking the force of law, the memo guides executive branch policy and was authored by Lanora Pettit, principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel, who previously worked in the Texas Attorney General's office.
30 Articles
30 Articles
DOJ memo questions protections for people with disabilities
A recently released Justice Department memo questions decades of protections for Americans with disabilities. It’s the latest effort by the Trump administration to shift longstanding practices for the disability community, attempting to change services and policies. Ali Rogin speaks with Maria Town, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, for more.
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NAMI Statement on DOJ Olmstead Opinion and Threat to Community-Based Care
ARLINGTON, Va., June 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Late last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an opinion that is contrary to the decades-long position held by the federal government that has sought to help people with disabilities, including…
New Justice Department memo questions decades of protections for people with disabilities
A recently released Justice Department memo questions decades of protections for Americans with disabilities. It’s the latest effort by the Trump administration to shift longstanding practices for the disability community, attempting to change services and policies. Ali Rogin speaks with Maria Town, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, for more.
Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities: We Belong: BPDD response to U.S. Justice Department memo challenging right to community integration for people with disabilities
The U.S. Department of Justice released an opinion last week that argues core civil rights laws—the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the 1999 Supreme Court Olmstead decision–do not require states to integrate people with disabilities into the community. U.S....
Maine advocates criticize federal memo on institutionalizing people with disabilities
Disability rights advocates are denouncing a memo issued by the U.S. Department of Justice last week that gives states more authority to place people with disabilities in institutions instead of providing services in the community.
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