Chapter 13
Disability
Most people incarcerated in American jails and prisons have at least one disability. This Chapter begins by discussing how disability may affect prisoners’ lives and institutional operations, and then presents materials on the interaction between the ADA and the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments, and on disability anti-discrimination statutes and their implementing regulations.
Featured Opinions
- Andrews v. Rauner, No. 3:18-cv-1101, 2018 WL 3748401 (C.D. Ill. Aug. 6, 2018)
- McBride v. Michigan Department of Corrections, 294 F.Supp.3d 695 (E.D. Mich. 2018)
- United States v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 151 (2006)
Featured, Cited, and Supplemental Litigation Documents
- Civil Rights Div., U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Statement of the Department of Justice on Enforcement of the Integration Mandate (June 22, 2011)
- Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, Special Collection: Olmstead Cases.
- Armstrong v. Brown, No. 94–cv–2307 (N.D. Cal.)
- Litigation summary and documents
- Order Granting Motion for Further Enforcement, 2015 WL 496799 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 3, 2015)
- Coleman v. Brown, 2:90–cv–00520–LKK–DAD (E.D. Cal.)
- Litigation summary and documents
- Response of the United States to Defendants’ Motion in Limine No.4: To Exclude the Statement of Interest (Nov. 12, 2013), (and Appendix)
- CRIPA investigation of Cresson and Penn. DOC
- Litigation summary and documents
- U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Investigation of the State Correctional Institution at Cresson and Notice of Expanded Investigation 1, 32–33 (2013)
- Disability Advocates, Inc. v. N.Y. State Office of Mental Health, No. 1:02–cv–04002–GEL (S.D.N.Y.)
- Litigation summary and documents
- Private Settlement Agreement (Apr. 27, 2007)
- Disability Rights Network of Pa. v. Wetzel, No. 1:13–cv–00635–JEJ (M.D. Pa.)
- Sardakowski v. Clements, No. 12–cv–01326–RBJ–KLM (D. Colo.)
- Litigation summary and documents
- Reporter’s Transcript: Hearing on Motion for Summary Judgment and Final Trial Preparation Conference (Feb. 25, 2014)
- United States v. Delaware, 1:11–cv–00591–LPS (D. Del.)
- Litigation summary and documents
- Settlement Agreement (July 6, 2011)
Statutes, Treaties, and Regulations
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq.
- Title II regulations (selected provisions; all)
- Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504
- 29 U.S.C. § 794(a)
- Section 504 Regulations, 28 C.F.R. §§ 42.500 et seq.
Non-case Excerpts and Supplemental Documents
- None
Additional Reading
Other Cited Sources
- Rights of Prisoners Under Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act, 163 A.L.R. Fed. 285 (originally published in 2000; updated to present) (no free online version available: via Westlaw; via Lexis)
- Samuel R. Bagenstos, The Past and Future of Deinstitutionalization Litigation, 34 Cardozo L. Rev. 1 (2012)
- Brittany Glidden & Laura Rovner, Requiring the State to Justify Supermax Confinement for Mentally Ill Prisoners: A Disability Discrimination Approach, 90 Denv. U. L. Rev. 55, 69 (2012)
- Human Rights Watch, Old Behind Bars: The Aging Prison Population in the United States (2012)
- Human Rights Watch, Callous and Cruel: Use of Force against Inmates with Mental Disabilities in US Jails and Prisons (2015)
- Human Rights Watch, Ill-Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness (2003)
- U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Possible Federal Sources of Assistance to Federally Assisted Programs or Activities (indexes to federal support that triggers coverage by the Rehab Act)
- Margo Schlanger, Prisoners with Disabilities, in 4 Academy for Justice: Punishment, Incarceration, and Release 295 (2017)
- Margo Schlanger, How the ADA Regulates and Restricts Solitary Confinement for People with Mental Disabilities, Am. Const. Soc’y Issue Brief (May 2016)
- Steven Raphael & Michael A. Stoll, Assessing the Contribution of the Deinstitutionalization of the Mentally Ill to Growth in the U.S. Incarceration Rate, 42 J. Legal Stud. 187, 190 (2013)
- Hans Toch, Humpty Dumpty in the Prison, 16 Corr. Mental Health Rep. 51 (2014)
For more information
- Tessa Bialek & Margo Schlanger, Effective Communication with Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind, and Low Vision Incarcerated People (A Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse White Paper)