Chapter 13
Disability
Chapter Overview
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)
- Nottingham v. Richardson, 499 Fed. Appx. 368, 377 (5th Cir. 2012)
- Purcell v. Pa. Dep’t of Corr., No. 3:00–cv–00181–LPL, 2006 WL 891449 (W.D. Pa. Mar. 31, 2006)
- Scherer v. Pa. Dep’t of Corr., No. 3:04–cv–00191–KRG, 2007 WL 4111412 (W.D. Pa. Nov. 16, 2007)
- Tellis v. LeBlanc, 18-cv-541, 2022 WL 22861739 (W.D. La. Nov. 1, 2022)
- United States v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 151 (2006)
- Wagoner v. Lemmon, 778 F.3d 586, 593 (7th Cir. 2015)
- Williams v. Sec’y Pennsylvania Dep’t of Corr., 117 F.4th 503 (3d Cir. 2024)
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 of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Olmstead v. L.C. (Feb. 28, 2020)
- 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
- 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 (Jul. 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.
Lived Experiences
Data & Figures
Additional Reading
- Samuel R. Bagenstos, The Past and Future of Deinstitutionalization Litigation, 34 Cardozo L. Rev. 1 (2012)
- Tessa Bialek & Margo Schlanger, Effective Communication with Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind, and Low Vision Incarcerated People, 26 J. Gender, Race & Just. 133 (2023)
- Robert D. Dinerstein & Shira Wakschlag, Using the ADA’s “Integration Mandate” to Disrupt Mass Incarceration, 96 Denv. U. L. Rev. 917 (2019)
- Equity for Whom? How Private Equity and the Punishment Bureaucracy Exploit Disabled People, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (Nov. 2024)
- 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 (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)
- Jamelia N. Morgan, The Paradox of Inclusion: Applying Olmstead’s Integration Mandate in Prisons, 27 Geo. J. on Poverty L. & Pol’y 305 (2020)
- Elliot Oberholtzer, Police, courts, jails, and prisons all fail disabled people, Prison Policy Initiative (Jan. 2017)
- 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 (2013)
- 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; access via Westlaw; Lexis)
- Margo Schlanger, Challenging Federal Government Impunity: The Case of Disability Law, 105 B.U. L.Rev. 1949 (2025)
- Margo Schlanger, Prisoners with Disabilities, in 4 Academy for Justice: Punishment, Incarceration, and Release (2017)
- Margo Schlanger, How the ADA Regulates and Restricts Solitary Confinement for People with Mental Disabilities, Am. Const. Soc’y Issue Brief (May 2016)
- Hans Toch, Humpty Dumpty in the Prison, 16 Corr. Mental Health Rep. 51 (2014)
- 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)