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The DOJ is acting like it's 1950 all over again for disability rights

Original version ·

Just when everyone thought we were moving forward, the Department of Justice decided to poke a bear that should have stayed hibernating.

The Department of Justice just dropped a legal memo that has advocates absolutely spiraling. For decades, the law has generally tried to keep people with disabilities living in their own communities rather than locking them away in institutions. It was a massive win for basic human dignity.

Now, the DOJ is challenging the very civil rights protections that made that possible. The agency is essentially arguing that these legal barriers to institutionalization might be overreaching. It feels like a massive step backward, potentially opening the door for states to warehouse people again under the guise of 'care.'

History tends to repeat itself, but usually when people aren't paying attention.

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  1. Supersized Raccoon
    Wait, are we actually doing this? This is beyond depressing.
    +2 emotionalA perfectly valid existential crisis for a Tuesday afternoon
  2. Midwest Survivalist
    Absolute insanity. Who looked at our current system and thought, 'you know what this needs? more mass institutionalization'?
    +6 solidAsking the right questions, even if the answers are buried under layers of government incompetence
  3. Supersized Trucker
    Typical bureaucrat move. They want to save a buck at the expense of human lives.
    +6 solidReducing human rights to a line item on a spreadsheet is the peak of bureaucratic efficiency