In the 1999 Supreme Court case Olmstead v. L.C., Justice Kennedy wrote in his concurrence, "It is careful, and quite correct, to say that it is not 'the ADA's mission to drive States to move institutionalized patients to an inappropriate setting, such as a homeless shelter.'"
Yet as the Cicero Institute points out, that's exactly what has happened over the last 20 years.
A recent Justice Department directive aims to correct 'unintended consequences' stemming from a misinterpretation of the landmark Olmstead decision –– clearing a path for states to more effectively help homeless individuals with mental illness or substance abuse problems.
— Cicero Institute (@InstituteCicero) August 10, 2026
In… pic.twitter.com/xgRfrop1YQ
In fact, it was Justice Department policy to sue states to discharge mentally ill patients from institutions under Olmstead.
On July 13, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon issued a directive putting an end to this practice.
🚨IT'S OFFICIAL: DOJ's Civil Rights Division has QUIETLY ENDED its 20-year policy of suing states to discharge mentally ill patients from institutions under Olmstead.
— Shiloh Marx (@Shilohmarx) August 10, 2026
Per AAG Harmeet Dhillon's July 13 directive:
"The Department will not rely upon the Olmstead Guidance in its… https://t.co/s4WOy7ZbpO pic.twitter.com/GeBKdNRwN2
Here's what that directive says:
The Department of Justice (the Department) is issuing this document to clarify that the guidance issued by the Department on June 22, 2011, and last updated February 28, 2020, titled "Statement of the Department of Justice on Enforcement of the Integration Mandate of Title II of the Disabilities Act and Olmstead v. L.C" (Olmstead Guidance), and similar guidance documents are not enforceable. In addition, the Department plans to revisit the Olmstead Guidance in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enters v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369, 400 (2024), to assess whether the Olmstead Guidance is consistent with the single best meaning of the relevant statutory text. The Department will no rely upon the Olmstead Guidance in its enforcement of Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act."
It is literally insane that the DOJ was suing states to force institutions to release mentally ill patients. To avoid those lawsuits, states were setting violent, dangerous mentally ill patients free into our communities.
When it wasn’t intentionally filling our communities with third world savages, the federal government was intentionally filling our communities with psychotic dregs. https://t.co/Msv833PULy
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) August 11, 2026
This was a deliberate choice.
I didn’t even know this was a thing. States were intentionally letting mental patients go so they didn’t get sued by the DoJ.
— Kron (@Kronykal) August 11, 2026
That explains a LOT. https://t.co/N2spH1RYfs
It explains so much.
>The DOJ was forcing institutions to send violent schizos and addicts back out on the streets https://t.co/0HpoBLLIP6 pic.twitter.com/ighNxdB0hB
— Mattias 2.0 (@BanAllBooks) August 11, 2026
It's so unreal that it's hard to believe this was federal policy for two decades.
The DOJ was suing hospitals to force them to release mentally ill people? https://t.co/W7XGQIpZ6G pic.twitter.com/yjEOzTPR3u
— Department Of Deportations (@DoDeportations) August 11, 2026
Yes, it was.
Huge blow to the Democrat homelessness industrial complex. https://t.co/WkH3c3x3dG
— NeoUnrealist (@NeoUnrealist) August 11, 2026
That it is. We're sure that some state will sue and object to this policy change.
Wait - so my tax money was being spent suing to put more crazy people back in the streets? That explains a lot. pic.twitter.com/DAgQPMol5A
— New Orleans Radical (@NOLA_Radical) August 11, 2026
That's exactly what was happening.
Correct the wrong of Reagan closing the institutions. The transformers need a place to stay. It’s not amongst us in society.
— B Husker (@Bhusker_) August 11, 2026
We need to reopen the institutions and rethink how we treat mental illness and addiction in America. Those two things are the biggest drivers of homelessness, which drives up crime, drives down property values, and creates more problems for our communities. Billions of tax dollars have been used by non-profits and governments to end homelessness to no avail, and now we understand why.
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