The Department of Justice is a part of the government that makes sure laws are followed. We call it DOJ for short. The DOJ and a few states made another bad decision. This update talks about what they did. And we will talk about what the bad decision means for you. 

On August 31st, the DOJ and a few states asked a court to resolve an important lawsuit. To resolve a lawsuit means stopping the lawsuit. It also means the people suing each other agree to do things. 

The lawsuit the DOJ asked to resolve is called Texas v. Kennedy. Texas v. Kennedy is a lawsuit about Section 504 rules from Health and Human Services. Health and Human Services is the part of the U.S. government in charge of healthcare. We call it HHS for short.

Section 504 is a part of a law from 1973. We call it 504 for short. 504 says places that get money from the government can’t discriminate against people with disabilities. Discrimination is treating people unfairly or badly because of who they are.

Section 504 has rules for how the law should be followed. The DOJ decided the U.S. government should change part of these rules. These rules were made by HHS in 2024. This statement calls these rules the 2024 HHS 504 Rules.

The 2024 HHS 504 Rules do a lot of important things. One of those things is updating the first 504 rules. Those rules are from 1978. This was the first time HHS updated the 504 rules since 1978. 

One of the most important things the 2024 HHS 504 Rules talked about is the integration mandate. The integration mandate is a rule that says people with disabilities have a right to live, work, and get services in the community. The 2024 HHS 504 Rules did not create the integration mandate. But the 2024 HHS 504 Rules said the integration mandate was a part of 504. 

Adding the integration mandate to the 504 rules makes the law stronger. The reason Section 504 got made was to stop discrimination against people with disabilities. Adding the integration mandate to the 504 rules would help stop discrimination that keeps disabled people out of the community.

But the DOJ decided HHS will take away words talking about the integration mandate in the 2024 HHS 504 rules. This is bad. It is important that the 2024 HHS 504 rules have the integration mandate in them. 

But the DOJ and states did not take away the integration mandate. Taking away words about it in the 2024 HHS 504 rules does not take away the integration mandate. That is because the integration mandate does not come from HHS rules. 

The integration mandate is the law. The integration mandate comes from 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Americans with Disabilities Act is like 504. It is a law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination. We call it the ADA for short. 

The Supreme Court also agrees that the integration mandate is the law. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. They have the final say on laws for the whole country.

The Supreme Court said that the integration mandate is part of the ADA and 504. They did this in a court case in 1999 called Olmstead v. LC. We call this court case Olmstead for short. 

Olmstead says that people with disabilities had the right to live, work, and get services in the community. Olmstead says that the integration mandate is part of the ADA and 504.

Olmstead, the ADA, 504, and the integration mandate are all still here. Your state still has to follow the integration mandate. States are not allowed to ignore the integration mandate. States that do not follow the integration mandate are breaking the law. 

The U.S. government still has to make sure your state follows the integration mandate. Making sure states follow the integration mandate is still their job. 

We deserve a government that protects our rights. We do not deserve a government that ignores our rights. ASAN demands states continue to follow the integration mandate.