Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act

The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), which became federal law in 1980, authorized the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to protect the rights of people who were under the jurisdiction of state institutions, a population that [Page 257]includes those with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The purpose of the law is to ensure the safety of institutionalized individuals who may be reluctant to report issues of abuse in the government-run institutions in which they reside. Although the law does not create any new rights, the law does empower the U.S. attorney general to represent the interests of those, in such institutions, whose already established rights may have been violated. The DOJ may uncover civil rights violations from sources such as occupants of institutions, their ...