Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Texas v. Kennedy (2026) - The Renewed Attack on Section 504 and Olmstead. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar... Nine states – Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, South Dakota, and Texas – have renewed their attack on Section 504 and our right to live in the community. In Texas v. Ken...

Register: dredf-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

A major disability rights case is unfolding now.

Texas v. Kennedy could weaken protections that help people with disabilities avoid unnecessary institutionalization.

Join our webinar with DREDF and partners to understand what’s happening and what’s at stake.

Registration link in the comments.

The Trump admin has waged war on mental health care, Senate Finance Committee Minority members warn.

But states have the legal tools - and obligation - to protect people with disabilities from losing coverage.

Learn more: www.bazelon.org/wp-content/u...

1.7 million people.

That’s how many could lose access to Medicaid-covered mental health care under Trumpcare, according to Senate Finance Dems.

But states aren’t powerless. They have legal duties to protect people with disabilities.

House Democrats kicked off a new AI Commission this week. As AI policy debates ramp up, let’s be clear-eyed about what deregulation efforts mean for people with disabilities.

www.bazelon.org/ai-regulatio...

@disabilityscoop.bsky.social

Medicaid Changes Could Limit Access For People With Disabilities, Advocates Warn As federal officials begin to outline more stringent Medicaid eligibility rules, worries are running high about what the changes will mean for people with disabilities.

Taking steps that help people with disabilities avoid losing Medicaid coverage even though they remain eligible is not just good policy. It is also required by disability rights laws.

www.disabilityscoop.com/2026/01/05/m...

AI innovation must not come at the expense of accountability. Intimidation-driven deregulation puts exactly that balance at risk.

#mentalhealth #ai #trump

Why are we sending police to mental health emergencies?

#mentalhealth #police #emergencyservices

Alabama Begs Supreme Court to Make It Easier to Execute People With Intellectual Disabilities The bizarre oral argument in Hamm v. Smith shows how decades of case law rooted in science is now under siege at the Supreme Court.

Interesting read by @theintercept.com about the recent Supreme Court hearing in Hamm v. Smith.

The Bazelon Center joined an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold precedent and protect people with intellectual disability from execution based on a holistic assessment of their disability.

www.bazelon.org/ai-regulatio...

🚨BREAKING: the White House announced at 4:45pm ET signing ceremony today for what we expect to be the executive order on AI preemption.

Check out our blog post to learn more about how AI is shaping healthcare decisions and what’s at risk for people with disabilities.

October may be over, but disability inclusion isn't seasonal.

#disabilityrights #disabilityemployment #mentalhealth

CDC staff with disabilities feel stranded as HHS implements new policy CDC is asking employees seeking telework as a reasonable accommodation to return to the office until their requests can be processed under a new HHS policy.

www.statnews.com/2025/12/02/c...

The CDC is reportedly preparing to end existing telework accommodations for employees with disabilities despite a new HHS policy that permits telework as an option.

This means workers would lose their approved accommodations and be forced to reapply, which could take six to eight months (!)

Recommendations for Mitigating Harms to People with Disabilities, Older Adults, and Caregivers from Medicaid Work Requirements The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) establishes unprecedented work requirements in Medicaid expansion. Prior experience has shown that people with disabilities, older adults, and caregivers who should be exempt from work requirements often lose coverage anyway due to poor outreach or excessive red tape. This co-branded brief offers implementation strategies to minimize wrongful coverage loss and protect people’s access to care due to these new policies.

New brief! OBBBA’s Medicaid work requirements risk wrongful coverage loss for people with disabilities, older adults & caregivers. 🔗 https://healthlaw.org/resource/recommendations-for-mitigating-harms-to-people-with-disabilities-older-adults-and-caregivers-from-medicaid-work-requirements/

This Giving Tuesday comes at a critical moment for disability rights.

We’re aiming for 100 donors today to unlock a $7,500 match!

Stand with us: donatenow.networkforgood.org/1405635

Nation’s biggest law firms back off from challenging Trump policies The pace generated by more than 390 lawsuits challenging Trump administration actions has lawyers from many firms working around-the-clock.

Proud to see our board chair, Eve Hill, and her colleagues recognized for their critical work holding the Trump Administration accountable for violations of disability rights.

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Irony: Medicaid “work requirements” risk stripping coverage from millions, including people who already work, while the administration bulldozes disability employment protections.

You can’t champion work while dismantling the tools that make it possible.

#Medicaid #disabilityrights

You can’t deliver a free appropriate public education for students with disabilities while you dismantle the teams that make it real.

Over the weekend, ED cut them.

A judge hit a temporary pause on some of the layoffs, but students still face real harm.

The recent federal layoffs didn’t trim wasteful activity. They targeted the people who help kids with disabilities get a free and appropriate public education and those who keep mental health care accessible and disability rights real.