Call for Papers - AALS Section on Law and Mental Disability

The Executive Committee of the AALS Section on Law and Mental Disability invites submission of papers for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the AALS January 4-8, 2012, in Washington, D.C.

The topic of our panel will be "Institutionalization and Incarceration:  New Legal Strategies for Advocating on Behalf of Individuals With Mental Disabilities"

It has been over 10 years since the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Olmstead v. L.C., which held that unjustified isolation of mentally disabled individuals in institutions is a form of disability discrimination prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Since that time, states have continued to rethink their commitments to massive levels of imprisonment. There are continuing concerns that states are still moving individuals into prisons, as well as in mental institutions, via faulty commitment and competency proceedings rather than developing comprehensive community care, as well as the need to fight against the conditions of institutionalization, including mental health parity.  However, there have been some recent initiatives with mental health courts, changes in state laws, and most recently the influence of the federal mental health parity law. The new Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, adopted by the UN in 2006, also adds a new international human rights law dimension to the right to live in the community and to receive services there as opposed to institutions.

Papers presented by the panel should discuss these developments in light of new strategies for advocating on behalf of individuals with disabilities.  We will be selecting papers so that the panel, considered as a whole, will generate a dialogue to explore the broader issues.  Drafts of the papers submitted for consideration must be received by August 15, 2011. Submissions should be sent to Jennifer.gundlach at hofstra.edu.  Papers already accepted for publication will be considered.