page_title: Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act
section_title: How a Case is Brought About
hierarchical_section_title: Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act / How a Case is Brought About
context_page_description: The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act of 1980 is a United States federal law intended to protect the rights of people in state or local correctional facilities, nursing homes, mental health facilities and institutions for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
  CRIPA is enforced by the Special Litigation Section in the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, which investigates and prosecutes complaints in terms of this legislation. The Special Litigation Section is allowed to investigate state or locally operated institutions in order to ascertain if there is a pattern or a practice of violations of a residents' federal rights. The section is not allowed to investigate private facilities. They are also not allowed to represent individuals or address specific individual cases, but they are able to file lawsuits against facilities as a whole.
context_section_description: The Department of Justice (DOJ) discovers possible civil rights violations in a number of ways. These reports can range from a number of informal means such as news reports, family members, the prisoners or inhabitants themselves, and from former and current employees of the institution.
  After the DOJ has learned of a possible violation, the Civil Rights Division (CRT) of the DOJ must determine if it has the authority to conduct an investigation. Usually, the first question they ask is whether the institution in question is a public institution or not. To qualify as a public institution, there are two requirements that must be satisfied:
  1.    An institution must be owned, operated or managed by or provides services on behalf of any state or political subdivision of the state.
  2.    An institution must be one of the five types of facilities described in the statute.
  Once a facility is determined to have met the requirements, the CRT reviews all complaints to determine whether the allegations merit a more extensive investigation. The attorney general has delegated the Assistant Attorney General to have the final decision on whether an investigation is warranted. In general, allegations against publicly operated facilities result in an investigation when the Division has received sufficient evidence of potential systemic violations of Federal rights, such as physical abuse, neglect, or lack of adequate medical or mental health care or education.
caption: Seal of the United States Department of Justice, the federal agency tasked with CRIPA oversight.
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