If you believe you have been discriminated against because of your disability or have experienced mistreatment by staff in the criminal legal system, you may want to file a complaint with the U.S. DOJ.  Anyone can file a complaint with the U.S. DOJ if you believe that discrimination or misconduct has occurred.  In addition to the person experiencing the discrimination or misconduct, others may also file a complaint on their behalf- friends, family, peers, staff, medical staff, etc. can file.  When filing the complaint, always keep the focus on the person with the disability who was discriminated against or mistreated.

Some examples of discriminatory behavior:

  • Because of your disability, you need accommodations to access the service, supports or programs of the facility, but the jail or prison will not provide those accommodations.
  • You have an opioid use disorder or substance use disorder, but the facility will not provide you medications for opioid use disorder.
  • Misconduct by facility staff which can also include incidents of neglect and abuse.

It is important to note that there may be statute of limitation issues with any claim, often this limit is180 days, so you should always file as soon as possible after the incident occurred.  If the event occurred over 180 days prior, be sure to include any information that can explain why you waited over 180 days to report the event.  If the issue is ongoing (e.g., denial of medical care for your disability, denial of an accommodation, etc.), be sure to explain that in your complaint.

From the DOJ website:

The Civil Rights Division enforces federal laws that protect you from discrimination based on your race, color, national origin, disability status, sex, religion, familial status, or loss of other constitutional rights.

Civil rights laws can protect you from unlawful discrimination, harassment, or abuse in a variety of settings like housing, the workplace, school, voting, business, healthcare, public spaces, and more.

If you have been mistreated by law enforcement (including while incarcerated), believe you have been a victim of a hate crime, or a victim of human trafficking, we can help get you to the right place.

DOJ Complaint: https://civilrights.justice.gov/

You can file a report by mail or by using the online portal.

To file a report by mail:

U.S. Department of Justice

Civil Rights Division

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20530-0001

 

To file an online report:  https://civilrights.justice.gov/report/

 

You will need to provide the following information either online or by mail:

  • Your name, phone, address/zip (complaints can be filed anonymously, do not provide this information if you wish to remain anonymous-but no one will contact you about the issue that you are reporting)
    • They also ask if you are now or have ever been active-duty service member
  • Explain what type of discrimination you believe occurred
    • school/educational program or service or educational concern
    • mistreatment by police/correctional staff, or inmates
    • discriminated against in a commercial location or public place (medical facilities, hospital, courthouse, government building, etc.)
      • physical/online location not providing disability accommodations
      • denied service or entry due to perceived personal characteristic (e.g., race, sex, religion, disability, etc.)
      •  Denied an accommodation for a disability in a commercial or public location
        • Also included denial of service animals
      • Something else happened-If it doesn’t fit into one of these categories, you can also make this choice in the online portal or in your letter
    • Provide information about the location
      • Name of prison/jail (required),
      • address/phone,
      • city/state (required), etc.
    •  Personal characteristics that you believe were the reason for the discrimination
      • Age
      • Disability (disability can also include temporary, recovered, and including HIV and SUD/OUD)
      • Family, marital, parental status
      • Gender identity (including gender stereotypes)
      • Genetic information
      • Immigration/citizenship status (choosing this will not share your status)
      • Language
      • National origin
      • Pregnancy
      • Race/color
      • Religion
      • Sex
      • Sexual orientation
    • Date the discrimination first occurred
    • Provide a full description of the event.
      • We recommend that you do not cite the law or legal precedent.  Your statement will have more impact if you just explain what happened. 
      • If there are internal grievance and accommodation procedures at your facility, we recommend that you exhaust those before filing the complaint.
    • If you use the online portal, you will then be given a chance to review the information.

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