Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act
United States federal law / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) of 1980 is a United States federal law[1] intended to protect the rights of people in state or local correctional facilities, nursing homes, mental health facilities, group homes 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.[2] 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.[2] 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.[2]