Chronicling a Movement for Civil Rights

Abstract

The history of the modern movement for civil rights for people with mental disabilities is chronicled in the three editions of the American Bar Foundation's treatise, The Mentally Disabled and the Law. Each presents a snapshot of the status of the law at the time of its publication. Taken together, they provide an overview of the extent of the movement's successes and the speed with which they have been attained in recent years. The first edition, published in 1961, describes the law as it had developed during the years following World War II, and argues that it has been “an opportune time to re-evaluate the law” (Lindman and McIntyre, 1961: 14) and to bring it into conformity with modern scientific understanding of the nature of mental disability and contemporary public opinion concerning individual rights (Ibid.). The second edition, published in 1971, recounts the changes that had taken place in the 1960s, primarily the increasing federal activity in the field of mental disability, as well as scattered developments in state case law and legislation. But its authors again conclude that “[t]he factors conducive to a thorough examination and réévaluation of the laws as they relate to the rights of the mentally disabled exist today to a greater extent than ever before” (Brakel and Rock, 1971: 8).