I thought this was a nice summation of arguments against keeping disabled people locked up in institutions
The Community Imperative1979
A Refutation of All Arguments
in Support of Institutionalizing Anybody
Because of Mental Retardation
In the domain of Human Rights:
- All people have fundamental moral and constitutional rights;
- These rights must not be abrogated merely because a person has a mental or physical disability.
- Among these fundamental rights is the right to community living.
In the domain of Educational Programming and Human Services:
- All people, as human beings, are inherently valuable;
- All people can grow and develop;
- All people are entitled to conditions which foster their development;
Such conditions are optimally provided in community settings.
Therefore:
In fulfillment of fundamental human rights and in securing optimum developmental opportunities, all people, regardless of the severity of their disabilities, are entitled to community living.
(The Community Imperative declaration, the Center on Human Policy, Syracuse University, 1979)