Rigged by Design
About this show: Rigged by Design connects the dots across many sectors including behavior, biology, environment, policy, and election integrity. Our conversations move between the micro and macro to the layer above macro to the exosystem. Threads that may seem disconnected are part of the same system. You don’t have to see a system for it to affect you, the individual. This isn’t red vs blue. It’s money versus everyone. RIGGED BY DESIGN Episode 26, Part 1 of 2 – Show Notes Aired: June 25, 2026 Nieta Greene [https://substack.com/profile/117743522-nieta-greene], CEO and Founder of Disability Community for Democracy [https://open.substack.com/users/337673829-disability-community?utm_source=mentions], joined Rigged by Design to discuss the recent DOJ Office of Legal Counsel memo released June 18, 2026 — four days before the 27th anniversary of the Olmstead decision. The memo argues that federal disability laws don’t require states to provide community-based services, effectively giving states legal cover to re-institutionalize people with disabilities. The conversation opened by examining the Olmstead decision itself — the 1999 Supreme Court ruling that affirmed unjustified segregation of people with disabilities constitutes discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Nieta shared her personal experience with institutionalization and explained why this memo is so deeply personal to the disability community. A significant portion of the episode focused on the history of institutions and why this history matters now. Willowbrook was discussed: the overcrowding, filth, abuse, forced sterilizations, and eugenic ideology that defined these institutions. The conversation emphasized that these institutions were phased out precisely because they were horrific and deadly, and that the memo is an attempt to bring that era back. Let me be clear: this memo gives states a green light to strip disabled people of their homes, their families, and their autonomy. During the episode, Nieta made referenced to “ugly laws,” local laws from the 1860s to 1974 that criminalized the existence of disabled people in public spaces. She described how these laws were used to hide disabled people away, and how the current memo echoes that same impulse to make disabled people invisible. And Stephen Miller — whose name appeared repeatedly throughout the livestream as the driving force behind the memo — reared his “ugly” head yet again. According to Bloomberg, Miller was the person behind the DOJ memo attacking Olmstead. As Nieta put it, the memo was written due to Miller’s influence, and his fingerprints are all over this attempt to roll back disability rights. The discussion also connected the memo to the housing crisis. Nieta emphasized that the housing bill which passed with bipartisan support is directly tied to this fight because disabled people need accessible, affordable housing to live in their communities. Without housing, community integration is impossible. The memo threatens to gut the very foundation that allows disabled people to live independently, and the housing bill (ROAD Act) being held hostage only makes that worse. A deliberate parallel to Jim Crow, the “Say No to Crip Crow” campaign frames the fight against segregation of disabled Americans as a civil rights struggle. The rallying cry of the disability rights movement — “nothing about us without us” — was central to the conversation. Nieta’s publication is also called Nothing About Us Without Us [https://disabilitycommunityfordemocracy.substack.com/s/nothing-about-us-without-us-articles/archive?sort=new]. Questions of race, ableism, and intersectionality surfaced throughout the discussion. The conversation addressed how eugenics is rooted in racism and ableism, how disability rights are civil rights, and why the disability community must be centered in conversations about liberation. Nick Paro [https://substack.com/profile/189675044-nick-paro] joined the conversation midway through to discuss the joint action between Disability Community for Democracy [https://open.substack.com/users/337673829-disability-community?utm_source=mentions] and Sick of This S**t Publications [https://substack.com/profile/426627083-sick-of-this-s**t-publications]. Nick and Nieta described their partnership and the scripts and templates they've created for viewers to contact their representatives, which can be found on Sick of this S**t Publication: A Call to Action - Say No to Crip Crow [https://open.substack.com/pub/sickofthis/p/a-call-to-action-say-no-to-crip-crow?r=34v1yl&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer] —by calling for the codification of the Olmstead decision into federal law. Jason joined us to finish the discussion, which I've cut for Part 2 to be released over the weekend. One request before you go Substack doesn’t currently preserve the live chat when viewers watch the replay. That means many of the questions, challenges, and observations shared during the livestream disappear once the broadcast ends. If something stood out to you, if you have a question, or if you want to continue the discussion, please leave a comment below. Think of the comment section as the after-show conversation where the ideas keep moving long after we hit the “End Broadcast” button. Thank you to everyone who tuned in to Rigged by Design. Special thanks to Nieta Greene [https://substack.com/profile/117743522-nieta-greene] from CEO and Founder of Disability Community for Democracy [https://open.substack.com/users/337673829-disability-community?utm_source=mentions], and Nick Paro [https://substack.com/profile/189675044-nick-paro] of Sick of this S**t Publications [https://substack.com/profile/426627083-sick-of-this-s**t-publications], who in a joint effort are putting out a call to action opposing the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel memo dated June 18, 2026. [https://www.justice.gov/olc/media/1446701/dl] From the Disability Community [https://open.substack.com/users/337673829-disability-community?utm_source=mentions] for Democracy’s official statement on the Olmstead memo [https://disabilitycommunityfordemocracy.substack.com/p/official-statement-on-olmstead-doj]: “America has not fully fulfilled its commitment to guaranteeing equality for all since its founding nearly 250 years ago. It is broadly acknowledged that Supreme Court precedents concerning voting rights are susceptible to abrupt shifts, as illustrated by the Calais decision. Therefore, Disability Community for Democracy will urge Congress to enact legislation that codifies the Olmstead decision, ensuring that states cannot compel the re-institutionalization of individuals with disabilities, because we are Saying No to Crip Crow.” ~Nieta Greene [https://open.substack.com/users/117743522-nieta-greene?utm_source=mentions] Join us next week for Episode 27 as we continue examining the systems, institutions, and stories that often receive less attention on Thursday, July 2, 2026 at 10:05 am PST / 1:05 pm EST. Truth doesn’t come in neutral — Zorha. If this work matters to you, support it. Subscribe to Jason [https://substack.com/@jaystone4] and/or me as we continue documenting what others rush past or refuse to touch. This isn’t content for the sake of content. It’s ongoing, time-intensive work that requires digging, verifying, and staying on stories long after they fall out of the news cycle. If you’re able to support this work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. If a subscription isn’t feasible, you can still help support independent reporting with a one-time Buy Me a Coffee contribution. SOURCES & FURTHER READING: * Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999) [https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/527/581/] * DOJ Office of Legal Counsel memo, June 18, 2026 [https://www.justice.gov/olc/media/1446701/dl] * Sick of This S**t Publications — “A Call to Action: Say No to Crip Crow” [https://open.substack.com/pub/sickofthis/p/a-call-to-action-say-no-to-crip-crow?r=34v1yl&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer] * Disability Community for Democracy [http://disabilitycommunityfordemocracy.org] * Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 * FaxZero: faxzero.com [https://faxzero.com/] This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit zorhasbsfreezone.substack.com/subscribe [https://zorhasbsfreezone.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]
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Rekisteröidy nyt ja liity Rigged by Design-yhteisöön!