Surrogate, Kings County, denies guardianship for a 34-year-old woman with an intellectual disability, based on evidence that she has the capacity to make decisions on her own with support, citing, e.g. the CRPD, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C., Governor Cuomo’s Olmstead Cabinet Report and a law review article by SDMNY Advisory Council member Leslie Saltzman who wrote “Just as we recognize that the law…generally require[s] that we build a ramp so that an individual with a physical impairment can enter a building without being carried up the steps, we should also recognize a legal obligation to provide decision-making support to an individual with limitations in mental capabilities rather than assign a guardian to make decisions for that person.”
