“Twenty-four years ago, the Supreme Court affirmed that people with disabilities have a right to live and receive services where they live. The landmark ruling has enabled millions of Americans to have greater independence, autonomy, and opportunities to participate fully in their communities.”
~US Dept of HHS Secretary, Xavier Becerra
The Decision
On June 22, 1999, the Supreme Court decided Olmstead v. L.C., a case that interpreted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to prohibit unnecessary segregation of people with disabilities. The court ruled that people with disabilities have a right to live and receive services in the most integrated, least-restrictive setting reasonably possible to meet their needs. The Olmstead decision has enabled innumerable people with disabilities to live in their homes and communities instead of institutions. This community living has led to people experiencing greater independence, autonomy, and the opportunity to live the lives they choose.
The Story
The Olmstead case began in Georgia with two women, Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson, who had been diagnosed with intellectual disabilities and mental health conditions. From a young age, both women were regularly admitted into institutions, hospitals, and private care facilities. Following each stay in the hospital, the women, returned home, only to be readmitted to the hospital later due to the lack of appropriate support at home. Eventually, each woman had to remain in the psychiatric unit at a State-run Regional Hospital in order to receive the support she needed. Lois and Elaine requested community-based support and treatment from the State of Georgia in hopes of avoiding permanent institutionalization. The doctors and professionals who treated Lois and Elaine agreed that they were capable of living in the community with appropriate support. However, the women were confined to the hospital for years waiting for the community-based support that never came. When Sue Jamieson, an attorney at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, visited the hospital, Lois said to her, “Get me out of here. Would you please get me out of here? When am I getting out of here?'"
Sue Jamieson filed a lawsuit on behalf of Lois (and then later Elaine) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for support to be provided in the community. The lawsuit, known as “Olmstead v. L.C.” or “the Olmstead Decision,” took a path all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The name of the case comes from the name of the defendant in the case, Tommy Olmstead, the then Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, and the initials of Lois Curtis, the initial plaintiff.
The Supreme Court agreed with Lois and Elaine, and in a decision delivered by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court mandated that reasonable supports and services must be provided in an integrated community setting for people with disabilities.
Following the Supreme Court decision, both Lois and Elaine rejoined their communities. Lois moved out of the hospital and into a series of homes, receiving help from caregivers with cooking, shopping, and daily tasks. Free from the constraints of the hospital and with the support of friends and her community, Lois discovered her talent as an artist. In 2011, when she met President Obama, she presented him with one of her drawings entitled, “Girl in an Orange Dress.” It was one of a series of self-portraits she created since she had no photos of herself from her time in institutions.
The Present and Future
Twenty-four years later, Olmstead affirms the right to community living for people with disabilities, but to exercise it, people must have access to the services and supports they need at home and in the community. Long wait lists for services still cause people with disabilities to struggle without the support they need, to be placed in hospitals or nursing homes for years while waiting for services, and many people even end up incarcerated due to misunderstanding, homelessness, and lack of services.
Disability Advocates and Self Advocates at the ACL continue to work to ensure that support in the form of housing, transportation, medical care, employment support, education, recreation, and the other building blocks of community life are available to all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in our Boulder and Broomfield communities.
Submitted by Caitlin Looney, ACL Staff