SLC obtained the first state appellate order that addressed the federal Education of the Handicapped Act (now IDEA), affirming administrative precedent regarding when a school board is obligated to provide a residential placement for seriously emotionally disturbed youth.

Trading wrongful death damages against the State on behalf of one person to obtain policy reform that protected hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities in the future is a classic example of SLC’s innovative legal advocacy. A woman with severe disabilities died from a lithium overdose during an experimental drug treatment program at a Gainesville institution for persons with developmental disabilities. To prevent more unnecessary deaths, SLC filed a lawsuit that changed policy, resulting in a rule regarding the proper administration of psychotropic drugs that applied to all state institutions.

Sanbourne v. Bush, Case No. 89-6283-Civ-Nesbitt (S.D. Fla., J. Nesbitt), originally filed as Gonzalez v. Martinez; summary judgment denial reported at 756 F. Supp. 1533 (S.D. Fla. 1991). This was a class action involving the care and treatment of persons with mental illness confined to South Florida State Hospital (SFSH) and living in the South Florida community.

We participated as amicus curiae in a long-standing suit challenging the treatment of persons with mental illness (often homeless persons) in the Dade County jail system. Our nationally recognized experts prepared a short-term plan which was adopted by the Court and implemented by Defendant Dade County to improve conditions. $945,000 was allocated for implementation of the expert's short-term plan.

This class action was originally brought by Jacksonville Area Legal Aid challenging the State of Florida's practice of housing persons with developmental disabilities at Northeast Florida State Hospital at Macclenny, a facility for persons with mental illness. We entered our appearance in 1996 to monitor the implementation of the Compliance Plan, which includes provisions for the care and treatment of class members at NEFSH, appropriate discharges from NEFSH, and appropriate community services after discharge.

This class action challenged the lack of an effective treatment regimen and adequate mental health care at the Florida Civil Commitment Center (FCCC). Approximately 450 men were detained at FCCC, with more arriving every day under Florida’s Jimmy Ryce Act. The State’s failure to provide constitutionally adequate treatment made their confinement essentially a life sentence. The court certified the case as a class and created two sub-classes. A mediated settlement was reached.

State v. Kinner, 382 So. 2d 756 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980), rev’d, 398 So. 2d 1360 (Fla. 1981), reported in 4 ABA Mental Disab. L. Rptr. 324 (1980). At the request of the Florida Second District Court of Appeal, we represented a class of persons with developmental disabilities as amicus curiae in a case which challenged the constitutionality of Florida's statutory provision allowing for involuntary commitment of persons with developmental disabilities to residential facilities. After the DCA found the provision unconstitutional, the Legislature amended the statute in a manner consistent with the position argued in the brief. Co-counsel was the Governor's Commission on Advocacy for Persons with Developmental Disabilities (now Disability Rights Florida).

At the request of the Florida Second District Court of Appeal, we represented a class of persons with developmental disabilities as amicus curiae in a case which challenged the constitutionality of Florida's statutory provision allowing for involuntary commitment of persons with developmental disabilities to residential facilities. After the DCA found the provision unconstitutional, the Legislature amended the statute in a manner consistent with the position argued in the brief.

We represented amicus curiae National Association of Protection & Advocacy Systems (P&As) and all former Fifth Circuit P&A's in this case involving the issue of the right to habilitation of a class of individuals with developmental disabilities in the least restrictive environment.

We represented a client with Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare debilitating genetic disorder which manifests in an uncontrollable and continual desire to eat. The client’s condition had deteriorated to a crisis, life-threatening situation. We filed an administrative proceeding to require the Florida Department of Health & Rehabilitative Services (HRS) to place him in an appropriate group home, as he had been on a waiting list for about seven years.

We represented an individual who became a quadriplegic after a diving accident and had a medical need for a ventilator to breathe and a personal care attendant. The State’s Medicaid policy only provided the ventilator services and a personal care attendant in a nursing home or hospital, not in a home. We challenged this policy through a preliminary injunction request alleging violations of the federal Medicaid Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act. After a status conference, the parties settled, and the State agreed to provide all needed services in the home.

Sosa challenged a proposed agency rule that would have limited personal care assistance to 300 hours per month, regardless of medical need. We settled the case, and AHCA amended the proposed rule to eliminate the 300-hour limit. The Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities (now Disability Rights Florida) was co-counsel.

We filed a statewide class action challenging the State’s administration and wait list for the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Medicaid Waiver Program. Through a settlement, the State developed a new Handbook and Operating Procedures on freedom of choice and due process rights. It also provided additional funding to expand the program by a minimum of 200 slots over three years. Co-counsel were Legal Advocacy Center of Central Florida & National Health Law Program.

Individuals with developmental disabilities challenged a new state statutory cap on personal care assistance (PCA) under due process and the Medicaid Act. The Florida Legislature amended the statute to eliminate an outright cap on PCA for adults in community settings. PCA for children was transferred to the state Medicaid program to avoid the Medicaid waiver service limitations and to comply with the Medicaid Act’s mandates under Early Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment. Plaintiffs then voluntarily dismissed the case. Co-counsel were Florida Legal Services, Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities (now Disability Rights Florida) & National Health Law Program.

This statewide class action challenged the State’s lack of services in the community for Medicaid nursing home residents who wanted to live in the community. The claim was under the Americans With Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which require states to provide services in the most integrated setting appropriate for the individual.

Five individuals with disabilities challenged the State’s implementation of the Long-Term Care Medicaid Waiver program by private managed care organizations, which were arbitrarily denying needed services in the community

We represented seniors and people with disabilities who are on the state’s wait list for home-based long-term-care services and at risk of unnecessary and unwanted institutionalization. After filing a challenge under the Americans With Disabilities Act, we obtained full services for four plaintiffs, and an agreement that the State would build a website that provides information about long-term care services in one place, as it was extremely difficult to get any online information.

The right to privacy and equal protection won out over the federal Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) unprecedented political interference and unjustified delay in approving emergency contraception (also known as the Morning-After Pill) as an over-the-counter drug for all women without any age restriction. With plaintiffs from Gainesville, Florida, this action was brought on behalf of women, girls, reproductive rights organizations and National Women’s Liberation. After an eight-year battle, the Court ordered the FDA to make emergency contraception available over-the-counter and eliminated the prescription requirement, age restrictions, and any other restrictions on how it is sold. This suit had nationwide impact. Co-counsel was the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Issuing a preliminary injunction, the federal district court prohibited the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) from terminating or reducing Medicaid Waiver recipients’ benefits prior to affording them an evidentiary hearing. As a result of the preliminary injunction, SLC negotiated a settlement with APD that resulted in a permanent injunction that applies to the putative class of more than 4,000 individuals with developmental disabilities.

In a statewide class action, SLC represented persons with developmental disabilities who challenged, under federal due process, the adequacy of notices being used to reduce services in a new Florida Medicaid Waiver program—the iBudget program. A mediated settlement resulted in: 1) cessation of arbitrary reductions of services; 2) reinstatement of millions of dollars in benefits for the settlement class, impacting thousands of people; 3) policy changes to ensure notice is sent to both the person and his/her legal representative; and 4) policy changes to provide notices in English and in the person’s primary language. Nancy E. Wright was co-counsel.