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5/12/99, 2:09 pmcdt
STATEMENT OF THE ARC OF THE UNITED STATES REGARDING OLMSTEAD v. E.W. AND L.C.
For Immediate Release
THE ARC SUPPORTS INTEGRATION, NOT SEGREGATION
Wednesday, May 12, 1999
Contact: Marty Ford (202) 785-3388
Washington, DC -- The U.S. Supreme Court will decide by late June whether the Americans with Disabilities Act protects people with disabilities from being improperly institutionalized when the services and supports they need could be provided in the community.
The Olmstead case stems from the claims of Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson, both of whom have mental retardation and mental illness. Curtis and Wilson wanted to receive services from the state of Georgia in the community rather than in the state psychiatric facility where Georgia wanted to serve them. The professionals that served them agreed that community-based supports were best for them. They claimed that Georgia unnecessarily institutionalized and segregated them in a mental hospital, rather than placing them in an appropriate, integrated community setting. Curtis and Wilson argued that Georgia violated their right to services in the most integrated setting under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. Depending on how the Justices frame their decision, the case could have substantial impact on other community integration efforts nationwide.
The Arc, an organization on mental retardation, supports the rights of Wilson and Curtis and all people with disabilities to have the choice to live in the community. People with mental retardation, like all Americans, want to participate in all aspects of community life. For too many years, people with mental retardation have been locked away in large, dehumanizing institutional settings. The ADA was passed by Congress to end this and other kinds of discrimination. Requiring states to provide services in the most integrated setting appropriate is clearly the intent of the ADA.
The Arc of the United States, through its more than 1,000 state and local chapters, is the largest national voluntary organization devoted solely to the welfare of people with mental retardation and their families. The Arc has vigorously challenged attitudes and public policy, based on false stereotypes, that have encouraged the segregation of people with mental retardation. The Arc participated in an amicus brief with other national disability rights organizations. This brief can be accessed on-line at:
http://www.bazelon.org/briefs/howreybr.html
Kim Musheno
The Arc Governmental Affairs Office
1730 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
kimarc@radix.net
http://www.TheArc.org/ga/Governmental_Affairs.html
http://www.c-c-d.org
The Memphis Center for Independent Living
1633 Madison Avenue,
Memphis, TN 38104
(901) 726-6404 v/tty (901) 726-6521 fax
mcil@mcil.org
MCIL is a United Way of the Mid-South member Agency
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